East Hendred Museum at Champs Chapel, Oxfordshire and Berkshire Heritage

CHAPTER VIII ST MARY'S ROAD

From Horn Lane we cross Newbury Road into St. Mary’s Road. On our left at the Junction of these roads, stand a house and cottage, of which the barn, which stood directly in the corner of the junction, has only recently been cleared away. This was for many years the home and place of business of the Stibbs family, whose accounts for half a century have been preserved and give such an insight into the life of the village.

Items include:

1849   paid toll at Steventon gate for   3. 2.
            Mr. Gibbs teams sand cart for
            C. Eyston Esq.
1850   Jan 10th toll paid at Charlton
            gate for tile cart from Wantage   6.10.
1876    July 20 Fixing Rainge in Cottage occupied by leg the plesman
1882    bought to pigs of the Rev. T.Luck
            Feb 24 @ £1. 4. 0. each        2.8. 0.
            Feb 25 Sack of topings from
            Steventon   11. 6.
1890    Bought a pony & cart & harness of Mr. Broad Milton paid ready money £15. 0. 0.
            first journey to Compton to begin to Cottages for C. Derlove.

These later items show why so many houses had barns and stables. Almost every house had some accomodation for animals: even Canon Luck had his own pigs. The fact that a house had a barn did not mean that the occupant was a farmer.

Only a few years ago we would have had ahead of us Mrs. Lacey’s restored Rising Sun Cottage flanked by a barn and another timber framed and thatched cottage, but these were all destroyed by fire in September 1962. Instead we have the new St. Amand’s school which was opened in 1963. Bearing right we have on our right a new bungalow called Hunt’s End and past it Hunt’s Farm Cottages and, further on again, the buildlngs of Hunt’s Farm. The cottages were formerly the farmhouse. The Hunts occupied the farm long enough for their name to be still used for it. They were an old East Hendred catholic family, and it was in this house that a catholic school was held prior to 1863.

Re-tracing our course into St. Mary’s Road we have on the left what remains of Godfrey’s Farm, called after a family which held land under the Manor of Arches for centuries, and opposite it is St. Mary’s Church.

Across the little valley is Hendred House, and we see how its south front is largely taken up by St. Amand’s chapel, a quite simple building largely built of local chalkstone. After the Reformation it lay disused for religious worship until 1687: a sort of lumber room. The accession of James 11 brought new hope to English catholics. It was then that Charles Eyston restored the chapel and, with the exception of a few months following its desecration by soldiers of William lll’s army, it has been in use ever since.

Charles John Eyston, who was born in 1817 before the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts which denied full citizenship to Roman Catholics and to protestant non-conformists, gave continuing support to the Catholic cause. In 1845 the chapel was extended to meet the needs of the growing congregation, and he next founded and endowed the school which was opened in 1863. He also provided St. Mary’s Church, which opened in 1865.

The school transferred to its new buildings in 1963. It and the adjoining master’s house are good examples of schools of the period. The church, too, is of good Victorian Gothic. But the church interior is particularly light and cheerful, and it is characteristic that the west windows, which is a memorial to Captain Eyston who was killed in 1940, should be so designed as not to reduce the light. Though this church inevitably lacks the memorials and church furniture of the parish church, its fittings are excellent, and no visit to the village can be regarded as in any way satisfactory which does not include it.

The presbytery faces the south wall of the church and was built at the same time, by Canon Luck. It is a sound Victorian house built in brick. It is connected with the church by a bridge across the lane which differs sharply in appearance from anything else in the village.

Passing under the bridge we have St. Mary’s Clubroom, which serves the village as a place of public meeting. The Parish Council and many other bodies held their meetings there, and the authorities of St. Mary’s are doing the village great service by making the room available for such purposes.

Beyond it on the left stands Cozen’s Farm. It belongs to the Eyston estate but bears the name of a farmer who lived there during the first half of the nineteenth century. It then passed to the Besley family, who were carpenters and wheelwrights. Under Richard Besley, who was Joseph Besley’s cousin, the business flourished, but his son George was severely wounded in the first world war and not fit enough to be as active as his father. The house is now occupied by Miss Eyston.

Under Richard Besley, the great barn was con-verted into what more than one person who knew it has told me was "the best equipped workshop anywhere round here". I have had fascinating accounts of its lathes and other machinery. A second sawpit was dug to cope with the additional work occasioned by the provision of beams for Southernwood, and the connection with the Besley forges in Church Street has already been noted. We should know much more about this important element in the life of the village but for the unfortunate disappearance of deeds and other documents.

People still alive in the village with clear recollections of the workshops include Mr.W.Goddard, Mr. Baden Stone, and the Swadling brothers: but Mrs. Tinson, daughter of Richard Besley, who was brought up there, is the main source of information about the house and its traditions.

Mrs. Tinson told me about a secret room with no windows which was approached through the ceiling of the cupboard where she used to hang her clothes. There was a close link with Hendred House, extending beyond mere ownership. In penal times a priest certainly took his life in his hands, and it is highly probably that Edmund Campion, who was dis-covered after prolonged search in a ‘priest’s hole’ at Lyford Grange and executed after protracted torture, also visited Hendred. The account of his arrest is brilliantly re-told in Evelyn Waugh’s biography, which should be read by anyone wishing to understand the Elizabethan era: it could so easily have happened in Hendred. One must add, however, that the hunt for Edmund Campion was almost identical in kind with that for the Protestant compilers of the Matin Mar-prelate tracts, which had the same gruesome ending, and that similar treatment was the fate of any Protestants in Europe. At that period no government would permit deviation from the form of religion established under its authority. It was a lesson still to be learned.

Cozen’s Farm, like so many buildings in Hendred, has grown and changed over the years. Some half-timbering remains in the north face, but the present house seems to be predominantly Georgian. The main barns have gone, only the small barn which, I am told, was a paint shop remains. The sawpits have been filled in. It was here that "the squire’s pound" stood. That has gone too.

If we follow the road past Cozen’s Farm we see just what green roads used to be, for it carries on entirely unmetaled to Rowstock. The old ‘cow road’ by which Besleys and Willoughbys drove their cows to Aldfield Common is now closed; but a little further on is the Ambling Way which is still open.

The stream which flows from a pomd close to the AERE through the little gorge by Lyde Bank and under the green road to Rowstock passes on through the Hendred House grounds. It was frequently flooded, and formed a small lake permanent enough for the children of Cozen’s Farm to have a boat on it. There was an impression that it was a moat, and Cozen’s Farm was for a period known as Moat Farm. The name Moat Cottage is still used for the cottage just past St. Mary’s clubroom where a narrow road leads to Hill Farm. There stands a pair of cottages on which is a plaque with the name William Harris and the date 1829. When Mr. & Mrs. Goddard allowed me to inspect it, I found timbers of an apparently earlier date. Since then, I have seen so many cases of timber being re-used that I am satisfied the date is correct.

Hill Farm house is of eighteenth century type, very pleasant; but its great barn; which also bore the name of William Harris, was recently burned down. It has been replaced by one of steel stanchions and corrugated asbestos roof.

There have been other dwellings in this part of the village. A few cottages were pulled down to allow the development of the church and its burial ground; others have merely decayed or been burned in the course of the years.

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Home About Museum Museum History Disabled Access Heritage Trust Fire Pump Local History Places to Visit Photo Gallery Audio-Visuals Getting Here Events Diary How You Can Help? Contact Us Links	CHAPTER VIII ST MARY'S ROAD From Horn Lane we cross Newbury Road into St. Mary’s Road. On our left at the Junction of these roads, stand a house and cottage, of which the barn, which stood directly in the corner of the junction, has only recently been cleared away. This was for many years the home and place of business of the Stibbs family, whose accounts for half a century have been preserved and give such an insight into the life of the village. Items include: 1849 paid toll at Steventon gate for 3. 2. Mr. Gibbs teams sand cart for C. Eyston Esq. 1850 Jan 10th toll paid at Charlton gate for tile cart from Wantage 6.10. 1876 July 20 Fixing Rainge in Cottage occupied by leg the plesman 1882 bought to pigs of the Rev. T.Luck Feb 24 @ £1. 4. 0. each 2.8. 0. Feb 25 Sack of topings from Steventon 11. 6. 1890 Bought a pony & cart & harness of Mr. Broad Milton paid ready money £15. 0. 0. first journey to Compton to begin to Cottages for C. Derlove. These later items show why so many houses had barns and stables. Almost every house had some accomodation for animals: even Canon Luck had his own pigs. The fact that a house had a barn did not mean that the occupant was a farmer. Only a few years ago we would have had ahead of us Mrs. Lacey’s restored Rising Sun Cottage flanked by a barn and another timber framed and thatched cottage, but these were all destroyed by fire in September 1962. Instead we have the new St. Amand’s school which was opened in 1963. Bearing right we have on our right a new bungalow called Hunt’s End and past it Hunt’s Farm Cottages and, further on again, the buildlngs of Hunt’s Farm. The cottages were formerly the farmhouse. The Hunts occupied the farm long enough for their name to be still used for it. They were an old East Hendred catholic family, and it was in this house that a catholic school was held prior to 1863. Re-tracing our course into St. Mary’s Road we have on the left what remains of Godfrey’s Farm, called after a family which held land under the Manor of Arches for centuries, and opposite it is St. Mary’s Church. Across the little valley is Hendred House, and we see how its south front is largely taken up by St. Amand’s chapel, a quite simple building largely built of local chalkstone. After the Reformation it lay disused for religious worship until 1687: a sort of lumber room. The accession of James 11 brought new hope to English catholics. It was then that Charles Eyston restored the chapel and, with the exception of a few months following its desecration by soldiers of William lll’s army, it has been in use ever since. Charles John Eyston, who was born in 1817 before the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts which denied full citizenship to Roman Catholics and to protestant non-conformists, gave continuing support to the Catholic cause. In 1845 the chapel was extended to meet the needs of the growing congregation, and he next founded and endowed the school which was opened in 1863. He also provided St. Mary’s Church, which opened in 1865. The school transferred to its new buildings in 1963. It and the adjoining master’s house are good examples of schools of the period. The church, too, is of good Victorian Gothic. But the church interior is particularly light and cheerful, and it is characteristic that the west windows, which is a memorial to Captain Eyston who was killed in 1940, should be so designed as not to reduce the light. Though this church inevitably lacks the memorials and church furniture of the parish church, its fittings are excellent, and no visit to the village can be regarded as in any way satisfactory which does not include it. The presbytery faces the south wall of the church and was built at the same time, by Canon Luck. It is a sound Victorian house built in brick. It is connected with the church by a bridge across the lane which differs sharply in appearance from anything else in the village. Passing under the bridge we have St. Mary’s Clubroom, which serves the village as a place of public meeting. The Parish Council and many other bodies held their meetings there, and the authorities of St. Mary’s are doing the village great service by making the room available for such purposes. Beyond it on the left stands Cozen’s Farm. It belongs to the Eyston estate but bears the name of a farmer who lived there during the first half of the nineteenth century. It then passed to the Besley family, who were carpenters and wheelwrights. Under Richard Besley, who was Joseph Besley’s cousin, the business flourished, but his son George was severely wounded in the first world war and not fit enough to be as active as his father. The house is now occupied by Miss Eyston. Under Richard Besley, the great barn was con-verted into what more than one person who knew it has told me was "the best equipped workshop anywhere round here". I have had fascinating accounts of its lathes and other machinery. A second sawpit was dug to cope with the additional work occasioned by the provision of beams for Southernwood, and the connection with the Besley forges in Church Street has already been noted. We should know much more about this important element in the life of the village but for the unfortunate disappearance of deeds and other documents. People still alive in the village with clear recollections of the workshops include Mr.W.Goddard, Mr. Baden Stone, and the Swadling brothers: but Mrs. Tinson, daughter of Richard Besley, who was brought up there, is the main source of information about the house and its traditions. Mrs. Tinson told me about a secret room with no windows which was approached through the ceiling of the cupboard where she used to hang her clothes. There was a close link with Hendred House, extending beyond mere ownership. In penal times a priest certainly took his life in his hands, and it is highly probably that Edmund Campion, who was dis-covered after prolonged search in a ‘priest’s hole’ at Lyford Grange and executed after protracted torture, also visited Hendred. The account of his arrest is brilliantly re-told in Evelyn Waugh’s biography, which should be read by anyone wishing to understand the Elizabethan era: it could so easily have happened in Hendred. One must add, however, that the hunt for Edmund Campion was almost identical in kind with that for the Protestant compilers of the Matin Mar-prelate tracts, which had the same gruesome ending, and that similar treatment was the fate of any Protestants in Europe. At that period no government would permit deviation from the form of religion established under its authority. It was a lesson still to be learned. Cozen’s Farm, like so many buildings in Hendred, has grown and changed over the years. Some half-timbering remains in the north face, but the present house seems to be predominantly Georgian. The main barns have gone, only the small barn which, I am told, was a paint shop remains. The sawpits have been filled in. It was here that "the squire’s pound" stood. That has gone too. If we follow the road past Cozen’s Farm we see just what green roads used to be, for it carries on entirely unmetaled to Rowstock. The old ‘cow road’ by which Besleys and Willoughbys drove their cows to Aldfield Common is now closed; but a little further on is the Ambling Way which is still open. The stream which flows from a pomd close to the AERE through the little gorge by Lyde Bank and under the green road to Rowstock passes on through the Hendred House grounds. It was frequently flooded, and formed a small lake permanent enough for the children of Cozen’s Farm to have a boat on it. There was an impression that it was a moat, and Cozen’s Farm was for a period known as Moat Farm. The name Moat Cottage is still used for the cottage just past St. Mary’s clubroom where a narrow road leads to Hill Farm. There stands a pair of cottages on which is a plaque with the name William Harris and the date 1829. When Mr. & Mrs. Goddard allowed me to inspect it, I found timbers of an apparently earlier date. Since then, I have seen so many cases of timber being re-used that I am satisfied the date is correct. Hill Farm house is of eighteenth century type, very pleasant; but its great barn; which also bore the name of William Harris, was recently burned down. It has been replaced by one of steel stanchions and corrugated asbestos roof. There have been other dwellings in this part of the village. A few cottages were pulled down to allow the development of the church and its burial ground; others have merely decayed or been burned in the course of the years. [Back to the Table of Contents]
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