Wheatbutts

Wheatbutts was built by William Lydford, a butcher from Eton, between 1704, when the land was described as 'All that close of arable land called wheatbutts', and 1716, by which time the house had been built in the corner of the close and the rest converted into an orchard. Whether William Lydford ever lived there is not clear, but by 1716 he was living in Old Windsor and the property sold to the Eton Poor estate.

- from "The Story of a Village" by Judith Hunter

Russell Haggerty writes:

I lived in Wheatbutts Cottage in the early fifties. My father was in the US air force. We moved in just after David Niven moved out (so we were told).

At that time the 'cottage' had a nine acre orchard, a large garden in front and a nine room thatched cottage on the left from the front door. This was down a ways from the 'carriage house' also on the left. My father was a photographer and took many pictures of the cottage and grounds. Outside the fence in back was a bicycle path and a duck and swan pond. Beyond the pond was a small dairy farm.

This was a cherished memory for me. My bedroom looked out the front on the first floor and Windsor castle was on the horizon.

David Cawsey writes:

There are several mentions of David Niven's occupancy of Wheatbutts, and I have another story about this.

My cousin tells me that she and a friend learned that David Niven was at home at Wheatbutts and went there to ask for David Niven's autograph. The housekeeper said that Errol Flynn was with David Niven at that time and asked them to return later for the autograph, which they did. (David Niven and Errol Flynn were known to be great personal friends.)

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