Exhibition of Prints at Aylesbury Museum 27 February - 2 July 2016:
Listing of items for display
BULSTRODE PARK, GERRARDS CROSS
BULSTRODE, Buckinghamshire
BAS 1/10. Historic Views 34. Drawn by Richard Corbould; engraved by [W.] Walker. 1794. Copper
engraving overworked in watercolour. 4 in. x 6.5 in.
An estate at Bulstrode has existed since the medieval period and came into the possession of Bisham
Abbey, which on the dissolution of the monasteries was granted to Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII as
part of her divorce settlement. In 1676 George, Lord Jeffreys of Wem (Judge Jeffreys of the ‘Bloody
Assizes’) acquired the estate and rebuilt the former house with an imposing classical red brick front.
After his death in the Tower of London it was acquired by William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland; he
and his successors remodelled it in several stages, while the gardens were landscaped in the 1790s to
the designs of Humphry Repton. The 3rd Duke of Portland employed James Wyatt to add a castellated
wing. The house was sold in 1809 to the 11th Duke of Somerset.
This print shows the house in 1794; a second print shows it after the remodelling of 1861.
BULSTRODE PARK
BULSTRODE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: One of the Seats of the Duke of Somerset – Mr. BENJAMIN
FERREY, ARCHITECT
BAS 4/15. From The Builder, 14 December 1861. Black and white. 7 in. x 11.5 in.
The 12th Duke of Somerset demolished the Wyatt house at Bulstrode using the architect Benjamin
Ferrey to build a new house in the Victorian Gothic Revival style. This print shows the architect’s
plan in 1861 for a project which was finally completed in 1870.
In recent times the house has become a centre of a Christian evangelical agency.
DITTON PARK, SLOUGH
Ditton Park, Buckinghamshire
BAS 3/32. Historic Views 45. Drawn by J.P. Neale; engraved by J.C. Verrall. 1818. Etching and
colour aquatint. 3.5 in. x 5 in.
There has been a house at Ditton since the 13th century, when Sir John de Molyns, Treasurer to
Edward III, inherited it and was granted permission to create a park. In the early 17th century Sir
Ralph Winwood rebuilt an earlier house. In 1790 this was inherited by Elizabeth, daughter of George,
Duke of Montagu and wife of the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch. This house was burned down in 1812 and
was rebuilt about 1817 in the Gothic Style of the architect William Atkinson as shown in this print.
The house was used by the Admiralty in WW1 and later for research into Radar; it is now used a
wedding venue.
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DITTON PARK GARDENS
Ditton Park, the Seat of Lord Montague
BAS 1/34. Drawn by J. Hakewill; engraved by L. Byrne. 1820. 5.25 in. x 8 in.
There has been an estate at Ditton Park since at least the 11th century, although the present grounds
were laid out in the 18th century by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The estate now covers about 200
acres, and is designed in the English Landscape style with lakes, bridges and follies. The park’s size
was reduced by the construction of the M4 motorway to the south.
Sir John Molyns, Treasurer to Edward III, inherited the manor of Ditton c. 1330. The following year
he was granted permission to embattle his house and in 1335 he was given a licence to impark c. 40
acres. In the mid 15th century the estate reverted to the Crown and Princess Mary, later Mary I, spent
part of her early life at Ditton (1517-21). Cardinal Wolsey resided there in the late 1520s and later it
was granted to Anne Boleyn.
In 1607, when surveyed by John Norden, the Park occupied c 220 acres, had little timber, and
was stocked with deer. On Norden’s map the house is shown as being moated with a formal
garden laid out to the south. In 1615 the estate was granted to Sir Ralph Winwood, then
Secretary of State, who rebuilt the mansion using the existing site. The park was enlarged at this
time.
Between 1762 and 1774 Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was involved at Ditton, at a cost of some
£3,450, using Cornelius Dickinson as his foreman and working for 'Lord Vist. Montague'. The
estate was then in the joint ownership of Sir Edward Hussey Montagu, later Earl Beaulieu, and
George, 4th Duke of Marlborough. Brown had previously been employed by the Duke of
Marlborough at nearby Langley Park, prior to his involvement at Blenheim.
LANGLEY PARK, WEXHAM.
LANGLEY PARK, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/92. Historic Views 48. Drawn by Richard Corbould; engraved by [J.] Walker: n.d. 4 in. x 6.25
in.
A royal deer park at Langley Marish is mentioned in 1202. Edward VI gave it to his sister, Princess
Elizabeth, in 1551. It was sold by the Crown in 1626 to the Chief Steward of the manor of Langley,
Sir John Kederminster. In 1738 it was acquired by the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who used it as a
hunting lodge. The Palladian house shown on the print was built by the 4th Duke between 1756 and
1758.
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was employed to landscape the park between 1763 and 1764, while he
was working at Blenheim. Robert Bateson Harvey acquired the estate in 1788 and in 1867 the park of
300 acres with 220 fallow deer was still in place, making it along with the parks at Ditton and Stoke
Poges among the most ancient in the country.
The house and Park were used as the H.Q. of the Polish army during WW2. The estate remained in
the ownership of the Bateson Harvey family until 1945, when it was acquired by Buckinghamshire
C.C. It was then for a period used commercially but the park has now been restored.
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The print shows the house from the south with Brown’s lake in the foreground. In the 1850s the house
was extended and a large winter garden was added in 1895.
HARTWELL HOUSE, AYLESBURY
HARTWELL HOUSE, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/79. Historic Views 24. Drawn by C. M. Metz; engraved by S. Middiman. 1793. Coloured
etching: 4 in. x 6.5 in.
The estate is mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to William Peverel, the natural son of
William I and it was later the home of John, Earl of Montaigne, later King John. The core of the
present house was built in the early 17th century by Sir Alexander Hampden and was acquired by
marriage by the Lee family in about 1650. In about 1750 the 90 acres of gardens were laid out by
Richard Woods, a follower of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown for Lord Chief Justice Sir William Lee,
who was also Chancellor of the Exchequer for a short time in 1754. Around 1760 the house was
extended by the architect Henry Keene. Other work was done by James Gibbs and James Wyatt.
Between 1809 and 1814 The Rev’d Sir George Lee, let the house to Louis XVIII of France and
Marie-Josephine, the lease coming to an end with the Restoration of the French monarchy after
Napoleon’s first exile in 1814. The French King’s return to France prompted Lord Byron to question
why he would have wanted to leave such a pleasant place as Hartwell, writing in his poem The Age of
Bronze:
‘... Why wouldst thou leave calm Hartwell’s green abode,
Apician* table, and Horatian ode,
To rule a people who will not be ruled, ...’
After Sir George Lee’s death the house was inherited by Dr John Lee, an astronomer and a F.R.S. It
remained in the hands of his family until 1938 when the house, being in a poor state of repair, was
acquired by the philanthropist Ernest Cook, grandson of the travel magnate Thomas Cook, and later
by his Trust. In WW2 Hartwell was used to train British and U.S. troops. In the 1960s and 1970s the
house was used as a girls’ secretarial and finishing school and in the 1980s became an hotel. In 2008
the National Trust took a long lease and the house continues to be run as a luxury hotel.
*Marcus Gavius Apicius was a Roman epicure / glutton of the 1st century A.D. This reference was no
doubt prompted by the French King’s obesity.
GAYHURST
GOTHURST, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
BAS 3/65. Historic Views 1. Drawn by H. Storer; engraved by J. Storer for the Antiquarian and
Topographical Cabinet: 1812. Copper engraving overworked in watercolour. 2.5 in. x 3.5 in.
Gayhurst or Gothurst House (originally ‘Goats Wood’) was built about 1520 for the Nevill family,
who had inherited the estate from the de Nowers family. It was rebuilt in the late 16th century and
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completed by Sir Everard Digby (a Gunpowder Plot conspirator) and was further extended in 1725 by
the Wrighte family. Between 1858 and 1865 it underwent considerable reworking under the architect
William Burgess, acting for the house’s lessee, the 2nd Lord Carrington. This work was roundly
criticised for many years when the Victorian Gothic revival went out of favour. It is nevertheless a
fine and important example of original 16th century domestic architecture. The park was laid out by
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown with further work done by Humphry Repton.
The house was a satellite of Bletchley Park during WW2. It is now known as Gayhust Court and has
been converted into flats. The print shows the house as it was in the late 18th century.
CLIVEDEN HOUSE, TAPLOW.
Cliefden House, near Maiden-head Bridge in the County of Bucks, lately a Palace of His Royal
Highness Frederick late Prince of Wales.
BAS 5/6 (Wyatt collection). Historic Views 42. Drawn by J. Donowell. 1753. Etching overworked in
watercolour and body colour. 9 in. x 15 in.
The first significant house on the site above the River Thames was built around 1666 by William
Wynne for George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. It was acquired in 1696 by George Hamilton, 1st
Earl of Orkney, who later employed Charles Bridgeman to design woodland walks. Between 1737 and
1751 it was leased to Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in 1751; his death was reported as due to a
blow from a cricket ball sustained at a match at Cliveden. It is possible that Lancelot ‘Capability’
Brown worked at Cliveden in the 1770s, when he was consulted by the Earl of Inchiquin, husband of
the 2nd Countess of Orkney, at their nearby estate at Taplow Court. In 1795 the house burned down
and the ruined site was sold in 1824 to Sir George Warrender, 4th Bt., who rebuilt the house. It was
sold in 1849 to the 2nd Duke of Sutherland and after another fire it was rebuilt again by Sir Charles
Barry. It later became the property of the Grosvenor family. In 1893 Cliveden was acquired by
William Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, the husband of Nancy, Lady Astor the first woman M.P. to
take her seat in Parliament (in 1919),* and it remained in the Astor family until 1942, when it was
given to the National Trust. During WW2 a 600 bed hospital was built in the grounds by the Canadian
Red Cross. It has latterly been leased to hotel companies.
The house acquired some notoriety for being the place where Christine Keeler met the Secretary of
State for War, John Profumo leading to a scandal which nearly brought down the Macmillan
Government in 1963.
The print shows the house as remodelled by the 1st Earl of Orkney.
*Constance, Countess de Markiewicz (née Gore-Booth) was elected Sinn Fein M.P. for Dublin St.
Patrick’s in 1918, but in common with other Sinn Fein M.P.s she did not take her seat.
STOKE PARK
Stoke Poges. The Seat of John Penn, Esq
BAS 3/139. Drawn by J. Gendall. n.d. Probably early 19th century. 4.75 in. x 7 in.
An estate at Stoke existed at the time of the Conquest and at the time of the Domesday Survey was
held by Sir William FitzAnsculf and later by his successors the de Stoke and the de Poges families. In
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1331 it was inherited by Sir John de Molines or Molyns, Treasurer to Edward III, who received a
royal licence to enclose three woods. Many of his descendants were soldiers in wars against France or
in the Wars of the Roses. By the mid 16th century Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, rebuilt the
manor house.
The 3rd Earl was obliged to sell the estate and it was then owned from 1598-1644 by the Coke family,
including by the highly influential jurist, Lord Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke, who also owned
Holkham Hall in Norfolk. Coke was instrumental in helping to establish the primacy of the common
law as against the royal prerogative.
The estate was a temporary prison for Charles I in 1647 and subsequently passed through several
hands before it was acquired in 1760 by Thomas Penn, son of William the founder of the Province of
Pennsylvania. When his son John returned to England after 28 years in America, he found the Tudor
Manor House in a very bad state of repair. He built the present mansion to the classical designs of
James Wyatt between 1792 and 1808 using much of the compensation he received for the confiscation
of his share of over 20 million acres in Pennsylvania following the American Revolution. Penn wrote
plays, poetry and political pamphlets, later becoming M.P. for Helston under the patronage of the
Duke of Leeds.
Wyatt also worked on the design for the monuments to honour the poet Thomas Gray (with words
written by John Penn) and to the jurist Sir Edward Coke. The historic parkland was laid out by
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown who designed the grounds and lake in 1750 and Humphry Repton who
improved the landscape and built the Repton Bridge. Sir Edward Landseer was a regular visitor to the
Park and used the park’s deer as models for his paintings.
Wilberforce Bryant, son of the founder of Bryant and May, bought the estate in 1887. In 1908 the
Park was acquired by Nick (Pa) Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthian Football Club. He leased the
mansion and half of the land to create the Stoke Poges Golf and Country Club. In 1928 the mansion
and golf course was acquired by Sir Noel Mobbs, the founder of the Slough Trading Estate and
grandfather of Sir Nigel Mobbs, High Sheriff and later Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.
In 1958 the Eton Rural District Council became the owner and its successor the South Bucks District
Council granted a 250 year lease to IHG Ltd, who sub-leased it to Stoke Park. Stoke Park is now a
country club and hotel. A number of films have been shot at Stoke Park including Goldfinger,
Tomorrow Never Dies and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
JORDANS MEETING HOUSE
Jordaens, the Meeting House of the Society of Friends: Buckinghamshire
BAS 3/88. Drawn by H. de Cort; engraved by Schnebbelie. 1798. Etching. 4.5 in. x 7.5 in.
Constructed in just three months in the autumn of 1688, Jordans is probably the most famous Quaker
meeting house, although others such as that at Brigflatts, near Sedbergh, pre-date it. It was built
shortly after James II’s 1687 Declaration of Indulgence, which allowed non-conformist groups to
worship lawfully for the first time.
It is a simple two storey brick building beneath a hipped roof. The Meeting House suffered a serious
fire in 2005 resulting in the loss of the rear part of the building and the roof. However it was
extensively restored and re-opened for worship in 2008.
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Its graveyard is the burial place of William Penn, the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania and
grandfather of John Penn of Stoke Park. William was the son of Sir William Penn, an eminent
Admiral in Charles II’s reign. William Penn junior developed an antipathy for the established religion
while at Oxford, preferring non-conformist preachers and meetings; he was accordingly expelled from
the university. He also met opposition from his father but on his father’s death he inherited a debt
from the Crown which was exchanged for a tract of land in North America. He visited what became
Pennsylvania and encouraged new colonists by offering land on easy terms. He continued to support
the Quakers and preached with them in England and Ireland until his death in 1718.
William Penn is buried under the mound by the gate and near him are the graves of two other
prominent Quakers – Isaac Pennington and Thomas Ellwood.
PENN WOOD BEECH TREE 1766
An Exact representation of a Surprizing large Beech Tree now growing in Pen Wood, in the county of
BUCKS
BAS 4/87. Drawn on the spot by Wm. Tod May 20 1766 (from the Catalogue of Maps, Prints,
Drawing etc. Vol II, presented by His Majesty King George IV to the British Museum, London 1829).
3.5 in. x 7 in.
Formerly one of the Chiltern’s pasture woodlands, the 436 acres of Penn Wood has a history that can
be traced back to Roman times. The wood served as a source of fuel in Roman Britain for an iron
industry based near Shardeloes and as a ‘chase’ used by Saxon citizens of London. A common pasture
woodland within the 4,000 acres of Wycombe Heath provided commoners from the bordering
parishes of High Wycombe, Hughenden, Little Missenden, Wendover, Amersham and Penn with
rights to graze pigs and cattle, cut underwood, extract chalk, clay and sand for over 1,000 years. It
was a source of ‘tallwood’ in the Middle Ages, transported down the Thames to fuel London’s houses
and glass furnaces.
In the 1850s the wood was enclosed and converted to high forest, and grazing by the commoners
came to an end. It was probably at this time that several of the rides were lined with conifers and
rhododendrons.
The wood’s name probably derives from the Old English term for enclosure or ‘pen,’ dating back to
Anglo-Saxon times when the area was a deer enclosure. The area was such a feature of the
surrounding landscape that it gave its name to the wood and the village.
This view of a pollarded beech tree, reputed to be very old in 1766, gives an indication of a common
land and how its trees were used as pasture woodland. Pollards were cut about 2-3 metres off the
ground leaving a trunk which would sprout new wood, but out of the reach of browsing livestock and
deer.
William Tod, the artist, must have been standing on what is now a windmill in the distance – now
gone - at Holmer Green. Off to the left is the old road which went through Penn Street and the innsign may mark the ‘Hounds and Hare’ on the A404 close to the turning to Mop End. The road going
off to the right, towards High Wycombe, is shown shortly before it was turnpiked.*
Penn Wood is now owned by the Woodland Trust.
*Information from The History of Penn Wood by Miles Green.
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WEST WYCOMBE PARK
A View of the Cascade etc. in the Garden of Sir Francis Dashwood, Bart., & of the Parish Church etc.
at West Wycombe in ye County of Bucks.
BAS 2/169. Historic Views 30. Drawn by William Woollen; etching overworked in watercolour and
body colour. n.d. 6 in. x 10 in.
The West Wycombe estate was owned by the Dormer family in the 17th century until it was acquired
by Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Bt. and his brother Sir Samuel in 1698. The main neo-Classical house
was built in stages during the 18th century, starting in 1724 and completed around 1800.
West Wycombe is on the course of the River Wye and was almost certainly a Roman settlement. It
appears that soon after gaining complete control over the estate in 1708, Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st
Bart put in hand work to dam the river and to create lakes and streams. A further programme of work
to improve the gardens and to add numerous classical follies was managed by Thomas Cook, a pupil
of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The gardens are among the finest surviving from the 18th century and
were the setting for the Dashwoods to entertain their friends on a grand and libertine scale.
During WW2 the estate was used as a temporary store for public art collections including the Wallace
and Witt Collections. The estate was given to the National Trust in 1943.
The print shows West Wycombe House, its gardens and the family mausoleum in the latter part of the
18th century.
CHALFONT PARK HOUSE, CHALFONT ST. PETER
Chalfont House in Buckinghamshire, the Seat of Thomas Hibbert Esq.
BAS 2/15. Historic Views 33. Drawn by [William] Tomkins; engraved by W. Angus. 1793. Etching. 5
in. x 7.25 in.
The manor of Bulstrodes within Chalfont St. Peter was held by Geoffrey Bulstrode in 1320 and by his
descendants and their spouses the Brudenells until the middle of the 17th century. After being briefly
held by Judge Jeffreys, Edward Penn and the Duke of Leeds it came into the ownership of the
Trustees of Charles Churchill, M.P. for Great Marlow, in 1755.
The house was built in a style resembling Strawberry Hill a little after 1755 for Horace Walpole’s
niece, Lady Maria Churchill, daughter of Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister. The architect was
one of Horace Walpole’s architect friends, John Chute. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown created the
formal park design in 1760. The landscape, incorporating the River Misbourne was laid out by
Humphry Repton for Thomas Hibbert, who acquired the estate in 1794. John Nash also made some
improvements to the house. The house was enlarged and refaced in 1836 and battlements were made
more conspicuous.
Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jeckyll collaborated in the early 1900s and laid out an Italian garden.
The original house is still recognisable and is now offices. It was used as the set for the ‘Shrublands
Health Clinic’ in the 1965 film Thunderball.
The print shows the house as it was in about 1793.
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MEDMENHAM ABBEY
Medmenham Abbey, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/111. Drawn by J. Nash; engraved by J. Smith: From The beauties of England and Wales by J.
Britton and E.W. Brayley. 1802. 3.75 in. x 6 in.
A Cistercian abbey was founded at Medmenham in the 12th century under the ownership of Woburn
Abbey. After the Dissolution it came into the Duffield family and it was during their ownership that
the abbey became infamous as the location for the Hellfire Club whose members were first known as
the Brotherhood of St. Francis and later the Monks of Medmenham. The 24 members included the
Earl of Sandwich, John Wilkes, the Earl of Bute, Thomas Potter (a son of the Archbishop of
Canterbury) and Sir Francis Dashwood (Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1761); they met and indulged
in orgies and secret acts of profane debauchery.
From 1755 the ruins of the abbey were leased by Francis Duffield to Sir Francis Dashwood, later the
11th Lord le Despenser and are shown as viewed from the south side of the River Thames. The ruins
were rebuilt to create a private house in the late 19th century and were further renovated in the 20th.
STOWE HOUSE, BUCKINGHAM
Stowe, The seat of His Grace the Duke of Buckingham
BAS 2/147. n.d. Etching overworked in watercolour. 6 in. x 9 in.
The Stowe estate was acquired in the 16th century by the Temple family, who had made their fortune
from sheep farming; Sir Thomas Temple purchased one of the first baronetcies in 1611 from James I.
The original house was rebuilt in the late 17th century by Sir Richard Temple using the architect
William Cleare, who had worked for Sir Christopher Wren and further alterations were made for their
descendants by Sir John Vanbrugh, James Gibbs, William Kent, Robert Adam and Sir John Soane,
some of whom also worked on the garden’s monuments and temples. The house developed to
approximately its present state by the late 18th century.
The Temple family and their complex connections used the house, gardens and their large estates to
develop and project their social position and their political power within the Whig party. By marrying
rich and well connected heiresses (and due to a lack of male heirs) the family name became TempleNugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville by the late 18th century. The family steadily advanced through
the ranks of the nobility, eventually becoming Dukes of Buckingham & Chandos in 1822. Members
of the family to achieve high political office included five Prime Ministers* William Pitt the Elder
(1756–1761 and 1766-68), George Grenville (1763-1765), William Pitt the Younger (1783-1801 and
1804-1806) and William Grenville (1806-1807), followed later in the 19th century by W.E. Gladstone,
who was related by marriage and was Prime Minister from 1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886 and
1892-1894.
However the building of the house and gardens together with large purchases of land and other forms
of extravagance led to the family incurring huge and unsustainable debts. The 2nd Duke had to go
abroad to escape his creditors and in 1848 36,000 acres and most of the contents of Stowe House,
including valuable paintings, books and 21,000 bottles of wine were sold. The house and the
remaining estate were finally sold in 1921 and acquired by the newly founded Stowe School.
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The majority of the grounds were acquired by the National Trust in 1989 and the main house has since
1997 been owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust. This view is of the south front of the house,
which is 460 feet long. While the print is undated it appears to be from the second quarter of the 19th
century.
*The role of Prime Minister was not well defined in the 18th century; the dates shown are of the
periods of effective leadership.
STOWE GARDENS
A View from the Grecian Temple to Lord Cobham’s Pillar in the Gardens of EARL TEMPLE at Stow
in Buckinghamshire
BAS 5/22. Historic Views 8. Drawn by Jean Baptiste Claude Chatelain; engraved by George
Bickham; published in 1750. Etching and engraving overworked in watercolour. 15 in. x 11 in.
The extensive gardens of approximately 400 acres were laid out and landscaped in the 18th century by
the best architects, landscape designers and gardeners of the period. An English Baroque Park was
initially created by Charles Bridgeman and Sir John Vanbrugh, followed by William Kent, who had
just completed the gardens at Rousham House in the Palladian style, and James Gibbs. Lancelot
‘Capability’ Brown was appointed head gardener in 1741 and worked fruitfully with Gibbs and Kent
in the 1740s before going on to supervise the landscaping of many other country house gardens. The
numerous monuments and follies were all created by notable architects and the sculptures were added
by leading sculptors such as John Michael Rysbrack.
Stowe’s gardens are probably the most important, extensive and influential of all 18th century
landscape gardens. They were celebrated at the time, including in the poetry of Alexander Pope and
became the inspiration for many other landscape or ‘English’ gardens both in Britain and abroad.
The view shown is from the Grecian Temple looking towards the house, with the Gothic Temple on
the right. The temple was based on the Maison Carrée at Nîmes, which was then thought to be Greek
but was in fact Roman. In 1763 the temple was renamed the Temple of Concord and Victory to
celebrate the victorious conclusion to the Seven Years’ War, a war which was mostly conducted under
the leadership of William Pitt the Elder, who was Richard Grenville-Temple’s brother-in-law.
WOTTON HOUSE
The East Front of Esqr. Grenville’s house at Wootton in Com: Bucks – with a view of ye South End.
Gift of Mr. George Weller to the County Museum in 1925. Sepia wash drawing by Sir James
Thornhill (1675-1734); n.d. 8 in. x 12 in.
The Grenville family owned an estate and manor house at Wotton Underwood since the 12th century.
In 1704 Richard Grenville, who married Hester, the heiress of Sir Richard Temple of Stowe, built
Wotton House on a new site on a mound looking down to a natural lake. The design was very similar
to that of Buckingham House which was built at the same time and later became Buckingham Palace.
The identity of the architect is not known with certainty; it is possible that the artist Sir James
Thornhill was at least partly responsible for the design.
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In 1726 Richard Grenville jun. inherited the estate; in 1735 he introduced an Inclosure Act, which
cleared the area of dwellings, enabling the transformation during the 1750s of the gardens into the
new style of natural landscape.
Richard and his four brothers (George, James, Henry and Thomas) all became M.P.s. In 1749 Richard
took over at Stowe while his brother George, a future Prime Minister continued living at Wotton.
After Richard Grenville (by then the 2nd Earl Temple) had inherited Stowe House, Wotton was run in
conjunction with Stowe, sometimes used by the heir to the Stowe estate.
In 1754 Richard’s sister Hester married William Pitt the Elder, another future Prime Minister, who
soon took over the project that Richard had planned. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown left Stowe House in
1749 where he had been working as head gardener and in conjunction with William Kent and James
Gibbs had extended that major landscape garden; he was brought in to help Pitt execute the project, in
particular the extensive water works. It is not known exactly what the relative contributions of Pitt
and Brown were; however Pitt was a landscape designer in his own right.
The Pleasure Grounds cover 200 acres and incorporate two lakes joined by a canal. They are enclosed
within a circular belt, as was common at the time, and the visitor encounters a series of temples,
bridges and statues along the circuit.
In April 1786 John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both future U.S. Presidents were on tour in England
and spent a few days visiting stately homes including Wotton. On their return to London Adams wrote
"Stowe, Hagley, and Blenheim, are superb; ... Wotton is both great and elegant, though neglected".
A fire destroyed the interior of the house in 1820 but the coach house and the Kitchen (Clock)
Pavilion survived. Richard Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, engaged Sir John Soane to
restore the main house. Soane, who also worked at Stowe House, lowered the house, removing the top
floor and reduced the height of the first floor windows, giving it Georgian proportions. He made
inventive use of the existing floor plans and created a three-storey, top-lit "Tribune", alongside a new
stone staircase, in place of the old entrance hall.
Wotton continued to be owned by Grenvilles until 1889, when the last direct male heir died. It was
first let to and then bought by Michael Beaumont (M.P. for Aylesbury) and was then sold to a charity.
It was neglected and much of the grounds were sold in small parcels before the house was sold again
in 1947. In the early 1950s the building was used by two boys' boarding schools.
Mrs Patrick Brunner purchased the main house and the Clock Pavilion from Buckinghamshire County
Council in 1957, shortly before it was due for demolition. She put in hand extensive work on the
house, repaired the dilapidations and restored Soane's architectural details. However the central
feature of Soane's redesign, the Tribune, remained unrestored when she died in 1998.
Between 1957 and 1985 Mrs Brunner gradually bought back most of the grounds. The house passed
to Mrs Brunner's daughter, April and her husband David Gladstone, who since 1998 has overseen the
restoration of much of the original scheme by his estate manager, Michael Harrison.
The original coach house (later called the South Pavilion) and the walled garden were sold in the
1950s passing first to Sir Arthur Bryant and then to Sir John Gielgud, who died there in 2000; in 2008
it was bought by Tony and Cherie Blair.
FAWLEY COURT AND HENLEY
FAWLEY COURT & HENLEY
BAS 1/61. Drawn by Joseph Farington, R.A.; engraved by J.C. Stadler. Sepia aquatint overworked in
watercolour. 1793. 12 in. x 16 in.
10
In the medieval period the Fawley estate was owned by the Sackville family. Fawley Court was
acquired by the parliamentarian Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, M.P. for Marlow in the early 17th century
and it was ransacked by royalist soldiers in 1642. The house was rebuilt in the classical style in 1684
for William Freeman, to the designs, according to the Lysons, of Sir Christopher Wren. William
Freeman and his successors were probably the first colonial merchant family to be accepted into the
society of their fellow Buckinghamshire land owners. In the 1760s the grounds were landscaped by
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown for Sambrooke Freeman and shortly afterwards James Wyatt worked on
the interior of the house; this was probably Wyatt’s first country house commission.
Wyatt also worked on Temple Island, which was designed as a fishing lodge for Fawley Court. This
island subsequently played an important role in Henley’s rowing regatta and was eventually acquired
by the Royal Henley Regatta in 1987. The house and estate were acquired by a railway entrepreneur,
William Mackenzie in 1853, whose son extended the house. The river setting is believed to have been
the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame’s Toad Hall in his book Wind in the Willows, 1908.
The house was used during WW2 as a temporary store by the Natural History Museum and by the
SOE as a signals school. It later became a school for Catholic Polish boys. Although it suffered from a
fire in the 1970s it was rebuilt. It was sold in 2011 and is now a function venue.
This bird’s eye view looks up the River Thames from Temple Island towards Henley with Fawley
HEDSOR HOUSE
HEDSOR LODGE looking towards MAIDENHEAD
BAS 1/83. Historic Views 41. Drawn by Joseph Farington, R.A.; engraved by J.C. Stadler. 1793.
Sepia aquatint overworked in watercolour. 7.5 in. x 12 in.
This unusual four storey house on the top of a hill with splendid views across the River Thames was
built on the site of an earlier manor house and was a home of the Dowager Princess (Frederick) of
Wales from 1749 until 1764. A new house was designed in 1778 by Sir William Chambers (the
architect of Somerset House) for the 2nd Lord Boston, a project with which George III and Queen
Charlotte were much involved. The artist of this print, Joseph Farington was a fellow Royal
Academician with Sir William Chambers.
The house shown in the print suffered from a fire in 1795 and was demolished in 1865. The present
Hedsor Lodge to the east was rebuilt in 1868 by the 4th Lord Boston.
The house is now used for corporate events, weddings and filming. The film Quartet was filmed here.
CHEQUERS
CHEQUERS COURT, BUCKS, The Seat of Lady Frankland Russell
BAS 4/22. Historic Views 28. Drawn by G. Clarke of Scaldwell. n.d. Lithograph. 4 in. x 7 in.
A house has stood on the site since the 12th century but little is known of its early history. The former
house was enlarged in 1565 by William Hawtrey and was used to guard Lady Mary Grey, sister of
Lady Jane Grey, between 1565 and 1567. The Grey sisters were great-granddaughters of Henry VII;
Lady Jane was executed by Mary I for treason in 1554 and Lady Mary continued to be considered a
threat to Elizabeth I as she was the heiress presumptive so long as the Queen remained unmarried.
11
In 1715 the house was acquired by marriage by John Russell, a grandson of Oliver Cromwell and it
still contains a large selection of Cromwell memorabilia. The house was gothicised in the early 19th
century but was returned to its original Tudor style at the turn of the 20th. Sir Arthur Lee (later Lord
Lee of Farnham) became tenant in 1909 and owner in 1917. The Lees gave the house to the nation to
be a country home for the Prime Minister of the day and it has remained such to this day.
The lithograph shows Chequers Court in the middle of the 19th century.
HUGHENDEN MANOR
Hughenden Manor
BAS 4/59. Historic Views 31. Steel engraving with watercolour and gouache. 1849. 5.5 in. x 7.5 in.
The ancient manor of Hughenden or Hitchenden was held by the Crown during most of the medieval
period until it was granted in 1539 to Sir Robert Dormer, M.P. who also owned property in West
Wycombe and Wing. It remained in that family until it was sold by the 4th Earl of Chesterfield in 1737
to Charles Savage. A former farm house was extended in the late 18th century by Samuel Savage to
become a Georgian 13 bay brick house.
It was acquired in 1848 by Benjamin Disraeli, whose parents and siblings lived nearby at Bradenham
Manor to provide him with the country seat then considered necessary for any senior politician. It was
significantly altered by Disraeli (later Lord Beaconsfield) in the 1860s; he used the architect Edward
Buckton Lamb, known for his original hybrid baronial neo-gothic style. A further wing was added in
1900 by Disraeli’s nephew, Coningsby Disraeli. The house changed hands several times in the 20th
century before it was given to the National Trust in 1947 by the Abbey family and the Disraelian
Society.
The print shows the house before the alterations commissioned by Benjamin Disraeli.
GREGORIES, BEACONSFIELD
GREGORY’S, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/70. Historic Views 35. Drawn by Richard Corbould; engraved by [James] Fitler. 1793. Copper
engraving overworked in watercolour. 4 in. x 6.5 in.
The manor of Gregory’s, originally owned by the Gregory family, passed in the 17th century to the
Waller family, which included the poet and politician Edmund Waller and contained a ‘principal
messuage’. Edmund Waller’s second son, also Edmund lived at Gregory’s until his death in 1700 and
was succeeded by John Waller, who built a new Baroque mansion in 1712.
This house was purchased in 1768 by Edmund Burke, the Irish Whig politician and author with the
help of his political patron Earl Verney. Burke changed the name of the house to Butler’s Court and
added colonnades and pavilions, dying there in 1797. The house burned down in 1813 and the site has
now been subsumed by modern houses as part of Beaconsfield’s expansion south of its railway
station.
WYCOMBE ABBEY
12
WYCOMBE ABBEY
BAS 4/175. Steel engraving with watercolour and gouache. 1849. 5 in. x 7.5 in.
The site of what is now known as Wycombe Abbey was formerly known as Loakes Manor House,
which may have originally been a medieval hospital. The estate was acquired in 1700 by Henry Petty,
1st Earl of Shelburne on whose death the title became extinct. The title was recreated for his nephew,
John, who was a notable benefactor to High Wycombe. He employed Henry Keene to modernise the
Jacobean Manor House. John’s son William, the 2nd Earl (of the second creation) and later created the
1st Marquess of Lansdowne and briefly Prime Minister, improved the grounds, probably using
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and possibly Humphry Repton. The Marquess sold Loakes Manor in
1798 to Robert Smith, 1st Lord Carrington. He employed James Wyatt to rebuild the house in the
1800s in the then fashionable Gothic style and renamed the house ‘Wycombe Abbey’.
The school at Wycombe Abbey was founded by Miss (later Dame) Frances Dove in 1896, when a
syndicate acquired the mansion and 30 acres for £20,000 from the 3rd Lord Carrington. The present 6th
Lord Carrington retains a connection as President of the School’s Governing Council.
Miss Dove was born in 1846, the daughter of a Lincolnshire vicar, and was one of the first graduates*
from Girton College, Cambridge, where she read Natural Sciences. After graduating in 1874 she went
to teach Science at Cheltenham Ladies' College and moved in 1877 to St. Leonard’s School in Fife.
After four years she became Headmistress and remained there until 1895. In that year she announced
what she described as ‘the new experiment,’ which was the foundation of a sister school in the south
of England for 40 girls at Wycombe Abbey.
The school has since grown and acquired further land and has become one of Britain’s leading girls’
schools.
*Women could not graduate with a full Cambridge degree until 1948.
KENRICKS, HAMBLEDEN
The South West Prospect of the Parsonage of Hambleden, Bucks. 1752
BAS 5/13. Historic Views 37. Drawn by J. Wale; engraved by F. Vivares. Etching. 1752. 9.5 in. x 16
in.
This fine Georgian house was substantially altered in the classical style in 1725 by Rev’d Dr. Scawen
Kenrick, Rector of Hambleden, who was also Sub-Dean and Prebendary of Westminster Abbey. The
new house was built on the base of a much earlier manor house, owned by many generations of the
Scrope family, including the poet Edmund Waller’s brother-in-law, Adrian. It was also the birthplace
in 1218 of St. Thomas de Cantilupe, the last English Saint to be canonised (in 1320) before the
Reformation. The main house, the dovecote dating from 1680 and an earlier stable, shown to the left
of the print still exist, but most of the surroundings, including the pergolas have disappeared and trees
now obscure part of the site.
The house ceased to be a Rectory in 1938 and was then acquired and renamed by the 3rd Viscount
Hambleden (grandson of the founder of the W.H. Smith business); the Smith family had first acquired
the mansion of Greenlands (now the Henley Business School) in the 1870s and they acquired the
manor of Hambleden shortly after WW1.
13
DORNEY COURT
DORNEY COURT, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/35. Historic Views 46. Drawn by J.P. Neale; engraved by S. Lacey. 1831. Etching overworked
in watercolour. 3.25 in. x 4.75 in.
Dorney Court was rebuilt in 1610 on the site of a 15th century house as a brick and timber house by
James Palmer, who married the daughter of the previous owner, Sir William Garrard, a Lord Mayor of
London. Through her James Palmer inherited the house. It was altered in the 18th century by the
addition of a new entrance front in the Georgian style and ornate barge boards.
The Palmer family (who continue to live in the house) removed the later additions in about 1900,
returning the appearance of the house to that of a typical Jacobean Manor House.
PLACE HOUSE, HORTON, NEAR COLNBROOK
PLACE HOUSE in Horton, Bucks
BAS 4/56 (Chevenix Trench Bequest 2006). Historic Views 50. Drawn by Francis Brerewood;
engraved by [Thomas] Cook. 1773. Etching overworked in watercolour. 4 in. x 5 in.
Some mystery surrounds this substantial house. It was owned in the 17th century by the Scawen
family and in the 18th by the Brerewoods, originally a prosperous Chester family. The house, which
appears to have had its origins in Tudor times and was situated next to the church, was mostly
destroyed around 1775. The site was later used for the extraction of minerals and no trace of the old
house now remains.
This print accompanied an article in The Gentleman’s Magazine of August 1791, which described the
history of the family and the work done to the house and gardens, including the creation of canals
connected to the nearby River Colne.
NOTLEY ABBEY, LONG CRENDON
THE EAST VIEW OF NUTLEY-ABBY, IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKS.
BAS 5/19. Historic Views 17. Drawn and engraved by Samuel & Nathaniel Buck. 1730. Etching. 5.5
in. x 13.5 in.
Notley Abbey was founded for Augustinian canons by 1162 by Walter Giffard, 2nd Earl of
Buckingham and became one of the richest abbeys in the area, drawing a substantial income from
land and the tithes of appropriated churches. The abbey was dissolved in 1538 and the former
buildings became ruins. In 1890 the site was reconstructed as a private house in the late medieval
style and contains the former Abbott’s Lodgings, which are to the right of the print.
It was bought by Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in 1944 after their London house was bombed.
During their ownership the house was used for a number of films. It is now used for weddings and
other events.
This relatively early ‘prospect’ was dedicated by the artists to the Hon. Henry Bertie, the owner in
1730 of these remains and shows in fact the north-west view and not as stated the east view.
14
STEWKLEY CHURCH
STEWKLEY CHURCH N.W. Buckinghamshire
BAS 4/96. Drawn by William Alexander; engraved by B. Howlett; from Britton’s The Architectural
Antiquities of Great Britain. 1807. 5.5 in. x 7.5 in.
St. Michael’s Church, Stewkley is one of the best-preserved of all English Norman churches. It is
believed to date from about 1100 and that its building was ordered by Geoffrey de Clinton, who later
gave it to the Priory of Kenilworth. De Clinton was Treasurer to Henry I and Sheriff of Warwickshire
and also held the manor of Hughenden for a period. Although the village of Stewkley is known to
have been an Anglo-Saxon settlement there is no known evidence of a previous church from that
period or any monastic connections. Although much restored in 1862 by G.E. Street, most of the
church has survived almost unscathed from the Norman period; there is a particularly fine Norman
archway into the church.
Many of the first permanent churches in Buckinghamshire were built about 50 -100 years later than
this fine Norman church.
Stewkley was threatened in the late 1960s and the 1970s by a projected third London airport which
would have ruined the church and the village. Fortunately for Stewkley plans for the airport were
successfully challenged and defeated.
QUARRENDON CHAPEL, AYLESBURY
S. E. View of Quarendon Chapel, Buckinghamshire
BAS 2/123. Historic Views 19. Etching overworked in watercolour from the Gentleman’s Magazine,
July 1817, plate 1, page 489. 3.5 in. x 5.5 in.
The chapel of St. Peter at Quarendon was founded in the 12th or 13th centuries and stood about two
miles north-west of Aylesbury, close to a former manor house belonging to the Lee family. Sir Henry
Lee K.G. (of Quarrendon and Ditchley) was a 16th century soldier, traveller and courtier and a
Champion of Elizabeth I. He lived nearby in some splendour, entertaining the Queen in 1592 for two
days. He was commemorated by a monument in the chapel.
By 1817 the chapel was falling into disrepair and by 1851 much of the structure had fallen down,
despite calls at the time for it to be rescued. A few courses of stones now remain of this ancient
chapel.
BEACONSFIELD CHURCH
Beaconsfield - Bucks
BAS 4/3a. Drawn by I. Hassell; engraved by D. Havell. Aquatint overworked with watercolour. 1818.
2.5 in. x 3.5 in.
St. Mary’s & All Saints’ church was founded around 1200 in the old part of Beaconsfield, although it
was probably not completed until the 15th century. A steeple, funded by John Waller was added in the
15
16th century. There is a monument to Edmund Burke in the church and the tomb of the poet Edmund
Waller lies in the churchyard (see separate print). The church was much extended in the second half of
the 19th century.
The print shows the church as it was in the early 19th century.
HERSCHEL’S HOUSE AND OBSERVATORY
BAS 1/133. Watercolour by J. Gendall. n.d. but pre 1840. 8.5 in. x 12 in.
Observatory House (formerly known as Grove House) and its observatory were located in Windsor
Road, Slough. In 1786 the Hanover born astronomer Frederick William Herschel (1738-1822) and his
sister Caroline (also an astronomer) moved there and constructed a 40 foot telescope, at the time the
largest in the world. It was used by Herschel for many of his scientific and astronomical discoveries.
Herschel had initially come to England as a musician, playing the oboe and the organ and composing
concertos and symphonies. He developed an interest in astronomy after meeting the Astronomer
Royal and started to build his own telescopes. He discovered the planet now known as Uranus, noted
the dimensions of the Milky Way, the rotation of Saturn’s rings and the satellites of Saturn. He was
appointed King’s Astronomer by George III in 1782 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
He became a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1816. Apart from astronomy he was also a
pioneer in the area of radiant heat.
Herschel lived at Observatory House initially with his sister and then with his wife Mary until his
death in 1822. He had one son, John, who also became a distinguished astronomer. The house was
lived in by Herschel’s descendants until 1957. It was demolished in 1963 in spite of the efforts of
many, including the astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, to save it.
This watercolour, which appears to be unfinished, shows the house and observatory prior to the
removal of the telescope in 1839.
AYLESBURY FROM THE SOUTH-EAST
THE BIRMINGHAM MAIL NEAR AYLESBURY
BAS 1/2 (Wyatt Bequest). Historic Views 22. Drawn by Henry Alken; engraved by R. Havell.
Aquatint overworked with watercolour. 1837. 8 in. x 11 in.
This view of the Birmingham Mail is shown looking towards St. Mary’s Church, Aylesbury. Robert
Gibbs described the event on 26th December 1836 stating that all travelling was suspended and that
the London Mail was fixed in the snow at Broughton [Pastures]. Although all the passengers and the
guard got down to help, the coach required five plough horses to draw it to Aylesbury, where it arrived
nearly 24 hours late.
Shortly after 1836 the Birmingham Mail coaches were largely superseded by the railways when the
branch line from Aylesbury to Cheddington was opened to connect with the London & Birmingham
Railway (later the L&NWR) line from London to Birmingham. The Aylesbury branch line, the first of
its type, had an intermediate stop at Broughton Pastures. Broughton Pastures is now an housing estate
about a mile south-east of Aylesbury.
16
WINDSOR AND ETON BRIDGE
Windsor Bridge
BAS 1/51. Drawn by Joseph Farington, R.A.; engraved by J.C. Stadler. 1798. Etching overworked in
watercolour. 8 in. x 12 in.
It is likely that the first bridge on this site was built in the 12th century as by 1172 it is recorded that
Osbert de Bray derived 6½ marks (£4 6s 8d) from the annual tolls levied on vessels passing beneath
the bridge. In 1242 permission was granted for oak trees to be felled in Windsor Forest for the
purpose of constructing a new bridge between Windsor and Eton. Tolls continued to be levied on
traffic crossing the bridge until 1897.
At some point a winch was installed adjacent to Windsor Bridge to help drag laden barges upstream
against the current. The procedure required to manoeuvre a laden, horse-drawn, barge upstream was
complex, and at one point even required the horse to swim from The Cobbler, since removed, at the
end of what is now Romney Island, across to the south bank.
By 1819 the wooden bridge shown in this print, which presumably had been rebuilt many times over
its life, had deteriorated and become unsafe and it was decided to build a new bridge from new
materials. Construction on the current bridge was started in 1822 and it opened on 1 June 1824. The
current bridge has three arches, each comprising seven cast iron segments, and supported in midstream by two granite piers. This bridge has for safety reasons been restricted to carrying pedestrians
and cycle traffic.
River traffic was an important method of transport until the advent of the railways and more recently
motor traffic. The print shows the nature of the bridges and the barges, some with sails, plying
between Oxford and London at the end of the 18th century.
THE RAILWAY BRIDGE AT PITSTONE
CANAL BRIDGE - PITSTONE, BUCKS
BAS 5/18. Historic Views 27. Drawn by John Cooke Bourne. 1839. Lithograph overworked in
watercolour. 7 in. x 10.5 in.
This railway bridge was opened in 1838 to carry the London and Birmingham Railway over the
Grand Junction canal at Pitstone. The bridge was widened in 1859 to carry a third track and again in
1876 to carry a fourth. The cast iron arches were replaced with concrete by British Rail. The current
bridge, although in the same place, is accordingly very different from that in this 1839 print, and the
field from which the artist sketched is now part of a marina.
The London and Birmingham Railway (later absorbed into the L&NWR) was opened in 1838 and
was the first inter-city line built from London.
NEWPORT PAGNELL MILL
The Mill at Newport Pagnell from the North Bridge
17
BAS GOU/50 (Gough Collection). Historic Views 4. Inscribed on the reverse as from a drawing by
Mr. Burn (Byrne?); engraved by W.P. Storer. 1861. Etching overworked in watercolour. 6.5 in. x 9.5
in.
This mill, North Mill, has a long history and probably stood on the site of the mill mentioned in the
Domesday Survey. Two of the structures shown in this 1861 print survive and can be viewed from the
north bridge. Until the late 19th century working mills were a feature of most towns and many
villages, serving the needs of local farmers who needed to mill grain. Water power was also used in
some cases for the fulling of cloth.
The Great Ouse, from which the mill drew its power, was a vital element in the history and economy
of the county. For a period in the 9th and 10th centuries it was the border between the Saxons and
Norse nations and helped Edward the Elder to fortify Buckingham and prevent further Norse
incursions into Mercia. It was also an important transport link when roads and canals were almost
non-existent as well as providing the source of energy for the numerous mills built over the river.
THE CANAL AT WOLVERTON
The Aqueduct at Wolverton, - Bucks
BAS 4/169. Historic Views 5. Drawn by J. Hassell. 1819. Aquatint overworked in watercolour. 3.75
in. x 6.5 in.
This is one of a series of prints drawn by the artist John Hassell and reproduced in his Tour of the
Grand Junction (1819). The view is curious and evocative but does not depict an accurate view of the
canal, bridge, aqueduct or the church. Hassell appears to have used considerable artistic licence to
create an image of a church that was placed elsewhere and did not have a tower and spire. Moreover
the print does not show the Iron Trunk, an aqueduct which carried the Grand Junction, now the Grand
Union canal over the River Ouse.
In 1819 the canals were enjoying a period of prosperity prior to their being partly superseded by the
railways.
MARLOW FROM THE SOUTH
View on the River Thames near Great Marlow from Quarry Wood
BAS 1/99. Historic Views 40. Etching and aquatint overworked in colour. n.d. 7 in. x 10 in.
Quarry Wood (Cookham Dene) owes its name to a long disused chalk quarry, from which the chalk
would have been loaded directly onto barges on the River Thames. The quarry has since become well
wooded and the ‘ait’ or ‘eyot’ now carries a bridge support for the town’s southern by-pass, which
further restricts the view.
It is difficult to make out much of present day Great Marlow from this print apart from the spire of All
Saints’ church. The river at Marlow was crossed as early as 1227 by a wooden bridge and this view
must pre-date the building of the current suspension bridge in 1829-1831 as an old style wooden
bridge is shown.
The costume of the figures in the foreground enjoying a pic-nic suggests a date of c. 1800. An eel trap
can be seen on the Berkshire side of the river.
18
THE THAMES AT HARLEYFORD
TEMPLE & HARLEYFORD
BAS 1/78. Historic Views 39. Drawn by Joseph Farington, R.A.; engraved by J. C. Stadler. 1793.
Sepia aquatint overworked in watercolour. 7.5 in. x 12 in.
This view was from what is now Bradnam Wood, perhaps close to Danesfield House on the Berkshire
side of the Thames is now scarcely recognisable. The wood has grown substantially and the former
riverside meadows are now obscured by hedges and trees along the banks. The hamlet of Temple and
parts of Hurley are just visible. The name Temple is due the Knights Templar having had a preceptory
(or headquarters) at Bisham in the 13th century; however after the dissolution of the Order of the
Knights Templar by Pope Clement V in 1314 the preceptory passed to the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem, known as the Knights Hospitallers.
Harleyford was a manor within Great Marlow and Harleyford Manor House can be seen on the Bucks
side of the river in the middle distance, opposite a boat. It was built in 1755 for William Clayton, M.P.
on the site of an earlier house, to the design in the Georgian style of architect Sir Robert Taylor. Parts
of the grounds have been attributed to Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The house burned down in the
20th century and has been rebuilt and is now used for business and leisure activities.
BUCKINGHAM
South West View of Buckingham
BAS 1/8. Historic Views 9. Drawn by John Smith; engraved by William Byrne. 1803. Etching
overworked in watercolour. 6 in. x 8.5 in.
This view shows the River Ouse passing through the south west of the town and under the Sheriff’s
Bridge. The bridge shown was replaced in 1805 by a new stone bridge provided by the Marquess of
Buckingham. The etching shows that in 1803 there were no buildings south of the River Ouse and is
taken from what is now Chandos Road, a road built in the 1850s to connect the town to the new
railway station. The church on the skyline was consecrated in 1781 on a new site once occupied by
the town’s castle, replacing the old church which had finally fallen down in 1776. Also visible is the
Town Hall surmounted by a swan. The first Town Hall was rebuilt in the 1680s after an earlier
building had burned down. The 1725 fire of Buckingham damaged this Town Hall and it had again to
be rebuilt.
Buckingham may have been settled in Roman times as Roman artefacts have been found in
surrounding areas. Buckingham is said to have been founded in the 7th century by Bucca, the leader of
the first Anglo Saxon settlers. The first settlement was located around the top of a loop in the River
Great Ouse, presently the Hunter Street campus of the University of Buckingham. Between the 7th and
the 11th centuries, the town regularly changed hands between the Saxons and the Danes. In 914
Edward the Elder and a Saxon army encamped in Buckingham for four weeks forcing local
Danish Viking leaders to surrender. Subsequently a fort was constructed at the location of the present
Buckingham parish church and the town became a burh and the county town of the new county of
Buckinghamshire.
Buckingham is the first settlement referred to in the Buckinghamshire section of the Domesday Book
and the Survey makes reference to 26 burgesses, 11 smallholders and 1 mill. The town received
19
its first royal charter in 1554 when Queen Mary created the free borough of Buckingham with
boundaries extending from Thornborowe Bridge to Dudley Bridge and from Chackmore Bridge to
Padbury Mill Bridge. The designated borough included a bailiff, twelve principal burgesses and
a steward. Buckingham has been known as the ‘loyal and ancient borough’ and was a royalist town in
the Civil War, in contrast to its rival Aylesbury which was dominated by parliamentarians.
The significant fire that raged through the town centre on 15 March 1725 resulted in many of its main
streets being destroyed including Castle Street, Castle Hill, West Street and the north side of Market
Hill; 138 dwellings (out of a total of 387) were lost. The current fine range of Georgian architecture in
these streets today is a consequence of that fire, but the immediate aftermath was difficult for the
town. Collections were made to help those made homeless but by 1730 only a third of the homes had
been rebuilt. By 1801 the population was 2,605, living in 531 houses, mostly employed in lace
making and agriculture, a population that had barely risen a hundred years later. Buckingham’s
population rose in the second half of the 20th century as new housing estates were built and is now c.
12,500.
STONY STRATFORD
Stony Stratford, - Bucks
BAS 2/141. Historic Views 6. Drawn by J. Hassell. 1819. Aquatint overworked in colour. 3 in. x 6.5
in.
This view is from Stony Stratford’s Market Square looking north-east. The nave roof of St. Giles’s
church was raised in 1819 and conifer trees in the churchyard now partly obscure the view. Several
buildings have been replaced but the house on the right can still be recognised.
Stony Stratford has always had strategic importance as the crossing point over the River Ouse, for a
prehistoric track, the Roman Watling Street, the major London to Holyhead coaching road and the A5.
'The Town on The Road' was where the Saxon king Edward the Elder fought the Danes and where
King John and several successive monarchs held court. The funeral cortege of Eleanor of Castile, wife
of Edward I, rested here on its trip from Nottingham to Westminster and where there once stood an
Eleanor Cross.
Stony Stratford rose to national eminence during the 18th century as one of the country's most
important coaching towns, on the main London to Liverpool route. The High Street still contains a
wealth of coaching inns that thrived in this period, including The Cock and The Bull; in these inns
travellers vied with each other in the telling of outrageous stories, from which the phrase ‘Cock and
Bull’ story derives. In 1801 the population of Stony Stratford was 1,653
AYLESBURY STREET, FENNY STRATFORD
Fenny Stratford, - Bucks
AYBCM: 1912.51.1 Historic Views 12. Drawn by J. Hassell. 1819. Aquatint overworked in
watercolour. 3.25 in. x 6.5 in.
This further view by Hassell looks south-west along what is now Fenny Stratford’s Aylesbury Street
(formerly Cross Street) from close to the junction with Watling Street. The historian Browne Willis
20
was largely responsible for the building of St. Martin’s church, begun in 1724 on the site of a
medieval chapel. The curve in the line of buildings on the right is still reflected in the modern street
but few old buildings survive. The market house on the left was rebuilt by Browne Willis but was
removed in the 19th century.
The town name signifies 'marshy ford on a Roman road' (Watling Street). There are traces of the
Roman settlement Magiovinium on the edge of the present day occupation. Possibly the oldest known
gold coin in Britain was found here, a gold stater of the mid-second century BC. The town was
recorded in manorial rolls in 1252 as Fenni Stratford, though previously it was just known
as Stratford: the prefix being added to distinguish the town from nearby Stony Stratford.
Fenny Stratford was the location of a weekly market for many years until 1665 when the town was
badly hit by the bubonic plague. As a result the main road that ran through the town was diverted and
the market died as a result. The market was never reinstated: the town had decayed by the early
eighteenth century and by this time had joined with both Bletchley and Simpson, being commonly
considered a hamlet of the former. In 1801 its population was 469.
The Grand Union Canal runs through the southern outskirts of the town and Fenny Lock is located to
the east of Watling Street. It is notable both for the manually operated swing bridge which crosses the
lock and for the very small rise in the lock (around 30 cm or 12 inches). This was deemed necessary
by the canal engineers to avoid building an expensive embankment off to the east. The level persists
from this lock for eleven miles, through what are now Milton Keynes and the older town of
Wolverton to the next lock at Cosgrove.
Fenny Stratford remains a busy small town at the edge of the Milton Keynes urban area. It still does
not have a market, but the small shopping street (Aylesbury Street) gives the town a sense of
community. It has had its own railway station since 1846 on the Marston Vale Line, connecting
Bletchley to Bedford.
AYLESBURY FROM THE SOUTH
AYLESBURY, FROM THE COURT FARM FIELDS
AYBCM: 1980.423.1. Drawn by Nathaniel Whittock; lithograph overworked in watercolour. n.d. 12
in. x 15.25 in.
The 1799 Inclosure Map for Walton shows that Court Farm and its close were owned by William
Rickford, the owner of the Aylesbury Old Bank, which later merged with the Bucks and Oxon Union
Bank, which in turn was absorbed by Lloyds Bank. Rickford was also one of the Whig M.P.s for
Aylesbury 1818-1841.
The area south of Aylesbury is shown as rural and the view shows Aylesbury as it was in the early 19th
century, including many houses which no longer exist. The ancient St. Mary’s church, shown before
George Gilbert Scott’s renovations in the 1860s, is prominent on the skyline and the County Hall, in
the centre, and the old Gaol to the right can also be seen. In 1801 Aylesbury was a market town of
3,062 people living in 675 houses, mostly huddled around the hill, surmounted by the parish church.
The town’s only significant industries at the time were printing, silk and brewing.
The town’s population rose to 9,000 by 1901, 28,000 in 1961 and to over 60,000 by 2015 as
Aylesbury became a reception area for people previously living in crowded London slums. Many of
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the 17th and 18th century houses visible in the print were demolished in the 1950s, 60s and 70s to
accommodate new housing and retail development.
BUCKINGHAM CHANTRY CHAPEL
GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT BUCKINGHAM
BAS 2/9. Historic Views 10. Drawn by J. Buckler; etching overworked in watercolour. 1827. 3.5 x 5.5
in.
The chantry chapel was founded in the early 13th century by Matthew Stratton, Archdeacon of
Buckingham and was dedicated to S.S. John the Baptist and Thomas of Acon. The building has been
rebuilt and modified many times over the centuries, most recently in the 19th century by the local
architect Sir Gilbert Scott. A Norman doorway is original but most of the windows and the roofline
have been altered.
The building became the town’s Royal Latin School in the 16th century, receiving a charter from
Edward VI in 1548. The school remained on the site until 1907 when it moved to Chandos Road
where it now provides an education for c. 1,250 pupils. The master’s house, rebuilt in 1690, survives
with the former school building, which is now owned by the National Trust.
GREAT MARLOW GRAMMAR SCHOOL
GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT GREAT MARLOW BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
BAS 2/109. Drawn by J.C. Buckler. 1827. Etching. 3.5 in. x 6 in.
The school’s founder Sir William Borlase was descended from the Counts of Angoulême, who had
fought with William I at the Battle of Hastings. John Borlase, William’s father, made his fortune in
London and this enabled his son to establish himself in Marlow as a country gentleman. William lived
at Westhorpe Manor House in Little Marlow and became Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and an M.P. for
Aylesbury. In 1603 he was knighted by James I.
In 1624 Sir William decided to build a ‘free school’ in Great Marlow, in memory of his son Henry,
M.P. for Marlow, who died that year. Sir William’s objects were for the school ‘to teach twenty-four
poor boys to write, read and cast accounts, such as their parents and friends are not able to maintain at
school’. Boys entered the school between the ages of ten and fourteen and at the end of two years six
of the best pupils were each given two pounds to apprentice themselves to a trade. The same number
of girls were to be taught with a view to being able to knit, spin and make bone lace.
Sir William died in 1629 but the school has remained on the same site in West Street and is now an
important local grammar school for c. 1,000 pupils
ETON FROM WINDSOR CASTLE
ETON. From Windsor Castle
BAS 1/54. Drawn by W. Westall, R.A. Aquatint overworked in watercolour. 1821. 8 in. x 12.5 in.
22
This view taken from Windsor Castle looking over the River Thames shows most of Eton, including
the chapel and many of the school buildings of Eton College. The college was founded and endowed
by Henry VI in 1440 as a charity school to provide a free education to seventy poor boys, who would
then go on to the King’s other foundation, King's College, Cambridge, founded in 1441.
Henry VI took Winchester College as his model, visiting it on many occasions, borrowing its Statutes
and removing its Headmaster and some of its scholars to start his new school. The school developed
and started to take paying pupils as well as those funded by the foundation; however the original
college for 70 scholars remains, as at Winchester.
The chapel is similar to but much smaller than that of its sister college at Cambridge.
HIGH WYCOMBE FROM THE SOUTH
Wickham from the Marlow Road
BAS 1/159. Historic Views 32. Drawn by W. Turner; engraved by William Byrne. 1803. Etching
overworked in watercolour. 6 in. x 8.5 in.
This view of High Wycombe surrounded by unspoiled countryside shows a much smaller town than
exists today. The church of All Saints with its tower dominates the skyline and Wycombe Abbey (now
a girls’ public school – see separate print) can be seen in the foreground.
The existence of a settlement at High Wycombe was first documented as 'Wicumun' in 970. The
parish church was consecrated in 1086 by Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester and after its rebuilding in
1275 has not changed materially. William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister for a brief
period in 1782-1783 is buried in its vaults.
The town received market borough status in 1222, and built its first moot hall in 1226, with a market
hall being built later in 1476. The town expanded greatly from its population of 2,349 in 1801 during
the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming a centre for the production of furniture, particularly chairs.
DORTON HOUSE
DORTON HOUSE, The Seat of Charles Spencer Ricketts Esq., High Sheriff of Bucks in 1832
BAS 1/36. Historic Views 15. A steel engraving overworked in watercolour. 1832. 5.5 in. x 9 in.
The house was built between 1596 and 1626 on the site of an older house for Sir John Dormer, M.P.,
who was High Sheriff in 1596; he was a grandson of Sir Michael Dormer, a Lord Mayor of London.
The house was built in a Gothic Style and is in a horseshoe shape, built from bricks made from local
clay fired at the bottom of Brill Hill.
The estate and house were acquired in 1783 by Sir John Aubrey, 6th Bt., and the principal front was
modernised by him in 1784. The house is now of red brick, the stucco work having been removed in
1904.
The house has since been used by two schools; first by the London Society for the Blind between
1939 and 1955 and since then by Ashfold School.
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CHICHELEY HALL
CHICHELEY HALL, BUCKS, The Seat of The Rev’d A. Chester
BAS 3/17. Historic Views 3. Engraved by Stannard & Dixon. n.d. Lithograph overworked in
watercolour. 4 in. x 7 in.
A manor house was built at Chicheley by Anthony Cave on the site of the former Tickford Priory
shortly after its dissolution. On Cave’s death it passed to his daughter and son-in-law William Chester.
However this house was destroyed in 1646 by Cromwell’s troops during the Civil War.
A new house was built for Sir John Chester with plans formed by a combination of Sir John, his friend
Burrelll Massingberd and the young William Kent, whom Massingberd had met and patronised in
Rome. After long debate over the designs the work began in 1719 with Francis Smith of Warwick
acting as builder, and was completed in 1726. The grounds were laid out by George London and
Henry Wise.
During the latter part of the 18th century Chicheley Hall was often visited by the poet William
Cowper, who lived nearby in Olney. He wrote an epitaph in April 1793 on the death of his friend Mr.
Charles Chester, whom he had known since their school days at Westminster School.
Tears flow, and cease not, where the good man lies,
Till all who know him follow to the skies,
Tears therefore fall where Chester’s ashes sleep;
Him wife, friends, brothers, children, servants weep,
And justly - few shall ever him transcend
As husband, parent, brother, master, friend.
The house remained in the Chester family until, after use by the SOE during WW2, it was sold in
1952 to the 2nd Earl Beatty. It was acquired by the Royal Society in 2007 and is now operated by an
hotel company. It has been the setting for a number of films including as Bletchley Park in the 2001
film Enigma.
This print shows the house with its false perspective and with the stable block and dovecote to the
left. Although the print bears no date it can be dated to the middle of the 19th century
OLNEY CHURCH
OLNEY CHURCH, BUCKS
BAS 3/120. Drawn and engraved by J. Storer. c. 1810. 3.5 in. x 2.5 in.
The church of St. Peter & St. Paul at Olney stands on the bank of the River Great Ouse and, with its
fine spire, dominates the southern approach to the town. It is thought that Olney Church was
originally situated at the north end of the town and it has been suggested that that church was founded
in 1018.
The greater part of the present church was built between 1330 and 1400, in the decorated Gothic style.
The finest feature of the church is its spire, which is set on a tall tower reaching a height of 185 feet.
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The church has a slightly unusual appearance due to the fact that the roof of the nave is lower than the
roof of the chancel, and of slate rather than tile. This is because the nave was altered in 1807, when
the clerestory was demolished and the old roof timbers and lead were sold. The north aisle was partly
rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the south aisle was largely rebuilt in 1831. The windows in
both aisles display the flowing tracery characteristic of fourteenth century ecclesiastical architecture,
although they were much restored, and in some cases replaced, in the nineteenth century.
The churchyard has been closed for some years; among the graves in the south-east corner is that of
John Newton and his wife Mary. William Cowper used to worship at the church where his friend John
Newton was curate and they jointly wrote a series of hymns.
OLNEY SUMMER HOUSE
COWPERS SUMMER HOUSE, Olney, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
BAS 4/84. Drawn by T.H. Shepherd; engraved by H. Wallis. 1838. Steel engraving. 3 in. x 3.5 in.
The poet William Cowper’s home from 1767 until 1786 was the mid Georgian house, Orchard Side,
at Olney. A gentle, if rather depressed soul, Cowper sought inspiration for many of his famous works
in the summer house in the garden. This print shows this rustic summer house, with the spire of St.
Peter & St. Paul’s church beyond.
In 1900 Orchard Side was presented to the town to become the Cowper and Newton Museum.
However the garden, in which the summer house was situated, was separately owned. Fortunately the
Museum trustees obtained an option to purchase the freehold and so following a meeting in
November 1918 they decided to try and raise the necessary £325. This sum was successfully raised
and the opening ceremony for the garden and summer house was performed on September 19th 1919
by the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, the Marquess of Lincolnshire, great uncle of the present
Lord Carrington.
WESTON UNDERWOOD LODGE
WESTON LODGE, the Residence of the late W. Cowper, Esq.
BAS 2/172. Drawn by John Greig; engraved by J. Storer. 1803. Etching overworked in watercolour. 6
in. x 4.25 in.
William Cowper’s period of residence at Orchard Side came to an end in June 1786, when his cousin
by marriage, Lady Hesketh, arrived to live in the town. Appalled by the condition of the house, and
the thieving disposition of its servants, she swiftly arranged for more suitable accommodation in the
nearby village of Weston Underwood. Here William and his companion, Mrs Unwin began a new life
at Weston Lodge (now called Cowper’s Lodge), a Georgian stone house of 7 bays, where he was to
remain until 1795. Cowper was not upset by the move, for he was then near his friends Sir Robert and
Lady Throckmorton - ‘Mr. and Mrs. Frog,’ as he affectionately called them - of Weston Hall.
Finding inspiration in the surrounding countryside, Cowper would often indulge in rural walks, and
sometimes it would be during these that within the tranquil embrace of the ‘Alcove’ he would retire to
write. Of hexagonal shape, with three sides open, this had been built by John Higgins in 1753 as a
woodland summerhouse for Sir Robert Throckmorton, and, enhanced by views across grounds laid
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out by the renowned Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown it was of little surprise that his poetic abilities were
greatly heightened by this situation.
Recently a bank of wind turbines has arrived right in the middle distance of these inspirational views;
although William Cowper had an interest in many innovations (from hot air balloons to medical
‘electrical machines’) it is debatable whether he would have found the present sight of the flailing
arms revolutionary, or whether it would just have given him another depressive turn.
WALLER’S TOMB AT BEACONSFIELD
Tomb of Edmund Waller at Beaconsfield
BAS 3/3 (Wyatt Bequest). Engraved by C. J. Smith. c. 1833. Etching. 3.5 in. x 5.5 in.
The poet and politician Edmund Waller, latterly of Hall Barn, Beaconsfield died in 1687 and was
buried in an ornate memorial tomb, now listed as Grade II*, in the churchyard of St. Mary & All
Saints church, Beaconsfield. The tomb lies close to the church and a venerable oak tree.
STOKE POGES CHURCHYARD
Stoke Poges, the Scene of Gray’s Elegy
BAS 2/135. Painted by J. W. Archer; engraved by A. H. Payne. c. 1835. Etching overworked in
watercolour. 4 in. x 6.25 in.
The church of St. Giles, consisting of a chancel and nave, was probably built shortly before it was
given to the Priory of St. Mary Overy, in Southwark early in the 12th century; the tower and south
aisle were built about 1225, when the chancel was lengthened, and the north aisle was added in the
last half of the same century. In the early part of the 14th century the timber south porch was built, and
in the 15th century a vestry, since destroyed, was added north of the chancel, while the Hastings chapel
was built about 1560. The church has been extensively restored and a new vestry was added in 1907.
The church has historic links with the poet Thomas Gray, who wrote his Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard whilst visiting his aunt Mary Antrobus, who lived in the village. He apparently wrote it
sitting under the yew tree opposite the S.W. door. His tomb is in the churchyard close to the church
and his memorial stands in the adjacent meadow.
BOARSTALL TOWER
Lent by Mr. Rob Dixon.
Boarstall Tower is the gatehouse of a former moated manor house, Boarstall House. This was
probably built before 1141 and was demolished in 1788 by the then owner, Sir John Aubrey. John de
Haudlo obtained a licence to crenellate his house in 1312 and built the tower as a result.
Boarstall was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War, holding out in 1644 against Sir William
Waller (a relation of the poet Edmund Waller) and Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1645. The Parliamentarians
besieged Boarstall for 10 weeks in 1646, the Royalists only capitulating when they heard that the
King had surrendered in Oxford.
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The tower, the only medieval military building remaining in Buckinghamshire, was converted into a
house in 1926 and was given to the National Trust in 1943. It was visited frequently in the 1940s by
Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh (see also Notley Abbey).
ROAD MAP OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The Road from LONDON to BUCKINGHAM Continued to Banbury
Private loan. Drawn by John Ogilby: published as part of Britannia 1675. 13.25 in. x 17.25 in.
This map is almost certainly the first road map published of the road from London through
Buckinghamshire to Buckingham and beyond. In 1674 John Ogilby had been appointed ‘His
Majesty's Cosmographer and Geographic Printer’. The Britannia atlas of 1675 set the standard for the
road maps that followed e.g. Leigh’s New Pocket Road-Book of England & Wales. In Ogilby’s time
some of the minor roads used the local mile rather than the standard mile of 1760 standard yards,
which Ogilby adopted in his atlas. One hundred strip road maps were drawn, accompanied by a
double-sided page of text giving additional advice for the map's use. Another innovation was Ogilby's
scale of one inch to the mile. The miles are marked and numbered on each map, the miles being
further divided into furlongs.
In 2008 Terry Jones, a television presenter, claimed that one of the maps’ purposes was to facilitate a
Catholic takeover of the Kingdom, an interpretation that some historians have agreed was plausible in
the context of the various Catholic or Popish plots of the 1670s.
Roads in the 17th and 18th centuries varied greatly between turnpikes which levied tolls and
traditional, largely unmaintained roads. The first toll road was in 1663 for a stretch of the Great North
Road in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire with such roads becoming more common
after the Turnpike Acts of the early 18th century. These roads were usually maintained to a reasonable
standard out of the toll revenues whereas other roads could be very hard going for wheeled traffic,
especially in winter.
This map is also a valuable historic document in that it shows the type of agriculture through which
the roads passed, indicating arable, common land, pasture etc. The spelling of many towns and
villages was unsettled at this period as is indicated by their spelling on the map e.g. Alesbury, Steple
Claydon, Tame etc.
POETS
John Newton of Olney
The names of Olney and of John Newton have been connected since the former slave-trader was
curate at St. Peter and St. Paul’s church between 1764 and 1780. Newton’s friendship enabled William
Wilberforce to become the greatest advocate of the abolition of the slave trade. Later, they worked
together to establish a home for freed slaves in Sierra Leone – this is how the villages of Newton and
Wilberforce came into being.
Amazing Grace is a hymn written by the poet and curate of St Peter & St Paul Olney, John Newton
(1725–1807), published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible
regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the
mercy of God, Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.
27
Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious
conviction but his life’s path was formed by a variety of coincidences that were often put into motion
by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed into the Royal Navy and became a sailor,
eventually participating in the slave trade. One night a terrible storm battered his vessel so severely
that he became frightened enough to call out to God for mercy, a moment that marked the beginning
of his spiritual conversion. His career in slave trading lasted a few years more until he gave up going
to sea altogether and began to study theology.
Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire,
where he began to write hymns with the poet William Cowper. Amazing Grace was written to
illustrate a sermon on New Year’s Day of 1773.
William Cowper of Olney and Weston Underwood
William Cowper (1731-1800) was a writer of hymns and one of the most popular poets of his time,
changing the direction of 18th century poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English
countryside. In many ways, he was a forerunner of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called
him ‘the best modern poet’, whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem Yardley-Oak.
After a period of insanity between 1763 and 1765, Cowper found refuge in evangelical Christianity,
the inspiration behind his much loved hymns. His religious sentiment and association with John
Newton (who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace) led to much of the poetry for which he is best
remembered. His poem Light Shining out of Darkness gave English the phrase: ‘God moves in a
mysterious way / His wonders to perform.’ He also wrote a number of anti-slavery poems and his
friendship with John Newton, who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, resulted in Cowper writing in
support of the Abolitionist campaign. Cowper wrote a poem called The Negro's Complaint (1788)
which rapidly became very famous.
William Cowper was born in Berkhamsted, where his father was the Rector. He and his brother John
were the only two of seven children to live past infancy. The death of his mother Anne (a descendant
of the Elizabethan poet John Donne) at an early age affected William deeply and was the subject of
his poem, On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture, written more than fifty years later.
Cowper entered Westminster School in 1742. He studied Latin from an early age and was an eager
Latin scholar for the rest of his life. Although bullied by older children, Cowper made a number of
lifelong friends at Westminster, including Charles Chester of Chicheley Hall. He read the Illiad and
the Odyssey, which ignited his love for Homer’s epics. He grew skilled at translating Latin, which he
put to use for the rest of his life.
After Westminster, Cowper was articled to a solicitor and spent his leisure at the home of his uncle,
where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry. However his uncle refused
to give his consent, probably believing that the marriage of persons so nearly related was improper.
This refusal left Cowper and Theodora distraught.
In 1763 through the good offices of his uncle Ashley Cowper he was offered the sinecure of the
Clerkship of Journals in the House of Lords. However he broke under the strain of the prospect of
having to undergo an interview and experienced a period of depression and insanity. He was sent
to an asylum to recover. His poem beginning, Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portions (sometimes
referred to as "Sapphics") was written at this time.
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After recovering, he settled at Huntingdon with a retired clergyman named Morley Unwin and his
wife Mary. Cowper grew to be on such good terms with the Unwins that he went to live in their house
and moved with them to Olney, where he met the curate John Newton, a former captain of slave ships,
who had devoted his life to the gospel. Not long afterwards, Morley Unwin was killed in a fall from
his horse; Cowper continued to live in the Unwin home and became greatly attached to the
widow Mary Unwin.
At Olney, Newton invited Cowper to contribute to a hymnbook that he was compiling. The resulting
volume, Olney Hymns, included hymns such as Praise for the Fountain Opened (beginning There is a
fountain fill'd with blood) and Light Shining out of Darkness (beginning God Moves in a Mysterious
Way) which remain some of Cowper's most familiar verses.
In 1773, Cowper experienced another attack of insanity. Mary Unwin cared for him with great
devotion and after a year he began to recover. In 1779 Cowper started to write poetry again. Mary
Unwin, wanting to keep Cowper's mind occupied, suggested that he write on the subject of The
Progress of Error. After writing a satire of this name, he wrote seven others. These poems were
collected and published in 1782 under the title Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.
In 1781 Cowper met a sophisticated and charming widow named Lady Austen who inspired new
poetry. Cowper himself tells of the genesis of what some have considered his most substantial
work, The Task, in his ‘Advertisement’ to the original edition of 1785. In the same volume Cowper
also printed The Diverting History of John Gilpin, a notable piece of comic verse. John Gilpin was
later credited with saving Cowper from becoming completely insane.
Cowper and Mary Unwin moved to Weston in 1786. During this period he translated
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into blank verse. His versions, published in 1791, were the most
significant English renderings of these epic poems since those of Alexander Pope earlier in the
century.
Cowper was not businesslike in his dealings with his publisher and earned very little from his
published poems, failing to claim copyright in most of his works although he did receive some ex
gratia payments from his publisher, Joseph Johnson. One exception was his translation of the Iliad,
which earned him £1,000.
In 1795 Cowper moved with Mary to Norfolk, settling in East Dereham. Mary Unwin died in 1796,
plunging Cowper into a gloom from which he never fully recovered. He continued to revise his
Homer for a second edition of his translation. Aside from writing the powerful and bleak poem, The
Castaway, he translated Greek verse into English and some of the Fables of John Gay into Latin.
Cowper died of dropsy in the spring of 1800 and was buried in St. Nicholas's Church, East
Dereham. He is honoured by a stained glass window in St. George’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.
Edmund Waller of Beaconsfield
Edmund Waller (1606-1687) was the eldest son of Robert Waller and his wife Anne, daughter of
Griffith Hampden and so first cousin to The Patriot, John Hampden and to the Hampdens and the
Lees who lived at Hartwell House.
Waller was born in Coleshill and baptised in Amersham, but early in his childhood his father moved
the family to Beaconsfield. Robert Waller died in 1616; Edmund’s mother sent the young Edmund
to Eton and then to King’s College Cambridge, where he was admitted a fellow-commoner in 1620. In
1624 Edmund’s sister Mary married a future parliamentary commander and Regicide, Adrian Scrope,
son of Sir Robert Scrope of Hambleden Manor (later Kenricks). Between 1624 and 1629 Waller was
successively M.P. for Ilchester, Chipping Wycombe and Amersham. Waller's first notable action was
29
his surreptitious marriage in 1631 to Anne Bancks, a wealthy ward of the Court of Aldermen. He
appeared before the Star Chamber for this offence and was heavily fined. After bearing him a son and
a daughter at Beaconsfield, his wife died in 1634. It was about this time that the poet was elected into
the ‘Great Tew Circle’ of Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland, an association of churchmen, politicians
and men of letters. In about 1635 he fell in love with Lady Dorothy Sidney, eldest daughter of the 2nd
Earl of Leicester; however she rejected him and the disappointment is said to have made Waller
temporarily insane.
In April 1640 Waller was again elected M.P. for Amersham and made speeches which attracted wide
attention. He was then elected M.P. for St. Ives in the Long Parliament. Waller’s speeches were much
admired, and were separately printed; they are academic exercises very carefully prepared. Clarendon
says that Waller spoke ‘upon all occasions with great sharpness and freedom’.
An obscure conspiracy against Parliament, which is known as "Waller's Plot", occupied the spring of
1643. In the terror of discovery, Waller confessed ‘whatever he had said heard, thought or seen, and
all that he knew... or suspected of others’. Waller was called before the bar of the House in July, and
made an abject speech of recantation. His life was spared and he was sent to the Tower of London but,
on paying a fine of £10,000, he was released and banished from the realm. His fellow conspirators
were less fortunate; Waller's brother in law, Nathaniel Tomkins, was executed.
In 1651 Parliament revoked Waller's banishment, and he returned to Beaconsfield. In 1655 he
published A Panegyric to my Lord Protector, and was made a Commissioner for Trade. He followed
this, in 1660, with a poem To the King, upon his Majesty's Happy Return. Being challenged
by Charles II to explain why this latter piece was inferior to his eulogy of Cromwell, the poet smartly
replied, "Sir, we poets never succeed so well in writing truth as in fiction".
Waller's lyrics were at one time greatly admired, but with the exception of "Song" (Go, lovely Rose)
and one or two others, they have lost their popularity. He lacked imaginative invention, but resolutely
placed himself in the forefront of reaction against the violence and "conceit" into which he considered
that the baser kind of English poetry was descending.
Waller was regarded by some as the pioneer in introducing the classical couplet into English verse.
Waller could not have introduced what had already been invented by Geoffrey Chaucer; however it
was he who earliest made writing in the serried couplet the habit and the fashion. Waller was writing
in the regular heroic measure, (the classical school of poetry), afterwards employed by John
Dryden and Alexander Pope, as early as 1623.
Waller and his family are closely associated with Gregory’s, Beaconsfield Church and Hall Barn, near
Beaconsfield. Edmund Waller’s second surviving son, also Edmund, who became a Quaker in 1698
lived at Gregory’s and was M.P. for Amersham and High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1689.
Waller died of dropsy and was buried at St. Mary & All Saints, Beaconsfield.
Thomas Gray of Cambridge and Stoke Poges
Thomas Gray (1716-1771) was born in London. His father, Philip Gray, was a scrivener and his
mother, Dorothy Antrobus, was a milliner. He was their only child to survive infancy. He lived with
his mother after she left his abusive and mentally unwell father.
Gray's mother paid for him to go to Eton where two of his uncles, Robert and William Antrobus,
worked as assistant masters. Robert became Gray's first teacher and helped to inspire in Gray a love
of botany and observational science. Gray's other uncle became his tutor. He recalled his schooldays
as a time of great happiness, as is evident in his Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College. Gray was
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a delicate and scholarly boy who spent his time reading and avoiding athletics. He lived in his uncle’s
house rather than in college. He made three close friends at Eton: Horace Walpole, son of the Prime
Minister Robert Walpole; Thomas Ashton, and Richard West. The four prided themselves on their
sense of style, sense of humour and appreciation of beauty.
In 1734 Gray went up to Peterhouse, Cambridge but found the curriculum dull. Intended by his family
for the law, he spent most of his time as an undergraduate reading classical and modern literature and
playing the harpsichord.
In 1738 he accompanied his school-friend Walpole on his Grand Tour of Europe. The two fell out and
parted in Tuscany, because Walpole wanted to attend fashionable parties while Gray wanted to visit
the antiquities. They were reconciled a few years later. It was Walpole who later helped publish Gray's
poetry. When Gray sent his most famous poem, Elegy, to Walpole, Walpole sent off the poem as a
manuscript and it appeared in different magazines. Gray then published the poem himself and
received the credit he was due.
Gray began seriously writing poetry in 1742. He moved to Cambridge and began a self-imposed
programme of literary study, becoming one of the most learned men of his time, though he claimed to
be lazy by inclination. Gray was a quiet, abstracted, dreaming scholar, often afraid of the shadows of
his own fame. He became a Fellow first of Peterhouse but in 1756 moved over the road to Pembroke
College, after the students at Peterhouse played a prank on him by raising a false fire alarm. Gray was
terrified of fire and had a bar put near his window in his rooms at the top of the Burrough’s Building
so that he could tie sheets to it and so escape.
Gray spent most of his life as a scholar in Cambridge. Although he wrote little (his collected works
published during his lifetime amount to fewer than 1,000 lines), he is regarded as the foremost
English-language poet of the mid-18th century. In 1757 he was offered the post of Poet Laureate,
which he refused. Gray was so self-critical and fearful of failure that he published only thirteen poems
during his lifetime. He once wrote that he feared his collected works would be ‘mistaken for the
works of a flea’. Walpole said that ‘He never wrote anything easily but things of Humour.’ Gray came
to be known as one of the ‘Graveyard poets’ of the late 18th century, along with Oliver
Goldsmith, William Cowper, and Christopher Smart. Gray perhaps knew these men, sharing ideas
about death and mortality.
It is believed that Gray began writing his masterpiece, the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, in
the graveyard of St. Giles Church in Stoke Poges in 1742. He often spent his vacations from
Cambridge in Stoke Poges staying with his mother and aunt. After several years of leaving the elegy
unfinished, he completed it in 1750. The poem, which was much influenced by the deaths of his
friend Richard West and his aunt Mary Antrobus and the injuries done to Horace Walpole by a
highwayman, was a literary sensation when published in 1751. Its reflective, calm and stoic tone was
greatly admired, and it was pirated, imitated, quoted and translated into Latin and Greek; it is still one
of the most popular and most frequently quoted poems in the English language.
Gray died in Cambridge and was buried beside his mother in the churchyard of St. Giles, Stoke Poges.
His tomb and the nearby monument can still be seen there and in anticipation of the tercentenary of
Gray’s birth they have been restored. A further monument to him by John Bacon stands below that to
Milton in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey.
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