This is thought to be a very old right of way, leading towards the river from West Street. A 1760s map shows it almost as a roadway but in the 1600s it was a footway used as a short cut to the Parish Church. The "Potlands" which gave the way its name was described in the late 1600s as two closes of arable land (seems to be the modern West Street carpark and what later became the walled vegetable garden of Remnantz, now built over both to the right of you if you are in the the alley and facing away from West Street which is the same direction from which this photograph was taken) with this alley running beside it called The Way To Potlands or Potlands Lane or simply The Footway To The Church or Church Lane* before that. There was a style from the footway / alley / lane giving access to those closes of arable next to it.
There are shown a few buildings beside the lane on the 1760s map but you can't tell what sort of usage they were put to. By the 1820s however there were certainly cottages, sheds and workshops on what is now the car park. They were small and higgledy piggledy in lay out, hidden from West Street by a row of tiny cottages facing out onto West Street. Some of these were owned by Owen Wethered in the 1830s. I am aware of some other owners and residents in the earlier 1800s too. These cottages, and all those on Potlands are long gone.
It was a reasonably poor area, though not the poorest in Marlow. The cottages in Potlands did not receive running water until 1902/3. It was however an area well served by wells.
* Church Lane can also refer to Church Passage
See who was living Potlands in 1833 here
A detailed post about the 1800s people of Potlands is available here. A higher than normal proportion of the men there worked as gardeners, domestic and market.
To find people of interest to you on the blog choose the Person Index on the drop down menu. More West Street content can be found on this menu.
©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use my research with credit.
No comments:
Post a Comment