In 1771 5 tenements with garden plots were up for auction in Gun Lane.
In 1786 there was a gentleman's house called The Garrison there. Previously this had been used as a military Garrison but went out of that use circa 1777. Whether it was actually built for military use is uncertain.
There was a family by the name of Gunne in Marlow at that time, interestingly so the name Gun Lane may not derived from any military linkage.
The Garrison building went through various uses of which this post gives details.
Beyond the cottages shown above with the white painted chimney on the side (which had been built by 1824) there are no historic homes still standing though there are the buildings once used as the Police Court and Police Station as well as Holy Trinity Church which opened in 1852.
One of the cottages above was the Three Horseshoes pub from at least 1824 to at least 1851, not to be confused with the pub of the same name outside of town. In 1833 the pub had sheds and two gardens, one of them a large one. The combined estimated value of the property was £14 a year.
The landlord between 1824 and his death in 1838 was William Hoare. After him Charles Hoare and his wife Charlotte took over. These two left at some point in the 1850s, going on to run other pubs in Dean Street and Chapel Street. I found no further trace of the pub after the Hoare's departure, indeed their daughter said it closed when the church opened. (See here for more on this pub and the Hoares). One of the cottages was later the home of the sexton of Trinity Church Jeremiah Harding who was also the gardener for the house The Glade in Glade Road, later known as the Cedars.
The Police station dates from the 1850s with the Police Court extension added 1869. It has a dedicated post of it's own here
Gun Lane, Gun Place and Dean Street were amongst the poorest parts of town throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. Dean Street was also the most densely populated area and thus a regular address to which Marlow criminals belonged. Erecting the police buildings in Gun Lane just off from there was the authorities sending a message of intent!
I am sure that was welcomed by many Gun Lane residents. In 1829 "a poor woman" was robbed of her watch in the lane for instance.
The wall on the left in the photo marks the boundary of the garden grounds of the former house The Rookery. They are now a park. For a full history of this house and the people associated with it see the post
here.
Researched and written by Charlotte Day. Photo by Kathryn Day.
Sources:
Reading Mercury 30th December 1771 and 27th March 1786. Bucks Gazette 25th April 1829. Copies held at the British Library Archives and accessed by me via the BNA March 2021.
1841-61 census my transcription from microfilm.
Original property records held by my family and transcribed by me.
Historic pubs research by Kathryn Day.
1833 Parish Assessment original copy owned by our family. Content uploaded here gradually.
© Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this image or research for family or local history purposes if you credit this blog and link here so that the sources listed above do not lose credit for the information they provided. Thanks.
