Old Days of Eton Parish - CHAPTER XIII - A FEW STRAY INCIDENTS, 1774 TO 1854.

THE end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth were marked by unusual storms and much distress. In 1774 occurred the highest flood on record. The water on that occasion, according to a memorandum in the College Buttery, was 2 ft. 4 in. deep in the cellar under the Hall, and heavy floods and a notable storm occurred a few years later when many trees were demolished, and much other damage done. 

In 1809 six of the central arches of the old Fifteen Arch Bridge were carried away, and in 1826 or 1827 the whole of the High Street was under water and many of the inhabitants were driven up to the first-floor rooms and received supplies of food through the windows; an unpleasant experience which was repeated in the Wellington flood of 1852, and again in 1894. But there were graver troubles still. 

In 1803 the threatened invasion of England by Bonaparte was exciting the country generally, and volunteers were being raised for defence. 

Eton was not behindhand in furnishing its quota of men. Upwards of 200 inhabitants volunteered their services; out of these, forty-two were selected, and a fund was raised to assist the Government in providing them with clothing and equipment. 

The Eton Poor Estate with its usual generosity con-tributed twenty guineas for this purpose, and James Rogerson, Bridge Master for the year, was directed to hand over this sum to the Provost, Dr. Davies. In connection with the same event, a general meeting was called in 1804 for providing substitutes for those who had been drawn for the Militia. 

The next twenty years were years of depression. Food was dear, bread a costly luxury, work was scarce, and taxes enormous. The resident population at that date was 2026. The total amount of parish rates amounted to £1603 3s. 8d.: the rate was at six shillings in the pound. The result appears in the accounts of the Eton Poor Estate, in the unusual amount of uncollected rents, and in grants made to meet the wants of the necessitous poor. 

The death by drowning in 1834 of Jack Hall, who had been for nearly half a century a fisherman and servant of Eton College, led to the formation of the Eton and Windsor Royal Humane Society, and another sad accident at a much later date to a town-boy in Cuckoo Weir stream was the occasion for starting a regular bathing-place for the lads of the town under proper supervision. Both these institutions have proved lasting benefits to the town. 

In 1837 the first Eton Post Office was opened. The year 1846 saw the removal of the Christopher Inn from its former position in College to the High Street. It had long been a source of anxiety to Eton Masters, and Dr. Hawtrey at last succeeded in effecting its removal. The ground at the back, on which the Queen's Schools are built, appears in the map as Christopher Close, and the house fronting the street, now known as Christopher's, still represents part of the hospitable inn, famous in many stories of olden days.

At the same time several adjoining shops were pulled down to make room for College houses, but even in the fifties there were small shops both opposite the entrance to the School-yard and on the Slough Road near the ' New Schools.' 

One other event must be included in this chapter, the coming of the Great Western Railway, and the building of the viaduct across some of the Lammas land. 

It had originally been intended that the main line of this railway should pass through Windsor, Reading and Oxford. But the University of Oxford objected to such a dangerous innovation, and a like objection was raised by the authorities of Windsor Castle and Eton College, and the railway was diverted and constructed at a more respectful distance. It was not long before the desirability of a branch line from Slough to Windsor was mooted, but again an attempt was made to thwart it. A meeting of the inhabitants of Eton was summoned on October 2, 1846, to consider the threatened invasion. Although the requisition for the meeting was signed by the most influential people in the place, with the Provost at the head of the list, the opposition collapsed, and the project was carried through: the railway authorities were however obliged to place a watchman on the line to keep Eton boys from endangering their lives or the lives of passengers. This was continued to a late date in the century. 

But the coming of the railway affected the parish in another way. Compensation had to be paid by the Company to the parish, for the extinguishment of commonable rights, to the amount of £246 5s. id. This money remained in the hands of Trustees for many years and the Eton public were often asking the question at the annual vestry meeting as to the use to be made of it. Many proposals were made, but no satisfactory decision was reached for many years. At last in 1896 it was agreed that the proceeds of this, and another like compensation paid by the Local Board, should be spent in recreation grounds for Eton and Eton Wick. The fund having accumulated to £950, this was agreed to, and £650 of this was allotted to Eton and £300 to Eton Wick. 

In 1854 the Eton Gas Light Company was started, and gas was supplied to the town and College at 8s. per 1,000. Hitherto the town had been lighted with oil. 

OLD DAYS OF ETON PARISH by The Rev. John Shephard, M.A. was published in 1908 by Spottiswoode and Co Ltd. The text is has been copied from the original book that is now out of copyright.

Old Days of Eton Parish - The Beginnings of the Church in Eton A.D. 925 to 1212

CHAPTER 2

BEFORE attempting to trace the first beginnings of the Church in Eton, it will be well to review very shortly the history of the Church in this country generally, and especially in that part of it with which we are concerned. 

There is no evidence to show that the British Church which existed in our island, from the second to the fourth century, had extended to the neighbourhood of Eton. At least with the expulsion of the Britons by the Saxons, all signs of Church settlements disappeared, and heathenism again reigned supreme. 

Nor are there any proofs that the mission of St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, reached as far as the north bank of the Thames. 

The first mission that penetrated Wessex, as this part of the country was then called, was led by Bishop Birinus, who was consecrated in Italy by the Archbishop of Milan. With a band of monks from Northern Italy, he landed on the Hampshire coast, and passing Winchester made his way gradually along the Thames valley; eventually he penetrated as far as Oxfordshire, and established his cathedral at Dorchester (1). There in 635 this Bishop of Wessex baptised Cynegils, the King of the West Saxons, and his eldest son. 

The growth of Christianity, in the country through which he passed, seems to have been surprisingly rapid and of a sturdy character. 

These Anglo-Saxons, like the Old British Christians, were free from all foreign interference, their Services were said in their native tongue, their Christianity was untainted by any of the later Roman developments. Though they were a rough people and sometimes given to violence, they were staunch believers, and nobly generous in their support of the ancient faith.

The first settlements of converts had probably to be content with the periodical visits of a monk or priest, who would hold an outdoor service, in their native language, at the foot of a Cross set up in their village ; and then a little later they would build a simple Church and perhaps support a resident priest. 

In Anglo-Saxon times, before the coming of the Normans, most of the Church buildings were small and poor. Here and there are found remains of Churches built of stone, but they were generally made of rough timber cut down from the oak forests, smeared with rough-cast, and thatched with reeds. They showed little beauty of architectural design; they were however the beginnings of better things. 

Although monks and monasteries had in later days an ill repute, and more or less deserved it, it must be borne in mind that many of the stories told against them were exaggerated by those who wanted an excuse for enriching themselves at their expense. At any rate, at the time with which we are concerned, they were doing a vast work towards the future of England. 

Besides Christianising the country, these colonies of monks were busy erecting mills and farm-houses, making roads and bridges, draining marshes, clearing forests, cultivating wastes, opening up communication both by land and water, and so laying foundations for the civilisation and prosperity of the people. In fact England owes them a debt, which, in spite of subsequent failures, should not be forgotten. But just when Christianity was gaining ground, there came a check, which seems to have been severely felt in most parts of the country, and to no small degree in the county of Bucks. 

Again and again in the ninth and tenth centuries, Wessex was ' harried' by the rough heathen Danes, and a general sense of unsettlement prevailed. These raids were specially directed against the monasteries, which they plundered of their wealth, often slaughtering the monks without mercy. In the north of England they quite swept away these centres of learning, and even in Wessex, when in later times King Alfred rescued it from their violence, he found it necessary to reconstruct the system of civilisation, and to revive the religious studies which had been brought to a standstill. 

Eventually the Danes, attracted by the appearance of the country, settled down amicably in Wessex among the Saxons, adopted their religion, their laws and customs, and intermarried with them. The county of Bucks largely recovered its normal prosperity under Earl Godwin in a peaceful forty years before the Norman Conquest. 

But there is another factor to be noticed, which besides monasticism had also far-reaching effects on the religious future of the country, and had already made itself widely felt. 

In 668, when most of England had become Christian, an Eastern monk Theodore, a native of Tarsus, St. Paul's birthplace, was chosen to fill the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. He was ordained and consecrated in North Italy, and with wonderful energy, although he was sixty-six years of age, he travelled through the greater part of our island, organising fresh monasteries and schools, and set himself to unite in one Church the Christians con-verted by the various isolated missions, and to make it a compact society with a definite government and a general synod. He largely increased the number of Dioceses, appointing to each a Bishop with a settled sphere of work. He also is credited with originating the parochial system, under which every Diocese was divided into parishes, in each of which a definite person (persona ecclesiæ, or parson) was to be placed, and to whom was committed the care of all the souls within the parish boundaries. It naturally took some time to effect this arrangement, but it is important as marking the real beginning of the national Church of England.

So it was that, some time between A.D. 902 and 925, when Wessex (2) was included in this measure, Eton found itself constituted a parish, containing 786 acres (3) separated from its neighbours by well-defined landmarks, and for the present with the rest of the county under a Bishop whose seat was at Dorchester-on-Thames (4). 

There are as yet no Episcopal registers which will help us to determine what provision had been made for the spiritual needs of the people. It is not till we approach nearer the Norman Conquest that we have any certain information to guide us. 

There is, however, evidence of another kind which seems to indicate that some time before this the Church had established a firm hold on the parish. 

There appear, as we have already noticed, to have been two separate manors within the parish boundaries, the township of Eton and the Manor of Eton cum Stockdales and Colenorton as it is now called, and wherever such townships or Manors existed, it was an understood thing that the thegn or Lord of the Manor should make proper provision for the spiritual welfare of the people on his estate. In most cases the responsibility was accepted with astonishing generosity, and the thegn either voluntarily gave a tenth part of the produce of his land to some monastery willing to supply clergy, or constituted himself patron of the living by endowing it with this tithe, as a perpetual charge on his estate, and often in addition he surrendered certain fields, which henceforth became Church property. 

That some such provision was made in Eton may almost be taken for granted. 

It appears from the Domesday Survey that the previous holder of the Manor of Eton was Queen Eadgyth, the wife of Edward the Confessor and daughter of the famous Earl Godwin who was the leading nobleman in the Kingdom of Wessex. With her high character (5) and well-known piety and her devotion to good works, it is  hardly possible to conceive that she would have allowed her tenants in Eton to lack the spiritual care which was held so necessary a part of the Christian religion.

At the same time, no positive proof is forthcoming, till we learn that Walter, of the family of Other, who succeeded the Queen on the Manor, held the advowson or patronage of Eton and Ortone (Horton) as well as that of Burnham. 

At least, then, about this time there was a priest in charge of the parish, and in all probability there was a Parish Church of some sort and a parsonage house as well. 

Where the earliest Church stood, we can only roughly conjecture. There is a local tradition that it stood in King's Stable Street on ground occupied by a malthouse which was pulled down in the middle of the nineteenth century, and tradition further asserts that there was once a vicarage house on the site of 33 King's Stable Street, close to the river. Seeing that in those days nearly all the Churches were planted on the river bank as the most accessible highway, and that Edward the Confessor had himself chosen such a site for Old Windsor Church, these seem to be probable traditions. At the same time there are strong grounds for believing that, at least in later days, the position of the Church must have been changed and a new and more substantial building erected on a more convenient site. Professor Willis gives good reasons for supposing that the Parish Church, when the founding of the College was contemplated, was situated in the Churchyard to the south of the present College Chapel. 

The next available information as to the spiritual care of the parish is of later date. 

Among the religious orders introduced into this country after the Norman Conquest was the Order of Canons Regular of St. Augustine. They took their name from that Augustine who was Bishop of Hippo in 395; their order was founded in 1061. When they came into England in the next century, they met with a warm welcome, and soon had as many as 170 houses or centres of work. 

They were known as the Black Canons, from wearing long black cassocks and black hoods. Unlike the monks, who were close shaved, these Canons wore beards, and caps or birettas instead of cowls. One of their most famous houses was planted at Merton in Surrey and known as the Priory and Convent of Merton. This Priory for many years to come had much to do with the religious life of Eton. 

The Black Canons seem to have served the parish of Eton as well as the parishes of Hupeton (Upton), Taplow, Colnbrook, Wexham, Horton and Hitcham. Their services would generally, as mentioned above, be invited by the Lord of the Manor, or, to relieve himself of all responsibility, he would hand over to the Priory the advowson of the living, together with the tithes, the glebe, and offerings for the maintenance of the parish priest. This appears to have been the case at Eton. 

We learn from the Records of Merton Priory that the Prior had become possessed of a messuage in Burgagio (6) de Eaton' with an acre of land called Sudmed (South Meadow) and a croft called Chelvescroft (? Chalvey) near ‘ the ville of Eton.' This is mentioned in a lease (7) of this land made in 1198 to Robert son of Hugo de Boveney. It seems also that the Church in Eton, in addition to the tithes previously secured, was possessed of thirty acres of arable land and six acres of pasture land. These were rented in whole or in part by one Ralph Cajun and the rent was paid to the Prior of Merton. 

About the same time the Priory increased their property in Eton and acquired a field called Bullokeslok (Bullock's lock) with rights of fishery and four eyots appertaining, and land which now is known as the Playing Fields. 

In the Merton Records of June 11, 1212, mention is made of a Commission held at Wexham Church to assess the value of the Vicarage of Upton, and among those appointed to serve on the Commission are the priests of Eton, Wexham and Wyrardisbury (Wraysbury), and here occurs the first mention by name of the priest in charge of the parish. He is entered as Richard de Eton. No titles are given in this record, so that we are left in the dark, as to whether Richard was Vicar or only a priest removable at the will of the Prior. 

There are however certain side lights which may help us in a small degree, and at least are of interest. 

We learn that where patrons of Benefices had handed over advowsons and Church property to religious communities, the monks obtained licence to be perpetual Incumbents of these Churches, without applying to the Bishop for institution or induction. This accounts for the absence of any records of institutions to such parishes in the early Diocesan Registers. But it is also clear that by this period corruptions were creeping in, and monastic bodies were often in the habit of diverting the parish endowments they received to other purposes, and con-tented themselves with providing very scantily for the needs of the parish. Often they left the parish without a resident priest and kept up the services and other duties by the occasional visits of one of their brethren. Naturally parishes suffered, and the fabrics of the Churches too. It seems that the Black or Austin Canons were among the chief offenders in this way. 

Now it so happens that, just at this time with which we are concerned, there were three successive Bishops of Lincoln who set their faces firmly against this palpable abuse: William of Blois 1203, Hugh of Wells 1209, and Grosseteste 1236. All three were active in enforcing on these communities the settlement in all their parishes of a resident Vicar with a small but proportionate share of the parish endowments (8). The second of these Bishops established more than three hundred Vicarages in his Diocese. A list of them is still in existence (9), in which appear both the Chalfonts, Hedsor, Stoke Poges and Upton, and there is a mention of Eiton,' but it cannot be claimed as the Eton in which we are interested. It is most likely the place of the same name in Bedfordshire, which several topographers (10) have con-fused with Eton. Whether, under one or other of the above-named Bishops, Eton in those days was constituted a Vicarage, must remain an open question. We only know that after some few years, as we shall see presently (11), the patronage passed from the Priory into private hands, and the Incumbent is thenceforth designated Rector. 

OLD DAYS OF ETON PARISH by The Rev. John Shephard, M.A. was published in 1908 by Spottiswoode and Co Ltd. The text is has been copied from the original book that is now out of copyright.

Notes

1 Dorchester in Oxfordshire, the parent See of the Dioceses of Winchester, Lincoln and Oxford. 

2 See Bp. Stubbs, Constitutional History. 

3 In 1839 estimated at 783 acres 2 roods 11 perches. 

4 In consequence of the Danish occupation the Bishop of Lincoln removed his See to Dorchester for some years. In 1074 we find the Bishop again settled in Lincoln. 

5 The Queen was married in 1043 and died in 1075. A Latin verse of the day contrasts her with her rough father : " Sicut spina rosam, genuit Godwinus Egitham." 

(Like a thorn rose, Godwin begat Egitha.)

6 If a settlement was defined by a mound and a ditch instead of a 'tun' or quick-set hedge, it was called a 'burh,' whence come the forms borough, burgh and bury. Ransome, Hist. of England, P. 43

7 Heale's Merton, P. 54. 

8 The creation of Vicarages, as distinct from Rectories, seems to date from this period. 

9 Liber Antiquus, Lincoln Registry, translated by A. Gibbons. 

10 e.g. Lipscomb frequently in his valuable book on Buckinghamshire. The Eiton in Bedfordshire is now known as Eaton Socon. 

11 Chapter IV. 

Old Days of Eton Parish - CHIEFLY TOPOGRAPHICAL.

AT the time when the little Chapel of Ease was built, Eton presented a very different appearance to what it does now. Only a few of the present College boarding-houses were in existence; several shops and the Christopher Inn (St. Christopher, it is called in a Baptismal Register, Sept. 22, 1721) still stood within the old College bounds.

In the High Street, the only house on the west side, between Barns Pool Bridge House and the little Chapel, was a timber house with a large timber yard adjoining. The ground now covered by the houses Nos. 126 to 137 was enclosed by a paling, and shaded by lime trees, and behind was a large meadow called Newman's Meadow.

Beyond the Chapel of Ease (Eton Church History), on the west side of the street, there were also several breaks in the line of buildings. The site now occupied by the Christopher Hotel was open ground.

Most of the houses were low, or at most one-storied, with high-pitched roofs and quaint gables. Many had steps leading down to them, and the windows were mostly small and filled with quarried glass. Some small shops of this character stood in front of the alms-houses, a little back from the road with lime trees before them. Close to Strugnell's Buildings, which are nearly the only surviving relics of the old picturesque houses, stood the parish stocks, in which offenders against the law were condemned to sit with hands and feet locked in, a warning to all beholders. These stocks remained there till the middle of the last century.

In 1811 there was no Post Office. Letters were left at Mr. Hetherington's in High Street and called for by a boy once a day at 6.30. At that date the only side streets were Hawke's Lane or King's Stable Street, once said to have been used for royal stables, and the first part of Brocas Lane. The last house on the right in this lane was the Eton Union Workhouse.

In somewhat later days the Union was removed to what is now the Sanatorium garden, and thence to its present position at Slough.

In what is now Eton Court, there were hatters' shops and slaughter houses. At the back of the east side of the street were extensive gardens.

Tangier Mill, built probably at the beginning of this same century' close to the present waterworks, stood alone and gave its name to Mill fields.

Among the industries of the time was the making of clay pipes, which is still carried on in King's Stable Street, although the demand has greatly decreased.

In many cottages women were in those days busy with their spinning wheels, spinning flax, and when the times were bad a supply of flax was a recognized form of charity.

The space now occupied by Eton Square, Meadow Lane, Baker's Buildings or Union Terrace, and Ernlyn's Buildings, was still either garden or meadow land.

Somewhere near the latter a cattle fair used to be held yearly in March. In South Meadow pony races took place in August and were joined in and enjoyed by the inhabitants generally, many of them riding as jockeys. This was of course before the coming of the railway, and there was no danger of this local event being vulgarised by the inroad of bookmakers and so-called gentlemen of the turf.

But now we must look a little more particularly into the topography of the parish generally. And first as to maps. No really ancient maps of the parish are to be found. Among the earliest is W. Collier's plan of Windsor and Eton, dated 1742. A copy of this hangs in the Cloister Gallery. There is also in possession of Eton College a plan of the parish of Eton, 1798, and a tithe map of the parish 1843 (with the commutation of tithe' as settled in 1839). A map by H. Walker, dated 1839, is owned by Mr. Howard J. Hetherington. From the last chiefly is taken the map printed in this volume.

Then as to boundaries. These may be best described by quoting verbatim an account of the Perambulation or the Boundaries, or the Beating of the Bounds as it was popularly termed, held on Wednesday, August 2, 1815. But before doing so a brief explanation should be given, as to the origin and purpose of this perambulation.

It was a survival of a custom, more ecclesiastical than civil, which came down from the days of Merrie England. In olden times the perambulation took place in each parish at Rogationtide. It began at what was known as the Gospel tree, where the parish priest attended by the choir read the Rogation Gospel, and certain appropriate Psalms were sung. The purpose of the ceremonial was to pray for God's blessing on the land, and at the same time to secure to each tenant the rightful boundaries of his holding. Queen Elizabeth made an effort to retain this godly custom by her injunction issued 1559, and a Homily setting forth the double purpose of the observance was printed for use. in the Rogation season. Under gloomy Puritan influences, this institution met with little encouragement. Anything of the nature of a procession was regarded with suspicion and as unworthy of the gravity of the true Christian. But, as we have said, it survived in Eton, though held not in Rogationtide as formerly, but in August. How may we account for this change of date?

Probably it was to avoid any collision between the boys of the College and the town. The day chosen was after the breaking up of the School for the summer holidays, which took place then on Election Monday, and after the Election into College had been declared. The following is the account of the proceedings.

"On Wednesday the and of August 1815, the Parish Officers, Charity Children and Inhabitants, having assembled in the Workhouse yard, proceeded, with music playing and colours flying, down the street to the College Hall. Here, after having sung the first verse of the morning hymn, they were provided by the Provost and Fellows with a breakfast of roast and boiled beef, and ale. They then proceeded to Black Pots and fixed a bound mark on a withy tree at the water side; a verse of the Old Hundredth Psalm was then sung, and three cheers given. The procession then commenced, and proceeded from thence by the side of and through the ayte, along the ridge of the bank separating the Shooting Fields and Cut-throat Lane (in the Parish of Upton) to Beggars Bridge, and having here fixed a bound mark and observed the usual ceremony, they proceeded through the middle of Chalvey Ditch to Bell's Farm, making a bound mark as the procession passed by Little Park Close, opposite the Parishes of Upton and Burnham. From Bell's Farm they proceeded through the water to the Old Ditch, and having cut a mark they proceeded along the ditch and through the garden and house occupied by William Lanfear, and having nailed a bound mark over the door, they proceeded up the Lane, past Tilstone Gate, by the Boveney side of the hedge to Boveney Ditch, to a withy tree at the corner, where having nailed a bound mark they proceeded along the side of the ditch (leaving Biddle's Close on the right) to Boveney Bridge; they then took water, and having nailed a bound mark on the bridge, and cut a cross on a withy tree on the opposite side of the water, they proceeded and took half stream from thence to Barge-man's Bridge ; after having nailed a bound mark on that bridge, they passed over to the opposite side, where they entered Farm Ayte and continued their course across the ayte to a bound post. They turned by the side of a creek, on the left of Dabchick Ayte, leaving a small part of the ayte planted with withy stumps, in the Parish of Clewer. They took water in the creek, and proceeded by the side of that ayte and Snap Ayte to a division between Snap and Beck's Aytes, across to the Brocas, where a bound mark was driven in the ground ; and from thence by the side of the bank to Carter's steps at Windsor Bridge, they passed over the rails of the bridge to the Corner House, occupied by William Peltham, through the door-way and window facing the river, nailing a bound mark at each place. They again took water, and proceeded along by the side of the bank to the stile in the Back Fields, at the head of the creek, and after having cut a bound mark on a withy tree at the corner, they crossed the water and Mr. Cutler's Ayte to the opposite side of the ayte below the weir, from whence they proceeded by the side of the ayte to a new piece of ground made at the end of it, where having cut a cross on an old stump, and. likewise on the tree opposite, they kept close to the bank to Newark, and having nailed a cross on the post, they took half-stream from thence by the head pile in mid river opposite the oak tree in Wharf Close, where having fixed a bound mark they kept close to the Eton side of the new made • ground to the old head of Black Pots Ayte, where crossing they kept close down the river on the Windsor side of the ayte to the withy tree from whence they started, and thus the boundaries of the Parish were perambulated.

" God save the King' was then sung. The Procession landed, and proceeded to the Brans, where refreshments were provided for the children of the school by the Parish Officers.

 " N.B.—It may be necessary to observe that the Mayor of Windsor, the Chamberlain, and Town Clerk met the Procession at Beck's Ayte, and continued with it to the Head Pile at Black Pots, and likewise that three cheers were given at each bound mark. The Procession consisted of the Revd. Mr. Roper (as Chaplain to the Provost), the Steward of the Manor, the Parish Officers, Charity Children and inhabitants.

Overseers: William Milward, Thomas Nason, Jnr, George Burgiss.”

A similar account was printed in 1825.

The custom was continued till the forties, when with the introduction of the maps of the Ordnance Survey this marking the bounds became superfluous. On the last occasion of its observance there was also a good deal of horse play, and a respected parishioner was pushed into Chalvey ditch and got an unpleasant soaking.

The correct names of the fields, etc., in the parish may be best learnt by taking two walks, starting in both cases from the College Chapel. 

This is an extract from Old Days of Eton Parish by The Rev. John Shephard originally published by Spottiswoode and Co., Ltd. in 1908.

Old Days of Eton Parish - Two Walks from 1908

Field Map by H. Walker 1839

Walk No. 1 

Passing through Weston's Yard and the Playing Fields, once called King's -Ward or the King's Worth, we cross Sheep's Bridge, and, looking to the river bank on the right, we are reminded that, from 1557 until the year 1840, a timber and coal wharf occupied this bank, known as Leadbeater's Wharf. This was also used as a bathing place but was finally condemned as dangerous. Taking the path to the left, we pass on the right the Shooting Fields, now known as Upper Club. Crossing Slough road from the Lodge we find ourselves in Stone Bridge Mead. Formerly this was divided into three holdings. The land along Chalvey Brook belonged to the Parsonage of Eton.; It still is free of tithe and bears the name of Parson's Bush. Next came a narrow strip of arable land, one furlong in length and eleven yards wide at each end--in all, half an acre, known as Mid-furlong, which was the property of the Bridge Trust; nearer Colenorton Brook is Pocock's Field, once the holding of Henry Jordley. Crossing the footbridge to the left we pass through Timberhaws (the Timbralls), better known in these days as Sixpenny or the Field.

Coming out into Common Lane by the Fives Courts, we pass Colenorton Close on the right and find ourselves at the entrance of Long Common. Taking the path over Colenorton Brook by the side of the pumping station, we pass under the railway viaduct and are in Rossey's Piece. The long field north of Colenorton on our left is Inner Mead; on the other side towards Chalvey lie the Broad-masses or Broadmarshes or Broadmoors, famous for cowslips. Further on, on the same side, is North Field with three little strips in the corner, Little Bush Close, Bushy Close, and Long Close.

The path continues straight, until it is crossed by the road leading to Little Common. The farm on the left is Manor Farm; the farm to the right is known as Saddock's Farm, which is the property of the Crown. Behind the cottages on Little Common is what is called Great Park Close, now part of the Eton Sewage Farm, and nearer Bell Farm (occupied by the Manager) is the Hyde or Great Hide. At Bell Farm we reach the western boundary of the parish. Although Long Common is the pleasanter way, we will for the sake of the topography return by the Eton Wick road. Opposite the front of the village is Upper Tilston Shot, It is here a futile attempt was made in 1846 by T. Hughes to defy Lammas rights. Here in the present century E. L. Vaughan has succeeded in planting an Institute for Eton Wick and New Boveney.

Eton Wick Church and Schools stand on Sheepcote or Great Sheep Croft or Sheep-gate, the land on the other side being Crab Tree Close. A little further on we reach on the left Gudgeon's Pool, the land opposite being called Sandles or Sandalls. On the Eton side of the Sanatorium, to the left as we face the town, is Broken Furlong, and on the right crossed by a path, Path Sandles. Then we reach the Slads or the Water Slades, i.e. the channel by which the floods slide away,' and we come to the College Recreation Ground properly called Great Town Piece,' and Evans' Field, ' Little Town Piece,' where once there stood a pest-house for cases of plague.

Walk No. 2.

We may leave the College by Keate's Lane passing the houses built on Cock Close on the right and Christopher Close on the left, and we come to South Meadow. The narrow field behind the Bellevue Cottages is marked in the maps as the Butts, 'and a small plot of ground opposite on the left in South Meadow is known as the Hayward's Butts,' The Hayward, who has charge of the cattle on the Lammas and Common, still has certain privileges on this strip of ground. 

Instead of following the lane, we will take the path to the right through the town Recreation Ground, which occupies part of Ten Acres,' The path leads through 'Rush-pits' to Grass and Corn Gabbetts, and so to the bridge on the towing path over Boveney ditch. We have again reached the boundary, and turn back to Athens, which stands in Warwick Eyot with Warwick Close and plots called Bird and Buckshot Close and Burden Bushes behind it.

If we crossed Long Bray Bridge at Upper Hope we should pass from the Lower Ward Meadow into Great and Little Inner Ward, but we will skirt the Outer Ward and Cuckoo Weir, called in some maps Cuckoo Pum or Cuckoo Penn Ware. We pass on the left 'Mill Piece' and 'Mill Furlong,' reminding us of the mill which stood in Cuckoo Weir at the time of the Norman Conquest. On the right is a broken piece of ground called Gravel Close, which still shows signs of old gravel pits, and we can return either by the side of South Meadow, by the side of which flows a water culvert, or cross the Brocas field and re-enter the town by Hog Close and Brocas Lane. We shall then in two walks have touched on nearly all the places which are mentioned in the maps or other records of old Eton.

This is an extract from Old Days of Eton Parish by The Rev. John Shephard originally published by Spottiswoode and Co., Ltd. in 1908.

OLD DAYS OF ETON PARISH - Eton Porny School

It is to Antoine Pyron du Martre, best known by his adopted name of Mark Anthony Porny, that the parish has most reason to be grateful. He was born at Caen in Normandy, and came from France in 1754 when a young man of twenty-three. After a severe struggle to maintain himself, he settled down as French Master in Eton in 1773, and occupied this position for thirty-three years.

It seems that about 1790, steps were taken by Provost Roberts to establish a Charity and Sunday School for the children of the parish. A committee of twenty-two was appointed and subscriptions were collected, which enabled the good work to be carried on in a small way from year to year. This was the first attempt, since the College was founded, to give the children of the poor a religious and elementary education, and Mark Anthony Porny was much interested in it; but few knew how great his interest was, or anticipated his noble intentions.

It is, however, pleasant to learn that his worth of character was otherwise recognized, and that, towards the end of his life, he was appointed by George III. one of the Poor Knights of Windsor, and on his death in 1802 was buried on the south side of St. George's Chapel, where his grave is still to be seen with its Latin inscription.

By the hard work of teaching and writing school books, he managed to put by about £4000, and on his death it was found that " in gratitude for the little property he had acquired in this free and generous kingdom he had bequeathed the bulk of it upon trust unto the Treasurer of the Charity and Sunday School established in Eton in the County of Bucks, to be applied by the Trustees or Committee or by whatsoever name they may be designated for the time being, towards carrying out the laudable and useful designs of its institution. Mr. Charles Knight, Printer and Bookseller of New Windsor, was appointed his executor. There was some delay in carrying out this bequest, in consequence of a lawsuit instituted by some distant French relatives, and meantime the money was out at interest and had become worth £8250. But at last the plaintiffs were defeated in their attempt to upset the will, and in 1813 steps were taken to build a Master and Mistress's house, now known as 129A and B High Street, with two schoolrooms behind which now serve as the Parish Room.¹

The ideas of suitable school accommodation were much more limited than in these times, but, in the local press of the day, they are described as " neat and convenient buildings, in conformity with plans submitted to the Court of Chancery." They were built by contract for £1723 by Mr. Tebbott of Windsor.

The school was opened on April 26, 1813, the management of it being vested in the Provost and Fellows and eight other inhabitants of the parish, who were called Porny Trustees.

After paying the cost of building, there still remained an endowment of £5200, the interest of which enabled the Porny Trustees to give a free education to ninety children. According to the old rules these scholars were elected from the Sunday schools, being the children of parishioners of Eton, born in wedlock, having been not less than one year in the Sunday school, and regular and punctual in their attendance.²

The Porny Trustees used to meet on the first Tuesday in each month except during the holidays. Every Porny scholar who reached the age of 14, and left school with a good character, received a Bible and Prayer Book.

1 A board bearing an inscription is still over the archway leading to the Parish Room.
2 The school hours in those days were in summer 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., in winter 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1.30 p.m. to 4 a.m. On Sunday's 8.30 a.m. and in the afternoon 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., or 6 p.m. in summer.

This is an extract from Old Days of Eton Parish by The Rev. John Shephard originally published by Spottiswoode and Co., Ltd. in 1908.

Read Arthur Mylam's memories of Eton Porny School here.