The Eton Wick Newsletter - April 2014 - `Our Village' Magazine

`Newtown' and beyond Bell Lane In previous newsletters we have seen the development of Eton Wick (in the Parish of Eton) having many building restrictions, imposed by Commons, Lammas, Farms etc., and of course the boundary West of the Parish being Bell Lane and beyond into the Parish of Burnham. This may seem inconvenient, but surely it is the attraction of our village; being surrounded by the countryside. Other local villages such as Upton, Chalvey and Cippenham have been 'swallowed up' by an ever expanding Slough. We are able to walk North, South, East or West through open country or along the river bank and usually return by a different route without fear of trespass. 

To the East is Eton Town and College and growth of the village in that direction was not possible. The town was ever short of building sites to meet its own needs. In fact in the early post Great War years (early 1920s) Eton wanted to build homes to re-accommodate its own families. They were obliged to negotiate with the Eton Wick Council (independent 1894 — 1934) to change the boundary of Town to Village from the 'Sleds' to Broken Furlong, thereby enabling Eton to develop part of their new holding; and Somerville Road with housing, was created. Apart from the boundary change, it became necessary to switch the Lammas grazing rights of Broken Furlong to a like acreage across the main road. 

Without this 'switch' it would not have been permissible to build on Lammas designated land, as a certain Mr Thomas Hughes could have testified over seventy years earlier. In 1846 he had built two houses on land he owned in the village. The land however, known as Tilstone Shot, was subject to Lammas, which prompted a sharp reaction from villagers, and a subsequent court case, held in Aylesbury, ordered the houses to be taken down. 

This exchanged Lammas area opposite Broken Furlong is of course the area that was in dispute in 2007 for the proposed can park, and possible rail halt. The houses and new road were built in early to mid-1920s and named 'Somerville' in, presumably, recognition of the Town Council Chairman, Mr Somerville, whose negotiations with the village had been so successful. It is easily seen then that Eton Wick could not readily expand to the East, and before Boveney Newtown (c. 1880s) came about any thoughts of building west of the Bell Lane boundary was restricted by the land between the lane and Dorney Common being farm land or privately owned; much of it by the Palmer family of Dorney Court. 

Apart from the main through road there were no other roads in this Burnham Parish area, except perhaps Moores Lane, a rough earth track leading to Cippenham and Slough. It could not have been Moores Lane in those early days because Mr Moore had not yet arrived from Rotherhithe. It was perhaps an unusual situation where Bell Farm was situated just inside of the Eton/Burnham boundary, enjoyed the Lammas grazing of Eton and yet had much of its farm lands over the stream and in Burnham. 

Some limited building had taken place across the border by the late 19th Century. The Shepherd's Hut public house had its first beer license in 1833 — this was probably the only dwelling along Tilstone Lane (main road). Bell Farm had built a few farm labourer cottages — some in the lane and eight more built at right angles in what later became Alma Road. They were demolished around 1970 to make way for the flats of todays' Bellsfield Court — again appropriately named. 

Not until 1870 when, following a deteriorating situation with regard to the Eton Town and College sewage that Eton Council purchased Bell Farm, planning to pump their waste the mile and half to the village farm, where in accordance with common practice at that time it would be spread over furrowed land and reputedly was very good for root and other crops. The Council were not farmers, and needed to engage a manager, and to 'shed' some of its acreage. In 1875 they sold seven acres of farm land, just across the stream and border, to Mr Bott of Common Road, Eton Wick. Unfortunately Bott had now stretched his finances to the point of having overreached himself, and within five years had sold his seven acre site to Mr James Ayres, who had an eye for business. Ayres sold off the recently acquired farm land, plot by plot. A single house here, a block or terraced now there; eventually, and within a few brief years new roads and their dwellings were covering the seven acres. Here was Alma Road, Inkerman and later Northfield Roads — not yet Eton Wick, this new development in the Burnham ward was called Boveney Newtown. Its population was a little larger than neighbouring Eton Wick, and being new was perhaps even more vibrant, but in some ways dependent. It had no school for its children, and they were meant to go to Dorney, but of course with no bus service the bleak track across Dorney Common in winters and on wet summer days made this beyond expectations. Eton Wick's small school at the top of The Walk was inadequate, so in 1886 the Crown provided land in Sheepcote for a larger school which served both communities for the next sixty or so years when post war extensions were carried out. 

An amusing (or was it) story of the interim period was related by a Mr Talbot. The influx of Newtown children into the original single room school necessitated a platform upper room for infants. Temporary and crude the floor was a plank affair and it was not uncommon for an infant needing the toilet, perhaps left it too late, and the lower, older class got a 'dripping' from above. Needing to spend a penny, or 'pennies from heaven'? Where was health and safety in the 1880s?

'Newtown' was all that was built each side of Alma Road and the development of Inkerman, Northfield Road and Bell Lane. One field opposite the Shepherd's Hut and South from Alma Road, between Bell Lane and Moores Lane was retained for grazing for about fifty years, until Vaughan Gardens were built in the late 1930s by the Council, and at the end of WW2 twelve prefabricated homes were built immediately East of Vaughan Gardens. West of Moores Lane to Dorney Common (North of Tilstone Lane) [main road] there were no houses until after WW2 when the Eton Council developed the entire area, including the roads of Colenorton Crescent, Boveney New Road and Stockdales. This area was largely covered with allotments until after WW2. Across the main road (South) much of the land was owned by Mr Palmer of Dorney and had not been built on.

Probably the development of farm land for 'Newtown' prompted the Dorney owner to similarly use his land. In 1896 he had a long terraced row of sixteen houses built in what we now know as Victoria Road. Again very appropriately named because 1898 was the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The houses not so appropriately named, being 'Castle View Terrace' and facing due South one would be hardly likely to see the castle in the East. Further development at this time came along the main road and at the end of 'Castle View' gardens. These, and the houses built past the entrance road to Victoria Road (now named 'Victoria' also, but originally known as Hogarth Road in acknowledgement of Mr Hogarth — area administrator to Mr Palmer) attracted business men and others from Windsor and Eton following the 1894 flooding. Victoria Road was a cul de sac for nearly sixty years when the Meux (Shepherds' Hut) field was developed for Princes Close estate in the 1950s. 

Other post WW2 developments included Queens Road and Cornwall Close (private), the East side of Tilstone Avenue and Tilstone Close (also private) and of course much in the old Eton Wick village. It takes more than housing to give a place character and perhaps in a future magazine I can speak of the people who changed the village and gradually brought the two communities together. There were farmers, and of course people like Mr Moore who had followed his newly wed daughter to Newtown; and the strength of both in imposing themselves in such a constructive way. In conclusion now though I will come back to names of roads. Alma and Inkerman are scenes of hard fighting between Britain and France against Russia in the mid-1850s; in the Crimean War, and some twenty five to thirty years before Newtown's main roads were built and presumably named. Why? It was so long after the conflict. Who chose the names? Was it James Ayres? He is listed as a local Market Gardener. Coincidence I doubt. In Alma Road is a house named Galata Cottage. 'Galata' was the height overlooking the river Alma. If you have the answer, please do join in and share it. 

Not content with sending their sewage to Eton Wick, thirteen years later and following infectious diseases in Eton, including Small Pox, they built a Cottage Isolation Hospital between Bell Farm and Saddocks Farm of Eton Wick. This went out of use in c.1930. This small hospital would never be used by residents of Eton Wick, who were obliged to go to Cippenham on account of not being within the relevant Sanitary District. 

Submitted by Frank Bond 

Click here to read Our Village April 2014.

This article was originally published in the Eton Wick Newsletter - Our Village as is republished with the kind permission of the Eton Wick Village Hall Committee. Click here to go to the Collection page.

Eton Wick in the 14th Century

By the fourteenth century there were at least nine families in the village, for they are readily identifiable from deeds: Adam in the Lane, John Doget, William the Blakesmith, William Chapman, Thomas and William atte Wick, Robert the Shepherd and others. Where their homes are mentioned they would appear to lie north of the brook, between the field called the Hyde and the common pasture called the Mersh (or marsh) or near another called the Dene (or valley). These two areas or common still exist, though now perhaps a little smaller and known as the Great and Little Common respectively. Bradmere or Broadmoor was another area of pasture, but today this is arable and part of North Field. 

The meadows were to be found near the river and brooks, the Innings (today known as the Inner Ward Mead) lying parallel to the Great Common but north of the brook, the Wards, by Cuckoo Weir, and South Meadow.  The thirteenth century and the first half of the fourteenth century was a period of land hunger and there is clear evidence of land being won from the areas previously considered too marshy to use, such as the Water Slades mentioned In a deed as land 'newly cultivated'. This land lies on either side of the Eton Wick Road near the Willow Tree public house where the land still dips perceptibly.  The word slad(e)s can mean a hollow. In the eighteenth century there used to be a row of posts marked to show the depth of water lying on the road in the almost annual floods, giving warning to the carriages and waggons using the road. Even today there are still metal posts standing which were used during the 1947 floods.

There were four open fields, the Hyde, North Field, South Field and West Field, the latter so named apparently because It lay west of Eton rather than on the west side of the parish; in later centuries It appears to have been renamed Stonebridge Field.  Each field was divided into many strips and these grouped Into shots, furlongs or pieces with distinctive names such as Longfurlong, Middle Furlong, Stone hul (hill), Long Wythebedde, Broken Furlong and Rossey Piece. There was also land known simply as 'village land'. No hedges divided these strips and furlongs but, although each open field was planted with the same crops, the different alignment of the furlongs gave the fields a patchwork appearance.  The holdings of each man or woman, either owned or rented, were scattered throughout the fields and meadows. It is thought that originally each strip could be ploughed in one day and that the strips of land had been shared between the fields and its furlongs. By medieval times land had changed hands too often for any such pattern to be apparent, but certain families, such as the Brocases of Clewer, the Jourdelays of Eton and Eton Wick and many others were building up estates and farms. Small and large holdings were still dispersed among the fields as the dower settlement of Margaret Huntercombe of 1336 shows only too clearly. The Eton Manor was in 35 separate plots and she received a third of each of these, so that many were less than an acre and the narrowest no more than one pole

It is too much to expect to recognise any particular strip as surviving today. There has always been a certain amount of exchange and amalgamation as individuals found it more convenient to have their land in more compact blocks, yet right into this century strips are shown on the maps which accompany deeds and are separately itemized. The long narrow field just east of the College Sanatorium is the last strip of Broken Furlong in cultivation. The piece of land west of Haywards Mead, too, is part of an old strip that only became fenced in this century. In 1808 a Surveyor of the Royal Manor could write that 'there is hardly a hedge to be seen on the whole farm (Saddocks)*, and even today South Field is almost free of hedges with no permanent boundaries marking the boundary of the allotments or the land farmed by Mr. Paget, making these, perhaps, the last vestiges of the old landscape.

Strip farming in the open fields was also practised in Boveney Parish.  The part of Eton Wick that came under that parish was once part of the Tilstone Field and the Shepherd's Hut was built at the end of one strip in about 1830 when the rest of the field was still being tilled.  The name 'Tilstone' is intriguing; the earliest record of it occurs in a sixteenth century document when it was spelt 'Tyila's dene' suggesting that the name is derived from the dene or dip in the land owned by Tylla.  No records have been found to tell us who he was.

Rutted and dusty or muddy and full of puddles, the roads of the Middle Ages little resembled the macadam highway of today, yet already by the fourteenth century there was a pattern that is recognizable today. The Eton Wick Road was a public track though lying entirely within South Field.  Bell Lane and Common Road were both being used, their route following the edge of the Great Common and the Manor boundary. Haywards Mead, crossing the South Field to Meadow Lane, Eton, was one of the "King's highways', as was another road running through South Field and roughly parallel with the Thames, leading from New .Windsor to Boveney.  None as yet possessed their modern names; Common Road was BIakes (possibly Blacksmiths) Lane and one of those passing through the South Field by Cuckoo Weir was appropriately known as Mill Lane. Joiebalteslane is perhaps to be identified as the road running towards Little Common. The track which still runs north of the Great Common, alongside the Inner Ward Meads, was called Innings Lane. Connecting this track to Broadmoor and possibly continuing to Chalvey was Droflane. Though the position of this lane is not known, old maps of the parish show several footpaths crossing the North Field, and until the motor car changed the pattern of family life, these footpaths were regularly used by the people of Chalvey and Eton Wick.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.

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.

The 18th Century Village of Eton Wick – Part One - Why Eton Wick is surrounded by open fields

The Village landscape was like the majority of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire in years leading up to the 18th century one of open fields, commons and other waste land with small tenant farmers, cottagers and squatters utilizing a rented un-enclosed strip of land from the Lord of the Manor or exercising a common right to graze their pigs, geese or maybe a cow upon the common land. During the late 17th and early 18th century improvements in animal husbandry and the harvest of arable crops gave impetus to enclosure of land by landlords and the Government. These changes in farming practice at that time could have led to later developments that would have made Eton Wick Urban in the late 20th century, an urban sprawl but for the opposition of the villagers and the influence of Eton College in the Houses of Parliament. 

For at least 700 years Eton Wick was administered through the Vestry of Eton but in 1894 this came to an end through the Civil Parishes Act. Eton Town became an urban District and Eton Wick became a Civil Parish in the Eton Rural District. The decision by Henry VI to build Eton College whose presence over the last six centuries has influenced the lives of those living in Eton and Eton Wick immensely, whether through the purchase of property or the employment of services and labour. 

Queen Anne, King George 1st, King George 2nd and King George 3rd
The first four monarchs of Great Britain after the Union of England and Scotland in 1707

The 18th Century had commenced and closed with England at war with France. Queen Anne succeeded to the throne in 1702 to be followed by George 1st in 1714, George 2nd in 1727 and George 3rd in 1760. Technical innovation during the century brought vast changes to the way of life. The introduction of the flying shuttle to speed the pace of handloom weaving, followed by the efficiency in the use of steam power but some of the main advancement during the century was in agriculture. One Historian calculated that in the early 1700's each person engaged in farming fed 1.7 persons and by the end of the century one agricultural worker fed 2.5 persons. The late 1600's and early 1700's saw improvements in use of the soil which gave increased cereal and root crops leading to better fed cattle to produce more dung thereby increasing more yield from the land, also the improved yield of grain and the introduction of the turnip root crop allowed cattle to be winter rather than slaughtered for lack of winter feed. 

This together with new agricultural tools, like Jethro Tull's development of his seed drill, were

publicized in books such as the Annals of Agriculture by one Arthur Young in 1784 to be read by the progressive farmer and landowner. It also led to the birth of the agricultural engineering industry which also spawned the industry's catalogues for seeds, plants, and machinery. Similar books were published by Eton Printer and Bookseller, Joseph Pote, one title being 'Gentleman's Farriery, (or, a practical treatise, on the diseases of horses). The book was written by J. Bartlet and first published in 1753.

Landowners realised that to achieve higher output and returns from the land, enclosure of the open fields and the abandonment of the strip as the fundamental unit of tenancy, together with the common lands would be a necessary part of these improvements. No doubt news of these technical developments and the expanding international and local trade were talked of and marvelled at here about as like today, but for the village tenant farmer and cottager it was still the sweat of his brow that tilled the ground, sowed the crops and husband the animals for much of the century, but the threat of enclosure must have been an increasing worry, probably being the main talking point for the tenant farmer and commoner of Eton Wick. The implications for those who leased their land from an absence landlord, would see it as having a disastrous effect for their livelihood with no redress and no-one to stand up for them. 

Creeping enclosure of pasture had been practised since Tudor times with the widespread enclosure of Sheep ranges and with the penning of flocks to manure the land to sustain fertility. By rationalization of scattered inefficient holdings and their transfer as compact commercially viable units to farmers with expertise and a forward outlook on the market economy, enclosure of holdings gathered pace during the century either with the connivances of the Landlord or perhaps strong-arm influence. 

At first legal enclosure was obtained by a Chancery Degree but this was superseded by the introduction of acts of Parliament in the eighteenth century. 

The procedure for an Enclosure Act did not require the agreement of tenants but did require enough money to pay lawyers' and surveyors' fees, and for the planting of hedges and fences, roads etc. after the bill was passed. 

This was generally a formality as the Enclosure Commissioners surveying the land generally favoured those wishing to enclose and Parliament followed their recommendations. A general Enclosure Act was passed by Parliament in 1801 but by then more than 1,300 enclosure acts had been passed since 1760. 

The Parish plan showing field names.

The common fields, meadows and The Commons.

The strips on common fields.

The Hamlet of Eton Wick 1797 showing strips, ownership, tenants and acreage.

How and Why did this play an important role in the history of Eton Wick? 

Apart from the two commons, Eton Little and Eton Great there are Lammas lands which influence what can and cannot be done with the land within Eton and Eton Wick. The Lammas rights over much of the meadow and cultivated land in Eton and Eton Wick are a legacy from the Saxons and are a rare survival in this age. It was the right of those entitled householders to graze so many head of cattle in the fields once the corn had been gathered thereby fertilizing the land in the most natural way possible , from August 1st to October 31st. 

How many Commoners with these rights and residing in the village at the time is not known.

Lammas Day was the first day of August (the Gule of August) until 1752.  With the change to the Gregorian Calendar in September 1752 Lammas day 1753 fell on the 13th of August on which it was customary to consecrate bread made from the first ripe corn of harvest. (In Scotland it is one of the QUARTER DAYS.). Lammas Land (also Half Year Land) was common meadow on which manorial tenants were allowed to graze their livestock from Lammas Day until the next sowing.

Lammas Day: August 1st until 1752

 Lammas Day: August 13th from 1753

The strip was the fundamental unit of cultivation and tenancy in the open field system. Information from Collier's map of 1743 shows that Lord of the Manor, Abraham Wessell was the largest landowner in the parish with College, second. There were four open fields, the Hyde, North Field, South Field and West Field, the latter so named apparently because It lay west of Eton rather than on the west side of the parish; in later centuries it appears to have been renamed Stonebridge Field. Each field was divided into strips, and these grouped Into furlongs or pieces with distinctive names such as Long Furlong, Middle Furlong, Stone hul (hill), Long Wythebedde, Broken Furlong and Rossey piece. There was also land known simply as Village land'. No hedges or fences divided these strips and furlongs but, although each open field was planted with the same crops like cereal, beans etc. The different alignment of the furlongs gave the fields a patchwork appearance. The holdings of each man or woman, either owned or rented, were scattered throughout the fields and meadows. It is thought that originally each strip could be ploughed in one day and that the strips of land had been shared between the fields and its furlongs. Within the parish of Eton/ Eton Wick but mostly in Eton Wick there were six small holdings of only one strip each and two holdings of three strips possibly by cottagers, who are named as Oakley and Widow Griffin.

The rights of pasturage and to subsistence farm the land was crucial to the village householder and his family, therefore an ever a watchful eye was kept for any encroachment by those wishing to increase the small land holding around their farmstead or home. A complaint was brought against Henry Bell of Bell Farm in 1605 for enclosing several pieces of the King's waste including so pieces of Lammas Land. He also built eight cottages that did not go well with the parishioners. They claimed that the buildings took away privileges and benefits of the common. It appears that Bell got away with his transgression. 

There were some wooded areas especially around Saddocks Farm with fully grown trees and coppice. The use of the timber seems to have been controlled by the crown as a later tenant of Saddocks Farm was given the right to take timber for the repair of farm carts and buildings. An elm tree was supplied from Eton Wick in the mid 1400's for the refurbishment of the Eton church tower. 

The large open expanse of land without fences except where necessary, on the outer edges was divided into many strips. Exchanging ones worked strips with others so as to make one’s parcel of land larger and more convenient to work did take place as is shown by a detailed description of eighteen scattered acres owned by Sir William Stratton, exchanged for sixteen acres with John Jourdelay thus giving both more compact and manageable units. In the closing years of the eighteenth-century Crown Commissioners overseeing the enclosure of land showed interest in the enclosure of Eton's common and Lammas lands. estimated to cover three quarters of the parish. They did not consider it of any urgency taking no action until John Penn, Lord of the Manor of Stoke Poges bought the Manor of Eton in 1793. 

He, having succeeded against heavy opposition over the enclosure of Stoke Common then denied many poor families their right by custom of using the Common to gather wood for fuel which provoked more resentment against him. Bearing this in mind and wishing calm the situation Penn sought a compromise, in his planned bill to Parliament for enclosure at Eton, he specifically excluded the Eton Great Common from his proposed Bill. However, his Bill presented to Parliament did not take account of his oversight of not having consulted with the Crown or giving them an opportunity to appoint their own Enclosure Surveyor. Problems arose when trying to fairly rearrange and adjust strips and plots of land to formed compact blocks, such a difficulty occurred with the rearrangement of the land bordering Manor and Saddocks Farms. 

This hic-cup in the proceedings may have delayed Penn's plans a little because Officers of the Crown belatedly became aware of Penn's plans and realized it was too late to do any-thing except oppose the Bill. 

Enclosure not only drew battle lines between landowners; but also, townsfolk and villagers took up the fight as they became worried at the prospect of losing their rights of pasturage, eventually therefore they took the only course open them, they presented a petition to Parliament. They protested that the Bill would diminish the livelihood of the inhabitants by depriving them the use of the Lammas lands, thereby increasing the burden on the Poor Rate.

Over one hundred and eighty people signed the petition or made their mark if they could not write, and among who were Joseph and Phillip Tarrant, John Atkins and Thomas Goddard and others from Eton Wick.

Other parishes had presented petitions, often in vain, as Parliament was made up of powerful land-owning families together with the new industrial magnates and Ecclesiastical gentry who tended to think in terms of protecting their own interests. As tithe- owners the Provost and Fellows of Eton College had shown interest in John Penn's proposed Bill, but it is possible that at the last moment they had considered the fact that being considerable leaseholders from the Crown their loyalty maybe called into question. As many old Etonians were Members of Parliament there is the possibility that College had some influence in managing the vote, but this is speculation, and cannot be proven as the records were lost when the Houses of Parliament were burnt down. 

The opposition by parishioners to Penn's plan for enclosure led to a standoff that lasted until the Bill was defeated on 1st May, 1826: With much rejoicing the town and village celebrated with bonfires and feasting no doubt helped along with beer and homemade wines of the day. A blue silk banner emblazoned with the words ' May Eton flourish free and ever protect her rights’ was paraded triumphantly through Eton proclaiming the feelings of farmer and cottager. No other Bill for the enclosure of Eton was ever presented to Parliament. The people of the parish continued to be vigilant in preserving their rights, even to the extent of taking a man to court around the year 1840 for building two houses on part of South Field near the village. 

It was his own land: yet when the case was tried at Aylesbury, he was ordered to pull them down because they were built on laminas land. When in the middle of the nineteenth century the Crown once more became interested in enclosure, the College was opposed to it and the Penn estates were 'in circumstances that rendered it difficult’. 

in 1902 seventy-six years after the rejection of John Penn’s Enclosure Bill the Crown negotiated with the Lord of the Manor to overcome the inconvenience of the scattered strips and holdings. Lammas and pasturage were also exchanged, but rights were untouched. Some householders still exercised their rights to graze a horse or cow on the common or on other peoples' field into the 1920's from August 1st to October 31st. 

The Hayward— 1930's 

The cattle would have been in the charge of the village Hayward. It is recalled that the Hayward would lead one cow across the South Field each Lammas Day to lay claim to the Lammas rights. as they existed right up to the second half of the 20th century. Today there is no longer a Hayward as each farmer now looks after his own cattle.

The rights still exist though most people lost theirs through the Commons Registration Act of 1965. To some people the rights have become an inconvenient anachronism, while to the majority it is just something that has nothing to do with them but the lammas lands and the two commons were registered under the Commons Registration Act of 1965. This should mean that only by another Act of Parliament can this land be released for building thus protecting the village from speculative property developers and urban sprawl. 

This was part of the script for a talk given by John Denham at a meet of the Windsor & District University of the Third Age in 2003.

Work of the Eton Wick Council after WW1

A few items in the Minute Books make amusing reading today such as that of August 1919 when it was proposed that an application should be made to the County Council for a speed limit of 10 mph through the Wick. Motor traffic was travelling at an estimated speed of 20 to 25 mph and causing a considerable dust nuisance, but this would continue for many years until the road was tarred. 

In view of national opinion and later events one entry in 1918 is very unexpected. It was proposed that the reply to a letter from the Eton Rural District Council (RDC) should state that no need existed for working-class housing in the parish. The RDC were planning to build the first council houses in Eton Wick - 'the homes for heroes' of World War I. Perhaps there really was no need for such houses in the village, though it is likely the difficulty of finding suitable building land was uppermost in their minds. Whatever the reason the opinion of the Parish Council was disregarded and plans went ahead with no further consultations. A public meeting was held in Eton and the lammas rights were extinguished on part of Broken Furlong near the relief road. Once again the Parish Council tried to make their voice heard , but in vain. By 1921 a Housing Advisory Committee had been formed, and very soon a list of applicants for the eight houses was being drawn up. Five of them were ex-servicemen and within a very short time the first tenants were in residence. The new houses were named South View and with their red tiles sloping low over the front of each pair of houses they stand apart from the other houses in the village both in style and by distance. Accepted housing standards had changed and these houses were built with three bedrooms and a bathroom: there were few others in the village with such luxurious accommodation. 

These were not the only houses built in Eton Wick in these years. The dreadful floods at the end of the nineteenth century hastened the emigration of many families from Eton and the lower parts of Windsor, and some of them came to Eton Wick. Many moved into New Town, but others, especially the more prosperous of the families, had new homes built along the Eton Wick Road towards Dorney Common. Mr Vaughan lived for a few years in Boveney Cottage, Mr Kemp, fishmonger of Eton, at White Cottage (no 69) and the residents of Tilston Villa, The Ferns, Dayrell Villa and others were included in the 'private residents' section of the local directory, a subtle distinction we would find hard to draw today. Many of these houses were built by the expanding firm of Burfoot & Son; Henry Burfoot himself moved premises to a more prominent position on the main road. His home and business premises still stand out with its hard red bricks contrasting sharply with the yellow bricks and pebble-dash of most of his neighbours. 

Gradually much of the land south of the Eton Wick Road, or Tilston Lane as it was then known, was transformed as it was sold plot by plot by the Palmer family of Dorney. At the turn of the century it was still mostly farmland, but by 1930 Victoria Road had reached its present length ; houses, gardens, allotments and orchards and the yards of Mr Nuth's pig and rabbit farm covered much of the area. Only behind the Shepherd's Hut did there remain one last piece of meadow - Meux's Field, still cut for hay and grazed in summer. Few people can now remember this southern part of the old Tilston Field, for the last plot was sold in the 1920s, but other memories linger on, such as the long lines of drying rabbit skins and milk being sold over the bar at the Shepherd's Hut . Meux's Field was also the scene of a fun fair which brought excitement of the usual kind to the village for a week each summer. 

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.

The Eton Wick Newsletter - April 2016 - `Our Village' Magazine

Past and present changes

Often it is said that nothing changes in our village. Not an accurate remark though, as changes are inevitable; be they socially, materially, or even the boundaries. At least three times in my lifetime our boundaries have changed, and so has our local authorities, and even the counties. For forty years before 1934 the two areas now comprising Eton Wick each had its own five person parish council. In 1934 both became part of the Eton Urban District Council until forty years later in 1974 all became part of the Royal Borough Authority. At this stage we were assured that in no way would we be worse off, but to use an old saying 'you can tell that to the marines'. 

In remembering the three authorities, I preferred the Eton Urban District Council. The two earlier parish councils had very small rate income which was very limiting and did not extend to rubbish collection, street lighting etc. There were two street lamps along the village between the Church and Institute (now the Village Hall) and this was increased to today's twelve. There are in fact over sixty in old Eton Wick today between Church and Hall, but this includes Hayward Mead, Wheatbutts, Common Road and Sheepcote. Probably for centuries the Thames had been the boundary of Berks and Bucks, but in 1974 even this was changed. I always thought that mid river was the boundary until I read a Thames book stating the boundary was the downstream left bank (north). The author then said that the Eton College swimming place of 'Athens' was originally an island mound surrounded by the Thames waters and was effectively a little piece of Bucks in Berks. A humorous observation that we may extend to Cuckoo Weir (mapped as Great and Inner Wards) and we know as Clewer Point. 

Now of course all is in Berks. Water courses were good boundaries which defied encroachment. To our north the Chalvey Brook marks the Eton/Chalvey boundary, and to our west is Round moor Ditch and the Boveney Ditch which also are boundary lines with Dorney and Boveney. Unlike the early 1920s the east boundary was at Folly Bridge (sleds) then soon after the Great War of 1914-1918 Eton needed to find land for more homes; The Eton Wick Parish Council agreed to moving the boundary west to Broken Furlong; which allowed the town to develop the housing and road of 'Somerville' within their new Eton boundary. Today the boarder is further west, by the Relief Road (now called Royal Windsor Way). This is not so relevant though, as now we are of one authority. A more recent change is nearby at Sandles; the old College sanatorium. When the Relief Road was built close to the sanatorium, it was probably deemed no longer suitable; and Eton's Church of St. John the Evangelist was seriously converted with an upper floor; smaller church, and the College Sanatorium and town surgery taking up the ground floor. The extensive grounds of 'Sandles' included the fine house of Rose Cottage and a large yew tree, both of which have sadly been removed. Huffing and Puffing can never put trees back, and all too often we are told they were diseased. Maybe! Hopefully the seven apartments and five houses being created on the site will compensate for the changes. 

Until the mid-1900s there were four shops; the post office and two public houses along the village road between Sheepcote and the Institute (today's Village Hall). Now all have gone. The pubs were; the oldest, 'The Three Horseshoes', and the smallest 'The Grapes' (The Pickwick from 1984) and latterly a Chinese Restaurant. The pubs were two of four that had plied a living for over 140 years in the village, and at a time when Eton Wick was very much smaller in population. Of course we now have The Football and Social Club, and retail shops selling beers, and villagers now have cars and are able to socialise elsewhere. By the time this article is printed I expect the two redundant pubs to be fully converted into private dwellings, as of course are the numerous shops mentioned. 

In the 19th Century there were two cottage laundries in this same stretch of road. One was at the 'Old Parsonage'; before it was the Parsonage and it is claimed it laundered for the Castle Royalty, and the other was just east of the 'Three Horseshoes', at Vine Cottage. There were at least three other cottage laundries in the village and apart from that which laundered for Queen Victoria, the others served Eton College. There were similar laundries at Eton and Chalvey, until in 1881 the College established its own laundry at Willowbrook (off Slough Road). Even so, much later I well remember seeing rows of college clothing billowing on village clotheslines. Probably the house sports-wear or woollies. It was not unusual to see the large prams of the time being pushed to and fro the college to collect or return the washing. Things have changed. 

Before the first rail viaduct (wood) of late 1840s there was probably no structure between the Folly Bridge Cattle Pound and the 'Shepherds Hut' (first opened ten years earlier) - a distance of over one mile; on the south side of the road, and on the north side, at that time between Folly Bridge and Sheepcote; then only a farm cart track. With no street lamps and no houses the Eton Wick Road must have been an uninviting long eerie walk in mid-winter. 

Not until 1811 was there a known village group. There was no church, school or hall, and that first recorded group was a Friendly Society which met at the 'Three Horseshoes' pub. I have a listing of about sixty groups and clubs existing in Eton Wick since then. War brought about most changes; with some groups not surviving and others, like Phoenix, rising from the ashes. Before the 1939 -1945 war the village had courts and the Tilstone Tennis Club, and before the Great War of 1914 - 1918, a Harriers Club and an enthusiastic Gym group for young men. Neither survived the upheaval of war. Against this though, there was a need for football club kit after WW2, resulting in 'The Unity Players' 1948 -1951, and later The 'Shoestrings' concert group being formed to raise funds. Sunday Schools, Church Choir, Women's Institute, Whist Drives, Rummage Sales, Men's Snooker Club have all long since gone, while others have changed beyond comparison. 

Throughout the 1950s and 60s the Youth Club was restricted to boys and girls over fourteen and under 21 years. Since then the age has been lowered frequently, until today it is eight to twelve years for juniors and twelve to sixteen for seniors. Most of these age groups would barely be considered as youths, and naturally activities and functions must be very different. 

Time has seen the demise of traditional traders, including the village baker, butcher, greengrocer, and wet fish and game merchant. We have had them all since WW2 but all have gone, largely due to the 'out of village' superstores since 1980. In Eton Wick we have also had a laundrette; Doctor Surgery; Hardware Stores; Motor Parts and Bookies all since the 1950s; yet for a variety of reasons all have gone. The laundrette came at a time when small domestic washing machines were barely available - if at all - and after ten years, when the laundrette machines needed replacing, the dwindling demand did not Justify the expense of replacement. The surgery probably did not get the support it needed. We may all believe there is a village need, but given the opportunity, must of us are reluctant to leave what we have been accustomed to. 

It is a fact that we do not see many houses being built. Eton Wick is in the midst of green belt, Lammas or Commons lands which restricts the builders. Let us hope it keeps that way. Certainly any declassifications would bring prompt and drastic changes. Recently we had a local questionnaire on developments in our community, and I believe there is a strong likelihood of covetous eyes on the land around us. Time will tell. Personally I see nothing wrong with affordable homes on the land opposite Clifton Lodge, but hopefully not beyond Sheepcote. This area I believe is greenbelt. 

Submitted by Frank Bond 

Click here to read Our Village April 2016.

This article was originally published in the Eton Wick Newsletter - Our Village and is republished with the kind permission of the Eton Wick Village Hall Committee. Click here to go to the Collection page.

An event in 1391

An event of 1391 was, perhaps, equally exciting, but not so pleasant. This was the year that Elizabeth de Cheriton, daughter of John de Huntercombe, and lady of the Huntercombe Manor of Eton, died.  As she left no children her three aunts became co-heirs of the manor. However, they had only been in possession of their lands ten days when it was forcibly seized by Giles Frenssh, William Mathue and 'other evildoers'. Giles claimed that he was the more immediate heir by virtue of his marriage to Elizabeth's sister, Maud. The matter was brought before an official enquiry and the results can still be read in the records of the Chancery. They make astonishing reading, for Maud, it was stated, had been a nun at Burnham Abbey for seven years before her sister's death, but had been 'by force of arms ravished, violated and  carried away' by Giles and forced to go through a marriage ceremony with him.  Giles protested that Maud was not a nun and the matter was referred to the Bishop of Lincoln. The whole affair dragged on for two years but eventually judgement was given against Giles Frenssh and he was ordered to restore the manor to the three aunts, Elizabeth, Agnes and Margaret. Burnham Abbey still stands, though now a home of Anglican nuns, and since the dissolution of the original abbey no land in Eton Wick has been connected with the Abbey; yet a tenuous connection can still be found in the guise of Broken Furlong. Today it is the name of a road, but for many centuries it was the name of part of South Field and part of the land given to the  Abbey by Prince Richard and mentioned in the Foundation Charter.

Perhaps of all the medieval lords of the manor it is to Edward III that the claim must go of having the most lasting effect on the village. He annexed an Eton manor much enlarged by the previous lord, Oliver Bordeux, his chancellor, to his manor of Windsor in the year 1358. This was not long after the Black Death, that terrible plague that killed over a third of the population of the whole country. The records do not give any firm impression of how Eton Wick was affected, yet the resulting shortage of labourers may well have been part cause of King Edward's subsequent action. 

His expensive rebuilding plans for Windsor Castle were perhaps the more immediate cause for Edward in the order he gave to his Commissioners in 1359. This was that they should 'arrent as profitably as possible all the king's demenses in Eton to demise them at farm in fee (that is to lease the demense) or else for life or a term of years to sure tenants who are willing to take them and to extend in money all the customs and works of the king's bond tenants'. No longer would the home as part of the service they owned for holding their land, instead they paid extra rent (quit rent). The home farm though still intermixed in the open fields was leased to other tenants, and thus the king obtained, money for his building programme. Only a decade or so later a prosperous yeoman built a new house in the village. Its simple plan of an open hall flanked by a kitchen and pantry at one end and the solar at the other was typical of its time.  It still survives though enlarged, its timber frame visible only on the inside and its thatch long since replaced by tile.  This is Bell Farm, and it is tempting to suggest that it was built by one of the new tenants of the Crown who prospered.

But what of the village and villagers themselves?  The earliest reference to the Wick that I have found comes from the year 1217, a year when there was fear of a French Invasion and it is the carucage or land tax, imposed on each village and town to raise funds that makes mention of Eton Wick, in conjunction with Eton and Hedgerley. This suggests that the village was already large enough to warrant a separate mention.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter.

World War 2 Eighty Years On - October 1940

Air activity during September increased the frequency of daytime alerts for the district followed by an increased number of high explosive bombs being dropped.

Parents were concerned for the safety of their children and complained bitterly to the Eton UDC about the provision of shelters for the school. The Council made another strong   appeal to the Bucks Education authority, also to the Secretary for Education to remedy the situation. Both authorities replied that it was impossible to provide shelters for Eton Wick schools at this time, but it would be done as soon as possible. With the view to erecting air raid shelters an architect surveyed the school building but months were to elapse before shelters in the Wick were sanctioned and completed.

A canvas of Eton Wick householders resulted in 57 applications for Anderson or Morrison shelters. Eventually the Surveyor reported that sanction had been obtained from the Ministry for the erection of 48 and 24-person communal shelters at the following sites.

Sheepcote Road                                             one for 24 persons

The Walk                                                         one for 48 persons, one for 24 persons

Common Road                                                one for 48 persons

Leeson Gardens                                              one for 24 persons

Alma Road                                                       four for 24 persons

Northfield Road                                                two for 24 persons

Air raid shelters for Eton were located at:-

The College Arms public house                       80 persons

Barnes Pool                                                    100 persons

Eton College Boat House                                 75 persons

Newlands, High Street, Eton.                           25 persons

Arches of the railway viaduct                           50 persons

The railway viaduct, a half mile from Eton Wick, was not thought to be practicable and was never used by the village school. One hundred and seventeen applications were received by the Eton UDC for help with domestic air raid precautions. Materials were supplied in 58 cases and work was carried out in another 23. At Broken Furlong and Vaughan Gardens it was advised to use the archways through the houses as a communal shelter in each block.

A substantial underground shelter was constructed at Bell Farm, Eton Wick.

Sunday October 6th.

About 4.30 p.m. a German twin engine bomber dived out of the clouds near the Slough Trading Estate and machined-gunned the town in several places. Light ack-ack (40mm Bofors) batteries opened fire as the enemy flying through driving rain South of the Bath Road, passed unharmed through the Balloon Barrage to drop several bombs causing damage to property. There had been several small raids during the day to bomb airfields in Southern England and the intended target was possibly the Hawker Aircraft factory at Langley.

Sunday October 13th.   

Five elderly residents lost their lives and several were injured when two high explosive bombsfell on Brook Path, Cippenham, demolishing cottages for Aged People.

A clear moonlight night after the fog and rain of the weekend brought 400 German aircraft to bomb London. Enemy aircraft passing over the village drew fire from the surrounding anti-aircraft batteries lasting into the early hours. At 8.30am the sirens again sounded the alert, the all clear sounding at 9.25 am.

Tuesday October 22nd. 

During the evening several bombs fell on Windsor in the vicinity of Peascod Street and the back of W.H. Smith in Thames Street. Later a single bomb fell outside the Princess Christians Nursing Home, Clarence Road causing some   damage. Others fell in the Castle grounds, damaging the Golf course and Cricket ground but no casualties were reported. Manning the guns in defence of the Castle from low flying attack was 121 Independent light ack - ack (LAA) equipped with 40mm Bofors guns. A few of these were mounted on forty-foot-high concrete towers, one of which was located on the Brocas, at Eton. This site quickly saw night action proceeding to shoot down enemy flares dropping over Windsor Castle.  The noise and vibrations from this quick firing gun sent people scurrying to their air raid shelters or under the stairs. Gunner Witt serving on the Brocas site recalled the plight of an elderly lady living close by in Brocas Street, who being very ill, had taken to her bed. The family was virtually waiting for the sad end of the dear lady's life but gunners of 121 battery   apparently applied a better means for a cure than the doctor. The family was virtually waiting for the sad end of the dear lady's life but gunners of 121 battery apparently applied a better means for a cure than the doctor.  On hearing the rapid fire and the commotion that shook the house, the dear lady jumped from her bed and grabbing a bottle of gin, took herself to shelter under the stairs.  A miraculous recovery followed much to the distress of some of her family who evidently found the aged person a trial.

The last days of the month brought less enemy activity over the area due to cloud, rain and fog. Under the cover of bad weather, a lone raider dropped bombs on Dennis Way, Cippenham killing two people, also on the private polo ground of Dedworth Manor killing a pony. Warnings of enemy activity disrupted the Eton Wick school day on nine occasions during October which made the teachers anxious for the safety of the children. There had been no sign of work commencing on shelters so the children stilled practiced the usual precaution of taking shelter under their desk.

Thursday October 31st.

The official end of the Battle of Britain, which lasted 114 days, cost the German losses of 1,733 planes and 3,893 men with RAF Losses of 828 planes and 1007 men. The end of the battle did not solve the social difficulties of the evacuated families; sharing a home with strangers whilst one’s children were billeted elsewhere was a problem. To help with the   situation a centre was set up at the Church Hall, Eton, to give evacuated families somewhere to meet and also give householders a chance to have their home to themselves for a short time. Those who were able, helped with knitting comforts for evacuee and service personnel. Wool was purchased with the money earned from the sale of salvage. The salvage of waste, conducted by Mr Chew with the help of young volunteers, around the village had gone well with the sale of scrap iron, paper, rags and any other commodity worth salvaging realizing a handsome profit. A suggestion of Mrs Chew to use this money to buy wool with which to knit garments for men and women from the village serving in the forces was readily adopted.   A display of posters in the village shops asking for volunteer knitters was organized by Mrs Mead.  Forty-five volunteers   including three Eton Boys signed up to whom £15 was initially allocated to purchase wool. Once a week the Methodist Hall jumped from her bed and grabbing a bottle of gin, took herself to shelter under the stairs. A miraculous recovery followed much to the distress of some of her family who evidently found the aged person a trial. was loaned free of charge for the issue of wool and collection of finished articles. Within the first few months many knitted items were produced and about 100 items, such as scarves, mittens and socks sent to over fifty servicemen in the first few months.  

To raise money for war weapons, great publicity was given to National Savings, a campaign vigorously supported by Eton Wick. The school had a flourishing savings group run by the Head Teacher, Miss Plumridge, which was well supported by the mothers. The Women’s Institute also had a group amongst its members but their committee felt more could be done in the village, so every house was canvassed. Two groups were formed, one run by the Methodist Church and the other by the Women’s Institute.  A third group made up of the school and supported by the evacuated L.C.C. School gave total enrolment of over 300 savers.  Volunteer collectors, braving the winter weather and blackout, called on savers each week with saving stamps, their combined collection averaging of £28 each week.  The school, encouraging pupils and parents to save, collected £10 in the first week and £30 during the following six weeks. Many schemes would materialize to raise money before the conflict was over such as "Wings for Victory" and "War Weapons Week". Introduction of a purchase tax on household goods and clothes at the end of October made little difference to the goods sold by village traders. Other shortages however did effect village trade, namely an acute shortage of coal. The increasing demands of factories for power produced a shortage of supplies to the householder which became evident during the winter months of 1940-41. To help overcome the fuel crisis, men conscripted for military service, were selected by ballot, and sent to work in the coal mines. They became known as Bevin Boys. Coal merchants Albert Dear, Brocas Street, Eton, - William Parrot. 1 Clifton Cottages and Albert Hood, Tilstone Avenue, Eton Wick had difficulty in obtaining supplies and rationed their customers accordingly. When Albert, who went into the army his business was acquired by R. Bond and Sons.

This is an extract from Round and About Eton Wick: 1939 - 1945. The book was researched, written and published in 2001 by John Denham.