Life in 1500s Marlow

The 1500s Town -

The very earliest reference to a named street in Marlow that I have found is the will of Robert Sands of Harleyford, proved 1509, in which the testator left his daughter Jane a house and plot in Oxford Lane, now called Oxford Road. West Street is mentioned in 1574 and a little later we hear of "Hawkins Lane" leading to Hawkins Farm. We know too that the High Street, Dean Street, Spittal Street, Chapel Street, St Peter Street (and what we now call Station Road leading to it), Old Pound Lane and the part of Pound Lane which connects old Pound Lane to the High Street all existed in the 1500s though not necessarily under those names in all cases. In the first few years of the 1600s Quoiting Square (as Quoiting Place) and Potlands are mentioned and it is safe to assume that they were also present in the 1500s. The Potlands (note not "Portlands" as today) area included a footpath down to the river and church. This is now known as Portland Alley. It has been speculated that this might have been an actual roadway in the even more distant past. Similarly the idea of an old roadway connecting Spittal Street at around the site of the Cross Keys to St Peter's Street has been floated. In the 1610s we find mention of the Medmenham Highway (now Henley Road), Dedmere Highway (Dedmere Road) and Gun Lane (now Trinity Road). All were likely also present in the late 1500s at least.

The Danger of Smoke Free Homes..

In the collaborative Hollinshed's Chronicle of England, Scotland and Ireland published in 1577 writer William Harrison wrote that there had been recently a huge increase in domestic building in England. "Never so much oke hath been spent in a hundred years before as in ten years of our time, for everie man almost is a builder, and he that hath bought any small parcel of ground, be it ever so little, will not be quiet till he have pulled downe the old house if anie were there standing, and set up a new after his own device" As well as the new cottages and houses springing up there was much expansion and alteration to the older style homes of the rich. 

The population of England had grown considerably, doubling since the 1510s, so the need for new properties was obvious. It is likely therefore that the footprint of Marlow grew during the Elizabethan era and that individual streets became more crowded with buildings.

The building boom led to a nationwide shortage of timber by the end of the 1500s. Brick and stone buildings were both now commonly used for homes for the better off but wood was still needed for them. According to architectural historian Nickolaus Pevesner the hall of the Old Parsonage in St Peter Street Marlow was constructed the previous century if not earlier, of chalk with stone windows which shows another option that 1500s housebuilders of Marlow may also have used. There was a chalk pit up at Harleyford by the 1550s. The origin of the Old Parsonage is not certainly known.

The raising of the oak frame of a timber framed house occured once the frame had been left to season for a while by the carpenter who crafted it. The raising must have been a significant job, and probably involved helpers other than the householder and carpenter's workmen as it was common to have a little feast, drink distribution and celebration on the day of the raising, which sounds like a community thankyou. 

If you think of a timber framed building of the 1500s you probably picture a black and white or black wood and brick structure but according to the authors of The Cottage Homes of England this blackening of the wood was often done artificially in the 1800s, and Tudor woodwork would have been left naturally greyish most of the time. I have seen elsewhere however reports of house frames being "burnt" before use which implies possible deliberate darkening of the wood. Perhaps it was down to individual choice.

Only a few people had glass windows, the rest had holes in the wall, covered by translucent cloth. Floors downstairs in humble cottages were often of compacted earth. These were skillfully laid and not quite the equivalent of kicking around in the mud as you might imagine. Don't worry though, with unpaved streets 1500s Marlovians had plenty of opportunity to squelch their way about the town following any rainfall.

Chimneys had become common by the mid Elizabethan era, and indeed fancy chimneys, were a status symbol. Poorer people still made do by and large with a hole in the roof to allow the escape of smoke. Some household smoke was thought to cure and strengthen the timber used in the construction, and even to make the inhabitants healthier! It also smoked any cheese or meat hung from the beams and rafters of the house. For this reason the clearing of the air in the home caused by new efficient chimneys was regretted by more than a few people, including William Harrison. He couldn't believe the amount of coughing, choking and rheumatism caused by living in a smoke free home!

Smoke would have deterred domestic flies but it doesn't seem that mice found it too off-putting. Though keeping cats as mousers was common, an attitude of resignation as to living with some mice had to prevail. There were as yet no daddy long legs spiders in English homes however. They cadged a lift on ships from warmer climbs a century later.

A surge in home furnishings also occurred in the homes of all but the poorest (but remember that they made up the majority of the English population). William Harrison wrote that inferior artisans and mean farmers (his description!) "have for the most part learned also to garnish their cupboards with plate, their beds with tapestries and silke hangings, and their tables with carpets and fine naperie".

All household items cost far more in real terms than they do today so that items that we would not consider special were seen as worth singling out as gifts for loved ones and friends in wills. Reynold Shirwood of Marlow who left his will in 1528 as well as his valuable pewter bequeathed tablecloths and napkins. His wife Margaret mentioned napkins too and even a towel alongside her more obviously valuable amber beads, ring, girdle and raw cash.

The poorest people lived in cottages with one or two room downstairs, often with sleeping compartments reached by ladder above them. A yeoman family usually had more rooms downstairs, and might have a fully floored upper storey for sleeping, though that was still reached by ladder not a staircase. It is presumed that any people who could not manage ladders would bed themselves down on the lower floors. Most beds were straw filled pallets. Homeowners could expect beds with frames on which hangings for warmth and privacy could be attached, but other family members in the same household were not always so lucky. Servants did not expect any covering on their beds beyond an over sheet, and maybe not even that.

William, Lord Paget had Great Marlow Manor by grant from Queen Mary in 1554. The manor had been in Crown hands since early in the reign of Henry 8th. Tucher Bold had Harleyford Manor Marlow from 1516. In 1542 he got a license to have a preacher there to officiate worship as his home was so far from the parish church in Marlow. William Lord Paget ended up holding both Harleyford and Great Marlow. The other Marlow manors of the day were Semers or Seymours and Widmere. John, Lord Russell occupied Widmere from 1571. Earlier it was held successively by the Widmere family, the Knight Templars and Knight Hospitallers. 

Little Marlow Manor was in the hands of the abbess of the priory there, until of course the Dissolution.

Commercial life

Marlow is known to have had multiple inns and the like during the 1500s. The Upper Crown existed by 1596 (where Boots is now). Shopkeepers usually served customers from their homes. Marlow for generations had had two fairs a year which provided additional retail opportunities, as did the weekly market. In later times this market focused on meat sales but there is no reason to think it was not a general market in the 1500s.

Self-sufficiency was key for most people rather than commercial consumption. A cottage's garden was the medicine chest, perfumery, and culinary flavouring resource for it's residents. Some would keep bees for honey. It is often said that honey was the only sweetener available in England before the arrival of sugar but that is not strictly true. Sweet birch sap, and pollen from various flowers were available. Sucking the sweet young flowers of white dead nettles was the 1500s version of sucking a lollypop for the kids. Linden tree blossom could also be sucked as a sweet and made into a floral scented tea. The roots and leaves of angelica plants, cultivated in gardens also sweetened dishes.

The Bridge 

There had been a bridge crossing the Thames at Marlow since at least the late 1200s. It is presumed that the bridge of 1500s Marlow and earlier stood at the bottom of St Peter Street, as the new bridge constructed in the 1780s certainly did. Davy Shirwood / Sherwood left money for the repair of Marlow Bridge in his 1524 will. Historically the people of Marlow seem to have been pretty poor at maintaining their bridge despite our bridge trustees having multiple pieces of land in their hands to rent out and thus gain income for necessary repairs. 

The People

While most people were not too far ranging during their lifetime it shouldn't be presumed that all the residents of the town in the 1500s were from ancient Marlow families. Not many of the last names of 1500s Marlovians were names that had been present in the 1400s and vice versa, implying plenty of population movement, even if it was only to and from the wider local area. A 1524 tax list for the town shows us one resident had come much further away - Henry Conrade the Dutchman. He'd be subject as a foreigner to additional tax. His occupation isn't known though quite a few Dutch and Flemish iron workers came to England at this time. I have some in my own family, though they set up in the Sussex Weald, a known iron making area, rather than Buckinghamshire. 

The countryside

It is an open question as to how native the beech woods of South Buckinghamshire are. What we see today may be largely the result of human manipulation due to the needs of the later furniture trade. That's not to say that beech trees are not native to England, or that the woods around Marlow did not anciently contain beeches. It is thought however that the woods started out as a mix of beech and other native species, most of which were slowly removed by humans so that mixed woodland became beech dominant woodland.  Whatever woods there were would have been used as foraging spots for Marlow's free ranging domestic pigs by those residents who had pannage rights.

Work

Agricultural labouring would have occupied the majority of men, and women also worked on the land as a matter of routine. Marlow wills suggest that sheep were the predominant livestock kept in the town. Married couple Margaret and Reynold Shirwood who died within days of each other, probably from a contagious illness, in 1528 mention in their wills growing barley and wheat. They were clearly doing well as Margaret specified that her farm cart is a horse cart. Horses were expensive and the use of oxen was more usual. She also talked of the ploughs and harrows that she possessed in plural terms, so we know that she and Reynold could make use of at least two teams of workers at once when it came to ploughing and harrowing.

Farms known to have existed in the 1500s are: Blounts, Seymour Court Farm then just known as Seymours or Seymers and presumably part of the lost manor of Seymers, Hawkins Farm, and in Little Marlow Monkton Farm. Most of what we now consider Marlow would have been only farmland. Large swathes of land, were kept as common fields and divided into strips for individual holders. This system would continue for many years after the 1500s.

Field boundaries where they existed historically in England were mostly banks and ditches with a hedge of hawthorn atop the bank. Hawthorn known then as quickthorn or maythorn was chosen as it makes such a good animal barrier. Hedgerows were also strategically planted at intervals with those trees whose leaves provided extra fodder for livestock (cows love young lime leaves and other trees have foliage that can be dried and used for animals in the winter), or berries and hazelnuts for humans. 

Even those who had other trades frequently farmed some land as well. 

I published a reconstructed 1500s trade directory on the blog last year which can be read here. As you will see from that post I found multiple men in Marlow occupied as bargemen, butchers, carpenters, innkeepers (who were often brewers too or at least their wives were), shoemakers and weavers. We also found one off individuals who were bakers, blacksmiths, drapers, glove makers, millwrights, and wood merchants. Obviously we can recover traces of the occupations of only a fraction of Marlow people during this time. Commercial fisherman on the Thames at Marlow are known earlier and later so we can safely presume they existed in the 1500s. 

Servants in grand houses such as the manors were usually male with the exception of laundresses and dairy maids. Only less well off families employed female servants (who were cheaper but carried no distinction). The male and female employees of farming families were routinely referred to as servants despite spending much of or all of their day out working on the land rather than in tasks we would associate with "servants". The word servant also referred to trade apprentices and shop assistants.

Young boys were sent out to fulfill apprenticeships as far afield as London if the example of young Peter Russell of Marlow apprenticed in 1512 is anything to go by.

Religion

The All Saints of the 1500s (not the church we see today) seems to have had a chapel dedicated to Saint Mary and probably still had an altar sacred to Saint Anne as it had done back in 1495 when Radulph Carter wrote his will and mentioned it. When chantry chapels were shut down by Henry 8th the one at Marlow was worth £8 13 shillings and 4 pence. The chantry priest then was a Sir James Grai (Grey, Gray, one of the most common last names in 1500s Marlow, probably in fact the most common).

The church warden accounts of the late 1500s show that the church bells, the ringing apparatus and the clock (vital for the town as virtually no one had any timepiece at home) required constant expenditure. A visit by Elizabeth 1st to Bisham caused one of the bells to be hastily mended in order for her to be saluted. Well you didn't want to upset Queen Lizzie did you? The church bells in the late 1500s were routinely rung at the anniversary of her coronation and on St Hugh's Day. I know what you're thinking- Saint who? Hugh's not well known today but he was once Bishop of Lincoln and Lincoln was the mother church of Marlow. Wills of 1500s Marlovians often mention gifts to the mother church as well as to Marlow church itself. Hugh's feast day was in November. He was the patron saint of amongst other things sick children, and appropriately for Marlow, swans. His pet swan at Lincoln had guarded him while he slept and followed him everywhere he went. 

Above, medieval St Hugh. Public domain image.

In 1595 some players were paid by the church to "play" in the "church loft" the location of which isn't certainly known. Presumably these were performing a religious play for the townspeople. The payment was made in May, the traditional time for Mummers plays. As well as the Church Loft there was also an unplaced "church house" in Marlow. Church lofts are referenced elsewhere, including at West Wycombe, where it was a separate building (and still exists). The phrase could also refer to the musicians' gallery common to churches then and which was usually sited above the rood screen. Plays could be performed on such galleries.

The churchwardens had custody of a set of morris dancing costumes. They were willing to let other parishes borrow these. What morris dancing, rooted as it was in pagan pre-Christian rituals, was thought to have to do with the work of the church is anyone's guess. May Day or midsummer celebrations were the main times for Morris dancing in Tudor England. 

Talking of unusual articles kept in a church, in some earlier Tudor parishes a communal plough was stored there ready for anyone to borrow but there is no evidence of this occurring in Marlow church.

At Little Marlow stood a church dedicated to St John and a small, moated Benedictine priory dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The priory was home to five to six nuns at a time. Margaret Vernun, prioress at the time of the Dissolution, received a transfer to the famous abbey of Malling in Kent, which would have been a significant promotion- albeit a short lived one as that was also forced to close just a couple of years later. The priory site at Little Marlow was given briefly to Bisham Abbey then leased to Elizabeth Restwold and John Titley. Elizabeth was already leasing some of the Priory's other lands when the nuns first left.

Margaret Vernun's origin is unknown but she was clearly from a wealthy family, most prioresses were. Before being based at Little Marlow she had served at St Albans. Margaret was a friend of Thomas Cromwell, to whom she wrote many times. How they met is unknown but the friendship was genuine. She kept and educated his son Gregory at her priory, and it appears Thomas visited her socially at Little Marlow. She and her other nuns had also gone to dine with him and invited him to Little Marlow in return. Entertaining one of the King's senior ministers was perfectly acceptable for a cloistered woman. Nuns in this era don't generally seem to have been as closed off from the world of men as we might suppose, indeed it wasn't an option for any prioress or abbess to live that way. They were landlords and administrators of the finances of their institution, ladies of business. The priory held lands not only in Little Marlow, but at various times also at Great Marlow, Hambledon, High Wycombe, Penn, Taplow, Wendover, Colebrook, Weston Turville, Beaconsfield and Benfield in Berkshire. At one point Margaret borrowed money from Cromwell in order to buy some extra land for the priory which she knew she could quickly turn a profit on. 

The nuns of course had a live-in male chaplain for mass and confession. In 1835 Margaret paid him £5 6 shillings 8d a year. At least one priest engaged by Margaret for her nuns at Little Marlow brought with him his own pupil which he had previously been engaged to educate. It was the norm for parish priests to supplement their incomes by taking in pupils so it is likely that the priest at All Saints church in Marlow had his own little "school" too. No other known educational provision existed in 1500s Marlow.

The taking in of both male and female residential pupils was also very common for 1500s priories. Cromwell junior had left Margaret not long before the Dissolution but Margaret was hoping towards the end of the Priory's life to negotiate the arrival of new residential pupil, a little girl that she had heard of as staying in Bisham. Margaret hoped that if she came the girl would be a comfort to Margaret in her "old age". We know she had had multiple pupils at St Albans and pupils before Gregory Cromwell at Little Marlow too. Such children came from well off families and it is presumed those families paid well for the privilege. A male teacher was provided by his father for Gregory Cromwell at the Little Marlow Priory with Margaret supervising his work. Another little boy shared his lessons. The bringing in of outside teachers seems to have been the usual way of serving the pupils in priories.

As well as her income from pupils and land rentals Margaret raised money by selling wood. The priory owned 8 acres of woodland. Her priory was also entitled to offerings from a chapel at Colebrook, for unknown reasons.

Margaret's distress at the impending loss of her Little Marlow home was poured out in her letters. She pleaded with Cromwell to do what he could for her and her fellow nuns. He secured her the Malling post.When Malling too stood on the brink she again wrote asking to be allowed to sell one of the manors belonging to Malling to fund either a one off lump sum retirement payment or ongoing pensions for her nuns. There was only so much Cromwell could do. In the end the manor sell off was not allowed to take place but Margaret did manage to secure a £40 a year pension for herself.

The closure of Little Marlow happened over several months. First the king's men came to assess whether any nuns aged under 24 were present and if so to declare them no longer nuns. The state didn't want young people starting out in the cloistered life. Margaret had 3 such women and the day they were ordered out she lost most of her community. A few months later the priory was shut entirely and Margaret and her last remaining colleague left. Four servants and a priest lost their places along with the nuns.

Before the Dissolution Henry 8th happily allowed the persecution of the growing number of Protestants in the country who were challenging Catholic beliefs. Marlow did not escape these persecutions. At some point between 1518 and 1521 John Gardiner of Marlow reported his own sister Agnes, by marriage Agnes Ward, also of Marlow for blasphemous (as in Protestant) beliefs. He also pointed the finger at a slew of other Marlovians at the same time, including Reynold Shirwood we heard of earlier in this post. There were clearly other snitches and spies about- poor John "Simonnds" and his wife (probably the same woman as Mrs John "Simon" above) were on a separate occasion charged with having a book of the Gospels written in English. This was a great crime as it implied you were exploring your faith yourself rather than relying on the interpretation from Latin of your approved local priest. Another time John and Isabel Gardiner of Marlow -the same John?- had to be forced to swear to the fact that they had heard Thomas Rave (perhaps Reeve) of Marlow say that pilgrimages were worthless and chapels dedicated to the saints pointless. Rave was already in trouble having been ordered to go to the Bishop of Lincoln to do penance for an unknown religious offence. Whilst in Lincoln he disrupted mass and was clearly unrepentant. The Bishop got rid of him to finish his penance in High Wycombe, unsuccessfully. The fate of the other accused Marlovians is not known to me.

Both Margaret and Reynold Shirwood, and other 1500s residents asked to be buried in the churchyard of Marlow. Burial inside the church itself required deep pockets. The Shirwoods could have afforded it but some people thought expensive memorials an example of sinful pride so would not ask for them regardless. Outside graves were not typically permanently marked in this era. 

Written and researched by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors.

Selected Sources=

The Urban Experience: A Sourcebook : English, Scottish, and Welsh Towns, 1450-1700. Kiribati, Manchester University Press, 1983.

Copy of returns of vintners, innkeepers and alehousekeepers 1577 Bucks Archives ref=

D-X423/1 bucks archives

The Cottage Homes of England by Helen Allingham and Stewart D-ck 1909 published by Edward Arnold, London (population increase).

The Holinshed Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland Volume 1, compiled by Raphael Hollinshed for the Stationers Company, 1577, London.

History and Topography of Buckinghamshire by James Joseph Sheahan, published by Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1862.

Many wills including those of Thomas Bevington, Reynold Shirwood, Margaret Shirwood, David Shirwood, Robert Sands. All are at the National Archives.

The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe by John Foxe, revised edition published by Seeley's of London 1856.

Home Counties Magazine article by Miss E.M Walford  (quoting bridge land property records from 1617) https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Home_Counties_Magazine.html?id=_HIaAQAAIAAJ#v=onepage&q=Marlow%20%22high%20street%22&f=false 1899 published by F.E Robinson. Volume one.

Records of Buckinghamshire Volume 5 compiled by James Pickburn 1878 for Buckinghamshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, Aylesbury. Via Google Books. 

Peter Russell of Marlow apprenticeship https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5522927

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_of_Lincoln

Account of the Nunnery of Little Marlow by Walter De Gray Birch, published in Records Of Buckinghamshire Volume 4, 1871. Via the Archaeology Data Service https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3254649&recordType=Journal

Reading and Writing during the Dissolution: Monks, Friars and Nuns  1530-58 by Mary C. Earlier. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Memorials of the Danvers Family (of Dauntsey and Culworth) by Francis Nottidge Macnamara published by Hardy and Page 1895, London. Via Google Books.

Historic England record for Little Marlow Priory https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record?titleId=1036080

Lovelace vs unknown Six Clerks Office National Archives ref=

C 1/1306/53

Bowers and bandstands - Higginson Park as it might have been

This post is going to be a guide to Higginson park as it might have been and once was. The projects that were planned and proposed but never happened - from romantic bowers to lidos and bandstands.  I will mention a few things that the beautiful park has lost such as the small ornamental lake and the children's sandpit. And I will cover some of the less expected history of the park - such as the desire by some not to buy it at all! I'm going to focus on the 1920s -1940s - the first 20 years of the public parks existence. So first some background..

General Higginson gives his name - and some cash 

Higginson park is about to celebrate its 100th birthday as a public park. It was formerly part of the garden and  grounds attached to Court Garden house.  Perhaps it's age is why many people have forgotten why it bears the General's name. I've often been told it was because Higginson lived at Court Garden or bought it and  donated it to the town directly. Neither is true. Higginson did come to own part of the Court Garden estate (purchased in a previous estate sale) but he never lived at the house. His home was Gyldernscroft, on the Henley Rd. When it was the General's 100th birthday in 1926, it was decided to mark the occasion by raising a subscription fund to purchase at least part of the Court Garden Estate which was for sale.  This would be named Higginson park. If the General had not celebrated a significant birthday that year, the park may still have been purchased as there had been agitation to provide a facility like this for years.  The idea of purchasing part of the grounds for the town and that of doing something to mark the Generals centenary were not immediately linked. Boys school headmaster and town councillor Victor Kibblewhite appears to have been the first person to publicly voice the idea of joining up the two schemes - he did not suggest naming the park after Higginson but thought some kind of memorial to him could be placed there. 

The Higginson link certainly gave an impetus for non local people in particular to make donations in honour of the General. Given the public call for subscriptions this obviously wasn't a surprise "gift" for Sir George, who himself donated money to the park purchase fund. This included £300 gathered by well-wishers and presented to him at one of his hundredth birthday celebrations, this one hosted on the lawns of Harleyford Manor. More birthday money came to the fund from Higginson later. 

Credit should also be given to the family of the last private owners of the estate - the family of Robert Griffin who died in 1921. He lived at the house for a long time. The estate was first offered for sale in 1923 but the reserve price was not reached. While the estate remained open to purchase by private treaty, the surviving Griffin family allowed the use of the gardens for various charity and public events. My favourite of these was the 1925 August bank holiday extravaganza complete with a "motor rodeo" involving both motor cycles and cars in somewhat odd gymkhana like competitions. Motor cycle football match anyone? 

In 1926 Court Garden was again offered for sale. By this time the General Higginson Centenary Birthday fund had decided to go for the estate purchase for use as a public park. Griffin's children offered to accept  what was regarded by some as a low price for the whole in addition to making substantial donations to the purchase fund but agreement could not be made due to wide divergence in the respective parties valuations. The Griffin children still paid a four figured sum into the fund! The park purchase committee managed to buy some of the estate at the sale in May 1926 and to reach agreement to buy further lots including the house itself, by private treaty afterwards. What they didn't actually have was the funds to pay for most of it - the overdraft used to pay was guaranteed by generous locals including Frederick Cathcart of Three Gables* and ex Borlase head the Rev  Canon Michael Graves.  Some of the estate was sold on to others, and some strips of land were offloaded by the park purchasers later. 

The disused lodge. 

Do we even want it? 

It's fair to say selling the idea of buying the park and garden was an easier sell to many than the idea of buying Court Garden House itself. Just what will we do with it was the cry. The fear was always that the cost of the maintenance would "fall on the rates" - that is it would be paid for out of local taxation. The house was a separate lot and so in theory they could have left it or possibly sold it on. Canon Graves - who headed purchase efforts - said in 1933 the committee formed to buy the park didn't really want the house but they did want a piece that went with it and so found that to have one they had to have the other. However at the time of purchase General Higginson had expressed the wish the estate should remain whole and it would have been difficult perhaps to ignore that. 

 Cllr George Sawyer said he couldn't see the house was either wanted or needed by the town and it didn't seem the purchasers had any plan for it. But cllr Rev G H Jones disagreed - he said to lose Court Garden would be to "rip the heart" out of the estate. One idea was that Court Garden could be developed by a private company with a club below and flats above. Others thought the house should just be off loaded as the proceeds could pay off the debt on the remainder of the estate. But at a meeting of park purchase subscribers, townsman W J Morgan pointed out that they would probably not be able to sell the house unless they included some of the park with it - probably the part of the estate he thought was finest, the lawns sweeping down to the river. 

An anonymous letter to a newspaper in April 1927 also felt the purchase of the park as a whole was unnecessary. The writer  said the town was surrounded by lovely countryside and already had a little used facility in the Riley Recreation Ground. The council also received complaints from people who believed their rents would go up  - as the town with a fine park would be viewed as a more desirable place to live I presume. They admitted that there was a view that the town didn't really want to take on the whole park and the house. The letters were coming to the council because although the park was entirely in the hands of the trustees at this point, their representative Canon Graves said that they were "anxious" to hand the lot to the Council to manage as soon as possible. Mr Cathcart generously  offered to eliminate the remaining debt on the estate if the council agreed to take it on sooner rather than later.  Even so, some councillors were adamant the MUDC should not so. The terms under which they would receive the park had not been thrashed out absolutely so it's understandable there would be reluctance to take a leap in the dark financially speaking. Although some thought Court Garden would be a weight around the council's neck, other members of the council thought that they should only take on the park if they were also given the house. This is because they considered that they would need to let it out on a repairing lease in order to make the park sustainable financially. If the house was retained by the trustees or too many conditions were placed on its use, the park could not pay for itself. 

In the end a Higginson Park Society was formed to manage the house, and the portion immediately in front of the verandah. It was a "limited liability company without capital" holding the land in trust for the town. In 1928 they also took on the  former kitchen garden to develop into sporting facilities. The Marlow Urban District Council would look after the rest. I'm not going to detail all the reasons for the division and and the ins and outs of who would do what. The main point is that the society was created because it was decided the park could only be made to pay for itself if part of it could be closed off and hired out on occasion. It was believed that they could not legally charge admission to or regularly shut off  a public park ran by the council. So in order to have an area sometimes closed off to the public and one to which those organising fetes etc could charge an entrance fee, it was necessary for some of the park to legally remain in the hands of someone else - the Society. 

Princess Mary's Bower 

 

When the park was officially handed over to the town in a ceremony at Court Garden, the purchase price had not been raised but no one let that small detail get in the way of an all out celebration. Special busses ran to Marlow from High Wycombe and cheap fares were offered to the town from as far away as London. The title deeds were ceremonially handed to General Sir George who accepted them on behalf of the town. Entrance to the park wasn't free on the day - it was 1s 6d to get into the grounds, with 5s extra for a coveted seat in the enclosure with a view of the Princess. The park hadn't been laid out properly as there simply wasn't time. In his speech the General light heartedly offered his ideas as to what features the finished park could have. He thought one part should be called Princess Mary's Bower and another nook should be set aside and named the "old generals retreat". That didn't happen.  When a large scale chopping down of trees happened in the park in 1929, Mr Cathcart recalled that some were those that General Higginson had specifically wanted to form his retreat and bower. 

At this point the public were not actually free to roam about but "special arrangements" were made to let them in for a few hours on a Sunday until whatever works the authorities eventually decided to do were completed. Canon Graves explained that until the park has been paid off, it could not be handed over to the council for full public use and therefore it was until that point arrived a private park still. This statement of facts was not as you can imagine universally welcomed. If the purchase committee had more money, Canon Graves said they could afford a park attendant to supervise the public but until then, their access had to be limited to avoid "damage". A collection box would be put at the entrance during the limited open hours as a gentle reminder about the financial position. 

In August 1926 the park hosted its first big event since the hand-over. A fundraising fete to help the park purchase fund attracted an incredible 5000 visitors. Some thought that never such a large crowd had been seen at a Marlow event. The fete included a carnival parade, baby show, maypole dancing, a horticultural show, boxing, Morris dancing, "rustic sports"  and the usual sideshows. Something for everyone! But in November that year, the purchase price had still not been raised. Some land had been sold off from the estate for financial reasons but General Higginson expressed the wish that no more would be. He did not like the idea of developing Court Garden partially into flats either. 

The park in a sorry state

Those responsible for the heroic effort of raising a lot of money in a short time had to act fast with the purchase. Once it was secured, they needed more money to actually develop the park, and this was not as easily obtained. It seems the council did not have much money to care for their portion in the difficult 1920s. In 1928 a reporter visiting on a pleasant sunny Whitsun Sunday was surprised to find the park virtually empty of visitors and in a "sadly neglected" condition.  Even the entrance gates to the tow path hung broken.  The estate had also suffered repeated vandalism. The first prosecutions related to this came in 1928 when three Marlow youths were found to have stolen some croquet mallets and used them to damage the iron verandah of Court Garden. Their excuse? They were using the mallets to smash conkers and the ironwork just got in the way! 

The horses still used by the council in their work were allowed to graze in the locked park at night to help keep the grass in trim. 

The house itself was also neglected. The council had first agreed to use part of it as their offices in 1931 but they did not act on this resolution straight away. It was hoped to develop the rest into a "public room" and a museum - both of which did materialise although not immediately. But a reporter touring the house in 1933 was absolutely shocked at its condition. He could not believe it's interior could have deteriorated so much in just the 7 years since it was sold to the trustees. He said it had been left virtually derelict the whole time. One of the ceilings upstairs had fallen in, the wall paper was hanging from the walls, and one of the fireplaces was cracked. The Higginson Park Society said they just didn't have the money to look after it. They'd managed to hire it out for some events such as whist drives but a lack of modern heating and lighting limited this income. The national newspapers were apparently bemoaning the lost opportunity to provide a fitting legacy to General Higginson - it was pointed out the councils portion of the park didn't even have any benches. 

Canon Graves offered a solution - he would advance the money for the renovation and redecorating of the house if the council agreed to take the whole building over. They would only have to pay interest on this during his life, and any remaining debt would be cancelled on his death. (Canon Graves died in 1934, apparently before even the first payment back to him had been made.) This was agreed and the Higginson Park Society decided to grant the council a 99 year lease for the house. The council took financial responsibility for the whole estate in 1937 when the Society was in financial straights, and then full control of all parts in 1955 for the same reason. 

Additions that never materialised

In 1928 Bucks County Council were considering one of a myriad of schemes to potentially replace or improve Marlow bridge. They proposed buying a portion of the park near the drive to the river side Dunstable House to make a wider and more impressive entrance to the town and the potential new bridge.  Canon Graves, who was a councillor, suggested if the county council was going to poach some land, why not make them also set back the existing wall of the park bordering the causeway by 12ft and make a wonderful spacious approach to the river. The new boundary wall could have seats set in it and one of the arches from the demolished suspension bridge could be saved and put up in the park. A highly fashionable rock garden could sit below.  The new bridge was not of course built and so the park was not cut up. The council favoured lowering the high solid brick wall anyway because it was regarded as blocking views both into and out of the park. But lack of funds meant this was a non starter until 1933/4 when the current lay out of mixed brickwork and iron railings was adopted. At this time unemployment was high in Marlow and a subscription funded Unemployment Relief Committee had been formed. Money raised was used for direct aid to the needy but also to subsidise works that would provide employment but which might not get off the ground without some financial incentives. The Marlow unemployed did the wall reconstruction under this scheme, made the bank up against it and also raised the level of the regatta enclosure. This area of the park  bordering the Causeway was now forming the appearance it now shares - although the railings are no longer painted green and black. 

Lidos were a popular feature in the 1930s and numerous plans and schemes were afoot to provide one in Marlow. It was felt Marlow was no longer attracting as many tourist as it formerly did, partly because it did not have enough alternative attractions to the river compared to other towns. A lido would draw people in they thought. Serious plans were prepared for two possible sites in 1932 - one in Higginson park near the old boat house (near the first little bridge you pass over on the towpath on the way towards Henley) and another spot in a meadow close by. A tea garden would accompany that.  The council hoped to take advantage of grants from schemes to ease high unemployment but they were told lidos did not qualify. The idea surfaced repeatedly in the future but Marlow never got a lido. (We did have an existing bathing place though. See link below.) 

A bandstand was a popular requested feature, not least by Marlow Town Band. The council always met these requests with the same answer - no money but if the band wanted to raise the money themselves they would let them put one up. As the band often struggled to raise funds for new uniforms or instruments, this scale of fundraising just wasn't possible for them. The council did allow them to play in the park on a Sunday afternoon on a regular basis.  

Other non starting projects include a proposed bronze second world war memorial, and some kind of ornament to mark the 1935 royal silver jubilee. 

Perhaps the most forgotten would be used of the park land was as a home for Marlow Football Club. In 1925 the committee of the Alfred Davis Memorial Fund, looking for a site for a football ground and general sports facility, had viewed Court Garden with a view to purchase a portion, with or without the house. They unanimously decided that it was "not suitable for a sports club" and chose instead the current site at Star Meadow as it was then known. 

The Guards Memorial Gates 

There was once a plan to have an elaborate set of gates at the entrance from Pound Lane facing Station Rd, which would act as a memorial to General Higginson - other than the rest of the entire park obviously! That entrance did get iron gates but whether they bore a commemorative inscription is uncertain. These have a somewhat confused history overall. It seems the Grenadier Guards had expressed a wish to provide a memento of their esteem for their General. They had presented him with £120 on the occasion of his 100th birthday, a sum which was included in the money handed by the General to the park purchase fund. This £120 had strings attached though - it was to be used for the specific purpose of some kind of commemoration of the gift.  In 1927 it was fixed that the main entrance to the park would be that in the corner mentioned above. At the same time it was stated by the Marlow Urban District Council that the "Guards Memorial Gate" would be positioned there so that is presumably the form of the gift commemoration decided upon.  They would be fashioned in either wood or ironwork said the Bucks Free Press. Reports of Marlow Urban District Council meetings in December 1928 mention that the proposed gates would bear the inscription "These gates were presented to General Sir George W A Higginson, G C B, GG.C.V.O by members of the First Guards Club on his attaining the age of 100". It seems as mentioned above that a sum to purchase the gates (or some other monument) was actually what was presented on that occasion so it's possible the potential inscription is misreported. If a set of gates were actually given to the General then in expectation of being erected in Higginson Park, they had not been erected yet. The uncertainty of the future of the wall to which they would be partially attached because of the bridge rebuild scheme mentioned above was cited as a reason for delay. Later that month the Bucks Free Press reported that Mr Cathcart was submitting to the council a design for entrance gates which were to form a Guards Memorial at the park, along with ornamental  shields and a proposed inscription. In January 1929 no ornamental  gates were yet present but a tender from Marlow builders Lovells was accepted for putting them up.  The newspapers were referring to it  as the "Guards Memorial Gate", noted that "the Guards" would fit most of the bill for erection and that it was intended as a memorial to Higginson (and no mention of it also commemorating the Guards gift of money.) Canon Graves hoped a member of the Life Guards could be invited to formerly unveil them. I have not been able to find any positive evidence that any official opening ceremony occured.  

In May 1929 Lovells was asking for their money, so presumably the gates were in place - the council replied they would pay them once they had received promised cash from the "Guards Memorial Fund". Rev G H Jones was disappointed with the gates as he expected them to be "much more impressive". If the gates were up, they were apparently minus an inscription which seems odd.  Mr Cathcart had again forwarded plans for the design of the dedication to the council but I don't know what he wished this latest version to say. The council seems to have got fed up with the issue. They thought that Cathcart had previously agreed to foot the cost of the inscription plates - is this in addition to one from the Guards? Now Cathcart had apparently said the council could have the designs as he had "no use" for them. To which one councillor retorted "neither do we" and the matter was made to "lie on the table". So did they hold any inscription at all in the end? I think part of the problem may have been a dispute Cathcart had with the council and the Higginson Park Society relating to their lopping down of what he regarded as "magnificent" trees. It seems their relations were too low at this point to co-operate on the gates scheme. It's a shame as Cathcart was generous in his gifts to the park. These included 12 seats and various trees. He'd also offered to pay for the smaller pedestrian gate leading from the Causeway. This was to be a lych gate  - but I am not sure this was ever erected in that form. In 1932 the council surveyor was asked to prepare a plan for positioning a wrought iron archway over the main entrance gates with no mention being made of a Guards Memorial, but this was another project shelved on cost grounds. 

Features that have disappeared 

The small disused ornamental lake that was part of the Court Garden pleasure grounds when it was private hands was filled in 1930, partly to save the cost of maintenance. It appears to have been in the north east corner. 

Another feature of the early park was a lot more trees than now. The council and the Higginson Park Society "wrought devastation" by cutting numerous ones down in the first few years of the parks life. They said it was necessary on maintenance or safety grounds. Many disagreed, lawyers were instructed on both sides, but nothing could bring back the trees. Those lost included an avenue of elms leading to the house from the river. Marlow Museum's first curator Francis Colmer in 1934 described this loss as "a wanton act of destruction of public property" and "little less than sheer vandalism".  A number of locals donated trees as well as flowering shrubs to the park, many of which have in turn been removed. 

Here's a list of a few other vanished features of the 20s and 30s - 

- the original Boat House of Court Garden (gone by 1945)

- the second putting green (yes, they had two. Putting tournaments were monthly and a big thing locally)

- shell fish sellers on regatta day (banned 1934 due to the stench of the vast no of discarded shells by regatta goers!) 

- the park attendant. 

- the sandpit (provided 1933)

Everyone welcome ...or are they? 

In 1929 the council had still not settled on the final draft of bye laws that would apply to their part of the park. The Rev G H Jones said this was urgently needed because at the moment it was being used as "some kind of playground" by children. And to our Rev this was would be just the start - "excesses of various sorts were likely to occur there unless some sort of control was in place". At the moment he says the public has full access to the property and he hoped this would be "remedied" by the summer. A month later he was asking for the gates to be locked an hour after sunset as the park was becoming like Hyde Park with "all sorts of undesirable things going on" after dusk! 

 

Later that year it was decided to lop lower branches from various trees in order to stop children climbing them. On the plus side consideration was given to providing some "amusements" for children in 1932. Shortly after a children's playground appeared with swings and a roundabout. These were sited slightly nearer to Pound Lane but were moved as residents there complained about noise. It's hard to think the distance involved in the move would have made much difference noise abatement wise. In 1939 a grant was made by the National Playing Fields Association to provide further play equipment. The park attendant was asked to keep over 14s from using the play park.  He was also asked to keep an eye out for children playing with cricket balls (banned 1934), cyclists (40s fine also in 1934), or horse riders. He complained in 1944 that the removal of the fencing around the park as part of a war metal collecting drive meant his life was getting very difficult. He just could not stop cyclists getting in because the temporary replacements were not tall or substantial enough. 

One final undesirable group of park users. The council agreed in 1929 not to allow political meetings in the park partly because as as Rev Jones said "we could get communists" meeting there. 

A pleasant retreat 

General Higginson expressed the hope that those using the park could rest and forget all "the troubles and annoyances of every day life." He may not have got a part of the park named as the generals retreat but I think most of us will agree that this part of his dream was fulfilled. 

A last word of credit to Mr Vivian A Simon of Stoneyware, Bisham. He purchased the water meadows that formed lot 12 and half of lot 11 from the park purchase fund committee in 1926 when they were in financial need. However he immediately dedicated to public use the river frontage of those lots as well as a strip of land already within his ownership. This secured public access to the riverside walk from Higginson park to the General's Canal (opposite Bisham church). He also pledged not to build on his purchased land or allow his successors to do so. 

Written and researched by Kathryn Day. 

Related posts: 

* Three Gables in Mill Rd was previously known as Thames Lawn - and is not the Thames Lawn that currently bears that name. For more on this house see here

Other posts relating to Court Garden in its pre park days can be found in the index here

The many lives of Riley Recreation Ground - here

The bathing place - here

Index of general posts about Marlow history here

To find info about a specific person use the A-Z person index in the top drop down menu 

© Kathryn Day 

Sources include:

Bucks Herald 31st December 1921, 16th April & 22 May 1926, 18th Jan 1929, 28th April 1933 

Supplement to Country life May 19th 1923

Slough Eton and Windsor Observer - June 25th & 24th September 1926

Advert and programme for the opening ceremony, 1926. 

Bucks Free Press 24th July 1925,  16th April, 15th May, 19th July, 6th August  1926, 28th January & 4th March 1927, 10th February 1928, 11th January & 8th November 1929, 9th October 1930, 6th December 1932, 17th March & 12th May 1933, 6th July & 17th August 1934 

Bucks Examiner 26th July 1926 

Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News 10th July 1926 

Marlow Urban District council reports  August 1927, Feb 1928, May 1929, October 1930 

Marlow official town guide 1931 & 1969 editions. 

Saffron Warden Weekly News 21st May 1926.

Advertising poster, Bucks County Motor Club  motor rodeo, 1925 

Will Summary Edward Thorne of Medmenham

 Edward Thorne. Will written 1691, proved 1692.

Says he sick and weak but has a sound and perfect memory. The uncertainty of life and a desire to have his affairs in order mean he is writing his will.

Commends soul to Almighty God.

To be decently buried at the discretion of his executors.

To his honoured father John Thorne £200 plus for the term of his natural life the interest on another sum of £100. After his life that interest to go equally to testator's mother in law Elizabeth Thorne [the term mother in law in this era could also mean step mother which just might be the case here] and her mother ?Petly? during the term of their natural lives. After their deaths it to be equally distributed amongst testator's maternal uncles and aunts.

To grandfather and mother Hill £100

Uncle Richard Hill £40.

Uncle Edward Hill £20

Aunt ?Commens? £30

Aunt S.....en £20

Aunt Martin £20

Uncle George Thorne £10

To the wives of his ?uncles? £5

To Mrs ?Oakley? a five pound piece of gold and all hops at John Celle's forever.

To Martha Robinson .... pounds and five shillings.

To Elizabeth Lawrence £1

To the poor people of Medmenham £1

Jono Redding £1

Cousin Mary S....s £2

Cousin Mary Co...n £2

Cousin David Dickonson £1

Cousin Deane £1

Cousin Amey Dickonson £1

Cousin Thomas Stephens the younger £1

To Jonas Redding 10 shillings to buy a ring

To Gabriel Page the younger 10 shillings to buy a ring

Goddaughter Amey ?Commens? £5

The rest of his estatate to Mrs Sarah Duffield and Mrs Mary Smith who are appointed executors of the will.

Witnessed by John Elliott, William Carter, and William Robinson.

If my reading of the Latin probate is correct probate was granted to Mary Smith with power to execute also reserved to Sarah Duffield if she was to come to ask for it.

Transcribed and summarised here by Charlotte Day.

Will is held at the National Archives, Kew.

I transcribed it and then summarized it here.

Over 100 wills from Marlow and surrounding villages are in the blog see the Wills Index here

 All mentions of any individual on this blog can be found by consulting the A-Z Person Index. Over 10,000 people are now mentioned.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my transcript for local or family history purposes with credit to this blog.