<![CDATA[GREAT LINFORD HISTORY

<![CDATA[GREAT LINFORD HISTORY - Blog]]>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:58:01 +0100Weebly<![CDATA[Great Linford and the plague]]>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:38:58 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/great-linford-and-the-plagueWhen we think of the plague, our first thought is likely to be “the great plague” which famously struck in 1665/1666, with particularly deadly consequences for London. However, various strains of the disease had flared up periodically before this, most notably the so-called “black death”, which arrived in 1348 and is thought to have wiped out up to half the country’s population. There appear to be no records that specifically reference the impact of the Black Death on Buckinghamshire in the 1300s, but we do know that when the plague struck again in the mid-1660s, Newport Pagnell, only a little less than two miles to the north-east of Great Linford, became a hotbed of infection.

What was the plague?

Though the plague of 1348 is now generally referred to as the “Black Death”, the term was not actually coined until the 17th century, and at the time of the outbreak, it was commonly referred to as the “Great Pestilence" or the "Great Mortality.” We now know that two main variants of the disease were prevalent, bubonic and pneumonic plague. The Yersinia pestis bacteria that caused the illness was spread by fleas that were carried by infected rats, while pneumonic plague was spread from person to person. Originating in Asia, the plague arrived by ship, the first case generally thought to have been brought to the Dorset coast from Gascony in France.

Pneumonic plague has a mortality rate of near 100%, but though the bubonic plague was only half as lethal, its symptoms were by far the more terrifying, characterised by painful swellings called buboes that erupted in the lymph nodes found in the armpits, groin and neck. Sufferers could also exhibit headaches, vomiting, fever and black fingertips.

Lacking any understanding of the cause of the plague, there was little chance of arresting the remorseless advance of the disease, and it seems entirely likely that the plague of 1348 would have claimed victims in and around the area we now think of as Great Linford.

What effect did the plague of 1666 have on Great Linford?

The figures for deaths in Newport Pagnell, as calculated from the parish burial records, are truly sobering. In 1665, there were 33 burials recorded; the following year, the figure leapt up to an astounding total nearing 700 persons. Just as it is possible to calculate the excess deaths in Newport Pagnell from parish burial records, so we can attempt the same for Great Linford, except for the surprising fact that, with one notable exception (see later in this blog post), the village appears to have emerged unscathed from the plague of 1665/66. Looking at the tally of yearly deaths in the village throughout much of the 1660s, we find an average of just four deaths per year, which in itself provides an interesting insight into the minuscule population of the parish compared to Newport Pagnell.

As there was no spike in deaths in Great Linford when other towns and villages, including Newport Pagnell, were being ravaged, the obvious question arises: how did Great Linford avoid the same fate? Possibly, the village benefited from its relative isolation compared to Newport Pagnell, which, as a major coaching town, would have been far more susceptible to travellers spreading the contagion. Another possibility is that the parish was placed under quarantine. The rector at the time was John Fountaine, and the Lord of the Manor Sir Richard Napier. Conceivably, one or both of these men may have had the foresight to lock down the village, thereby keeping the epidemic at bay.

A curious connection to the plague in Newport Pagnell

Though a quarantine seems the most likely explanation for Great Linford’s good fortune during the plague years, the theory is called into question by an unusual fragment of a memorial stone nestled in the North Chapel of St. Andrew’s Church. The inscription is clearly the surviving middle third of a much larger memorial, but though only a few isolated words and phrases are now legible, we are lucky that the full text was recorded before the memorial stone was broken up and moved from its original position.

The book, A History of Newport Pagnell by Frederick William Bull, published in 1900, provides the following information. "On a cracked freestone under the lowest window on the North side of the North Chapel of Great Linford Church is an inscription commencing with a Greek phrase as to the mortality of mankind." Though the Greek phrase is sadly unrecorded, the balance of the text was noted by Frederick Bull, as follows.

Here lyeth the Bodies of Richard and Martha Peter, who as they were here joyned in Marriage, Anno 1636, so it pleased God to lay them together in this Bed of Mould, Anno 1666, both dying in this parish. She on the 14, He on the 16 of Sept: being removed from Newport by Reason of a Raging Plague. Matt. xix. vi.

The "Freestone" mentioned previously is defined as a stone that may be cut freely without splitting, while the term "Bed of Mould" in the inscription can be interpreted as a reference to a decorative stone surround. The reference to Matthew 19.6 relates to the biblical passage “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate"

Partial memorial stone to Richard and Martha Peter in St. Andrew's Church, Great Linford.

Here then is unequivocal evidence that during the height of the plague of 1666, two persons were removed to Great Linford from Newport Pagnell. That both died within days of each other strongly implies they were already ill upon their arrival, presumably with plague. We also know from the parish records that Martha was interred on September 15th, and Richard on the 19th.

There are so many questions we are never likely to answer satisfactorily about Richard and Martha. Why were they “removed” to Great Linford with all the attendant risk implied? Were they the only residents of Newport Pagnell so afforded the opportunity to flee the town, where were they billeted in the village and were any precautions taken to minimise the chance of infection?

We can tentatively uncover some information about Richard Peter, as a person of this name is mentioned in a substantial number of legal documents pertaining to land and property sales, mostly in and around Newport Pagnell in the 1600s, though several also concern transactions in Cambridgeshire. Most of these documents describe him as a draper of Newport Pagnell, though one document also connects him to London. As a draper, he would have been involved in the buying and selling of cloth.

One intriguing document, concerning the deeds of Moulsoe’s Farm in Great Linford, includes a conveyance between Richard Peter and George Smith to a Ralph Smith of Milton Keynes village. Does this imply a familial connection? Certainly, given that the inscription states that Richard and Mathea “were here joyned in Marriage, Anno 1636,” implies that the couple had a firm connection to Great Linford. Might it be that Martha’s maiden name was Smith, and might we even speculate that it was to Moulsoe’s Farm that the couple had fled?

The various legal documents that mention Richard Peter frequently cite considerable sums of money, running into the thousands of pounds. Coupled with the description of the impressive memorial stone when it was intact, and the fact of their internment within the Church, leads to the conclusion that the couple must have been quite wealthy by the standards of the time.

Were there ever any plague cases in Great Linford?

While the evidence points to Great Linford having avoided the plague in and around 1666, there is one interesting outlier to be found in the parish records that reveals a period of abnormally high mortality rates The earliest date we have for burials in the parish is 1653, when five burials are recorded, though it should be noted that the first internment is dated October, suggesting the parish records were established on or perhaps a little before that date, hence the total for the year may have been higher. What is clear, however, is that something unusual happened between 1657 and 1660, with a gradual but statistically intriguing uptick in burials, reaching a high of 20 in 1658, before declining back to the normal average of four per year in 1661.

Was this an earlier visitation of the plague? Looking in detail at the records of 1660, with 15 burials recorded, one family in particular stands out, the Sansoms. On January 23rd, a Thomas Sansom was buried, followed on the 28th by a Mary Sansom and her infant son, the entry noting that both were buried in the same grave. This does imply that something had torn through a single household, and there are several other instances that same year of closely spaced deaths of people with the same surname.

The increase in deaths might easily be dismissed as a statistical anomaly, the result of happenstance and bad luck, except that, turning back to the burial records for Newport Pagnell, we do find an intriguing synchronicity with Great Linford. Between 1653 and 1656, the average number of burials in Newport Pagnell stood at around 65 per year, but in 1657, there was a marked jump to 175, followed by 123 in 1658. Unfortunately, the burial records for 1659 and 1660, as extracted from the familyhistory.org website, appear to be fragmentary, presumed largely lost, so we do not know if burials continued to be abnormally high for these years, though it is clear that from 1663 the normal cadence of burials had resumed.

However, the available evidence does seem to strongly imply that beginning in 1657, both Great Linford and Newport Pagnell were in the grip of an epidemic, presumably the plague. Perhaps it was this earlier brush with the disease that convinced the village leaders to take a firmer approach to protecting the population when the Great Plague struck less than a decade later.

]]><![CDATA[Great Linford Manor Park Almshouses and School House added to Historic England's at risk register]]>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:45:09 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/great-linford-manor-park-almshouses-and-school-house-added-to-historic-englands-at-risk-register

Picture credit: Historic England.

Historic England has announced the publication of their updated At Risk Register for 2025, which highlights those sites across the country judged to be in urgent need of safeguarding for future generations.

The Almshouses and Schoolhouse in Great Linford Manor Park are a new addition to the At Risk Register. The Friends of Great Linford Manor Park have been campaigning for some time for emergency repairs to be carried out, so it is hoped that the inclusion of the site on the At Risk Register will spur the stakeholders to take the urgent action needed.

To keep up-to-date with news on the Almshouses, School House and other estate buildings, you can join the Friends of Great Linford Manor Park by clicking here.

To view the Historic England At Risk entry for the Almshouses and Schoolhouse, click here.

]]><![CDATA[Heritage Open Day 2025 highlights risk to Great Linford Manor Park Almshouses]]>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 05:59:08 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/heritage-open-day-2025-highlights-risk-to-great-linford-manor-park-almshousesVolunteers from The Friends of Great Linford Manor Park were out in force at the 2025 Heritage Open Day on September 20th, offering history walks, a talk in St. Andrew’s Church, fun activities for children and an important message concerning the deterioration of the beloved Almshouses in the park.

Save the Almshouses

A display set up in front of the Almshouses drew a steady stream of visitors concerned to hear that the Almshouses, as well as the Great Barn, Pavilions and Radcliffe Building, are facing an uncertain future. We had some great conversations with members of the public, handed out leaflets and gained new members, with our focus being the need for emergency funding to stabilise the deteriorating fabric of the Almshouses.

Our display highlighting our concerns for the future of the estate buildings.

As part of our outreach, we produced a leaflet which provided visitors with a short summary of the situation and encouraged them to join the Friends group. The leaflet explains that the estate buildings need a sustainable plan for their future use, and that delays in securing and allocating funding for emergency repairs put the Almhouses at risk.

Leaflet Great Linford Manor Park Alsmhouses.

Leaflet given out at the 2025 Heritage Open Day.

Pictures of the Almshouses

The following selection of photographs demonstrates the fragile state of the Almshouses, both internally and externally.

Supports holding up the Alsmhouses roof, Great Linford Manor Park.

Supports holding up an Almshouse roof.

Damp damage to wall in Almshouse, Great Linford Manor Park.

Signs of damp.

Facia board rotting and tiles covered with vegetation.

Broken and slipped tiles and broken facia Almshouses Great Linford Manor Park.

Rear of almshouses showing damage to roof.

Broken and slipped tiles Almshouses Great Linford Manor Park.

Rear of almshouses showing damage to roof.

Collapsed garden wall Almshouses Great Linford Manor Park

A recently collapsed garden wall.

Heritage Open Day activities

Alongside raising public awareness about the estate buildings, the Friends ran several events and activities throughout the afternoon.

Walk for Bucks Vision

A well-received history walk was provided under the auspices of Bucks Vision, a charity whose "mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes." We provided our regular walk with the addition of descriptive and tactile aspects for the participants.

Bucks Vision walk participants stand in front of the Old Rectory, Great Linford.

Bucks Vision walk participants in front of the Old Rectory, whose owners kindly allowed access to their gardens for the Heritage Open Day.

In total, we conducted four history walks on the day, three of which were led by guides in historic costume.

History walk leader dressed as Victorian schoolmaster speaks to participants.

Our village school teacher, Andrew White, leads a history walk.

From our marquee, kindly provided by The Parks Trust, we offered quill writing, Georgian costume colouring sheets, and a selection of reproduction historic photographs and documents about the village.

Visitors speak to volunteers at the Friends of Great Linford Manor Park marquee.

Visitors examine local history documents.

Our costumed volunteers were on hand throughout the day, including our school-master, and lord and lady of the manor.

Friends of Great Linford Manor Park dressed as village school master.

Our village school-master.

Alongside our costumed characters, we also deployed our newly arrived tabards featuring the Friends of Great Linford Manor Park logo on front and back, continuing our mission to make the Friends a highly recognisable presence in the park and wider community.

Friends of Great Linford Manor Park volunteers.

John Gosling delivered a talk, A brief history of Great Linford, one of a number of talks offered throughout the day, both in St. Andrew's Church and in the talks tent in the manor grounds.

Great Linford Village history talk in St. Andrew's Church.

John Gosling delivers his talk, A brief history of Great Linford.

Other partners in the park

The day could not have been the success it was without the involvement of a great many other stakeholders, participants and partners, first and foremost The Parks Trust, who organised, managed and promoted the day to their usual high standard. The turnout, despite the threat of rain (which eventually arrived toward the end of the afternoon), was considerable, and people appeared to have been well satisfied by the wide variety of attractions on offer.

The following is a far from comprehensive list of the many other things to see and do during the afternoon.

Over in the talk tent, Doug Stuckey of Bucks Archaeological Society delivered a presentation on the HaHa excavated in the park, and David Wolfson spoke on the subject of MK Canals: Fenny to Wolverton.

Special thanks to St. Andrew's Church, for once again providing a wonderful space to share the history of the park, as well as a copious supply of tea, coffee and cake to visitors, the proceeds of which go to good causes.

Lace makers Wendy and Ros were on hand throughout the afternoon to show people this fascinating craft, and to demonstrate how important it once was to the economy of the village, while the team from Electra Community Boat provided a canal history display and invited members of the public to share their own memories and memorabilia.

In the park, Deborah Jones ran popular demonstrations in the art of willow weaving, and it was lovely to welcome back Milton Keynes Arts Centre, much missed after their departure earlier in the year from The Great Barn. They provided an activity, making nature prints from leaves.

Finally, but certainly not least, an enormous thank-you to the volunteer members of The Friends of Great Linford Manor Park, who always put such effort and enthusiasm into promoting the park. The friends will be continuing their efforts to find a solution to preserve the estate buildings for future generations, and if you would like to add your voice to the debate, please do consider joining for free. You can read more about the Friends of Great Linford Manor park here, and join online.

The Friends Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 23rd. There is a change of venue this year, to the Marsh Drive Community Centre, MK14 5HH. What3word reference: undulation.triangles.shampoos. Please arrive for 6.45pm to get seated and help yourself to tea, coffee and biscuits before a prompt start at 7pm.

]]><![CDATA[Heritage Open Day 2025 at Great Linford Manor Park, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire]]>Mon, 18 Aug 2025 13:23:55 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/heritage-open-day-2025-at-great-linford-manor-park-milton-keynes-buckinghamshire

Heritage Open Day Great Linford Manor Park.

Previous Heritage Open Day.

Located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Great Linford Manor Park was the home of successive Lords of the Manor since medieval times and was recently restored by The Parks Trust. Visitors can now stroll around the Georgian gardens, admiring features such as the cascading ponds, Wilderness and HaHa. This year’s 2025 Heritage Open Day offers an afternoon of fun walks, talks and activities within the grounds of this stunning park.

For the 2025 Heritage Open Day, held from 12pm to 5pm, on Saturday, September 20th, you can rub shoulders with the Lord and Lady of the Manor, the Astrological Doctor and the School Master, as well as other costumed characters. Walks will be conducted around the park grounds by knowledgeable guides who will explain the fascinating history of the area. Talks on a variety of subjects will also be held in St. Andrew’s Church and a marquee within the park grounds. There will be live music throughout the afternoon, and a variety of food and craft stalls to browse.

Here are just some of the highlights of the day.

Venue: St. Andrew’s Church

12th-century St. Andrew's Church is the perfect setting for visitors to learn about the history of Great Linford, and tea, coffee and cakes will be served all afternoon. So, pull up a pew and enjoy the following talks and activities.

1 - 2 pm. Talk: Discovering the Newport Pagnell Canal
Roger Butler tells the story of this lost Buckinghamshire canal and explores its remains.

3.15 - 4.15 pm. Talk: A brief history of Great Linford
John Gosling delves into the history of Great Linford, its notable residents and events. Includes many historic images.

12.00 - 4.30 pm: Down Memory Lane with Electra Boat
Canal history display from Electra Boat, and a drop-in session from 2.30 pm, at which you are invited to share your canal memories.

Guided history walks

Join the knowledgeable guides from The Friends of Great Linford Manor Park for informative walks around the park.

Walks depart at 12.30 pm, 2 pm and 3.30 pm, and last one hour.

Meet at the Parklands car park, by the twin Pavilions.

Venue: The Almshouses

Meet the lacemakers
Lacemaking was an important cottage industry in the village. Meet the lacemakers and learn about this fascinating craft.

Willow weaving workshop
Deb Jones provides a workshop on this ancient craft.

The Friends of Great Linford Manor Park
Children can try their hand at writing with a traditional quill and ink in front of the old village school, or do some colouring with one of our Georgian character sheets. You can also view copies of historic photographs and documents from the village and learn about what the Friends do to maintain, protect and promote the park.

Venue: Talks Tent

12.15 - 12.45 pm: MK Canals, from Fenny to Wolverton
David Wolfson, Chair of MK Canals, presents a talk on canals in Milton Keynes.

2.15 - 2.45 pm: The HaHa excavations at Great Linford
Doug Stuckey of Bucks Archaeological Society delivers a talk on the recently completed HaHa excavations.

4.15 - 5 pm: The Myths and Legends of the Skies
Talk by Bucks Astronomy on the constellations and what they represent.

There's lots more to see and do. Full details can be found on the Parks Trust 2025 Heritage Open Day page.

]]><![CDATA[The Great Linford Manor Park Restoration]]>Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:04:22 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/the-great-linford-manor-park-restorationA pictorial history

In 2015, The Parks Trust secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project to reveal, revive and restore the historic gardens of Great Linford Manor Park. The situation in the park had become quite worrying; self-seeded trees had sprung up around the ponds, their roots damaging the stonework, while leaf fall was clogging the water. The engineering brickwork between the ponds was also failing, and the Hine Spring had almost completely ceased to flow. The far pond, cut off from the gardens by the canal in 1800, had also become severely overgrown and clogged with weed. This was not what the original designers of the park, several hundred years prior, would have wished to see, and so in 2020, work began to restore the gardens.

The park before the restoration

The round pond in Great Linford Manor Park, surrounded by large trees covered in ivy.

The circular pond with self seeded trees surrounding it. November 10th, 2019.

Almshouses Great Linford overlooking circular pond 2019.

Almshouses overlooking circular pond. July 2nd, 2019.

Second pond Great Linford Manor Park before restoration, 2019.

The second pond and the bridge over the cascade from the round pond. May 15th, 2019.

The Hine Spring, Great Linford, hidden under a manhole cover.

The Hine Spring, nornally hidden under a manhole cover. Photo credit James Cairncross,

The remains of the Doric Seat, Great Linford, 2020.

The remains of the Doric Seat. August 28th, 2020.

Far pond, North of canal. 2019.

The cascade, far pond, Great Linford, prior to restoration, 2019.

The cascade, far pond. April 21st 2019.

Removal of trees

One of the first tasks was the removal of the self-seeded trees around the circular pond.

Self-seeded trees removed from edge of cicrcular pond, Great Linford Manor Park. Feb 2020.

Self-deeded trees removed from the edge of the circular pond. February 23rd, 2020.

Self-seeded trees removed from edge of cicrcular pond, Great Linford Manor Park. April 2020.

Self-deeded trees removed from the edge of the circular pond. April 2nd, 2020.

Drainage and dredging of the ponds

As the ponds drained, it was fascinating to see the original stonework of the circular pond came back into view. The dredging was done carefully, with the large piles of sludge created left for several months so as to provide the means for aquatic life to seek refuge.

Drained ponds, Great Linford Manor Park, December 2020.

The draining of the ponds under way. December 17th, 2020.

Sludge banked up around the ponds, Great Linford Manor Park, March 2021.

Sludge banked up around the ponds. 28th March 2021.

Engineering brickwork added

In order to help increase the flow of water from the Hine Spring, brick walls were added to direct the water. This engineering brickwork would be covered up later in the project with limestone blocks.

Engineering brickwork under construction, Great Linford Manor Park, March 2021.

Engineering brickwork under constuction. March 31st, 2021.

Construction of pond wall at Great Linford Manor Park. June 2021.

Brickwork base for the replacement cascade bridge. In background, the stone finish to the new retaining wall for the second pond. June 13th, 2021.

Stone cladding added to the cascade bridge, Great Linford Manor Park. July 2021.

Stone cladding added to the cascade bridge. July 17th, 2021.

New pathways added

As the work on the ponds continued and with the spoil heaps removed, new paths were laid throughout the park.

New paths under construction, Great Linford Manor Park. July 2021.

New paths under construction. July 29th, 2021.

The ponds begin to refill

It was astounding how quickly the ponds began to refill with water.

Ponds refilling with water, Great Linford Manor Park, August 2021.

Ponds refilling with water. August 18th, 2021.

New canal weir under construction

The weir installed by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in the 1970s had failed, and needed replacing. Water is carried under the canal through the original tunnel built in 1800 to the far pond on the other side of the canal.

New weir under construction, Great Linford Manor Park, August 2021.

Work under way on the new weir. August 18th, 2021.

The new Doric Seat

The Doric Seat located in the Wilderness had been almost completely lost due to vandalism, with only the footprint remaining of the impressive structure. To rebuild it completely would have been prohibitively expensive, but work was begun on creating a fitting monument to this once grand folly.

Doruc Seat under construction, Great Linford Manor Park, August 2021.

Doruc Seat under construction. August 29th, 2021.

Work in progress August 2021

The park takes shape

Great Linford Manor Park September 2021.

Just waiting for the grass to grow. September 24th, 2021.

View from round pond cascade walkway, Great Linford Manor Park, September 2021.

View from round pond cascade walkway. September 24th, 2021.

The far pond cascade

Before the coming of the canal in 1800, there were four ponds forming a cascading water garden in the park. The third pond was destroyed by the canal, but the forth survived, almost forgotten, and as clear by the earlier photographs, almost choked beyond recognition by vegetation and silt.

Forth cascade pond Great Linford Manor Park. November 2021.

Thr forth pond restoration under way, including a new set of steps leading from Railway Walk. November 5th, 2021.

New cascade, Great Linford Manor Park, December 2021.

The new cascade in full flow. December 4th, 2021.

The Doric Seat complete

The new Doric Seat completed, Great Linford Manor Park July 2022.

The new Doric Seat completed. July 1st 2022.

The Hine Spring

The Hine Spring (an old English word for Peasant or Serf) had been a vital part of village life for hundreds of years. It was recorded on estate maps of 1641 and 1678 as the "Hine Well", and it was still the principal source of water for the Almshouses residents, perhaps as late as the 1950s. By the early 2000s, it was lost beneath a manhole cover and had virtually ceased to flow. The restoration included the installation of an impressive new water feature, bringing the Hine Spring back to life in the 21st century.

Hine Spring stonewalk laid out in Great Linford Manor Park, July 2022.

Stonework components of the new Hine Spring water feature arrive and are laid out ready for installation. Also pictured, the stonework for the main information point in the park. July 3rd, 2022.

The Hine Spring prior to the installation of its decorative stonework, Great Linford Manor Park, July 2022.

The Hine Spring prior to the completion of its decorative stonework. July 14th, 2022.

The Hine Spring decorative stonework installed at Great Linford Manor Park, July 2022.

The Hine Spring decorative stonework installed. July 23rd, 2022.

Hine Spring path installed Great Linford Manor Park, August 2022.

The Hine Spring path installed. August 8th, 2022.

The Hine Spring, Great Linford Manor Park, prior to the installation of its decorative spout. September 2022.

The Hine Spring, prior to the installation of its decorative spout. September 14th, 2022.

Last touches

By October 2022, the plantings were well under way, and only a few barriers remained before the public could fully enjoy the park again.

The park almost fully open. October 3rd, 2022.

Great Linford Manor Park fully open after the restoration.

The park finally without barriers and fences. October 6th, 2022.

The park today

Watching the transformation of the park during the restoration work and seeing behind the scenes of this mammoth undertaking was an extraordinary privilege, and the results surely speak for themselves.

The almshouses reflected in the newly restored circular pond, Great Linford Manor Park.

You can read more about the restoration of Great Linford Manor Park on the Parks Trust website.

]]><![CDATA[Chicheley Hall’s connection to Great Linford]]>Tue, 22 Jul 2025 15:05:53 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/chicheley-halls-connection-to-great-linford

The front view of Chicheley Hall.

This year, 2025, Chicheley Hall celebrated its 300th anniversary, and in light of this, a summer fayre was organised in the grounds, providing me the ideal opportunity to visit the ancestral home of Frances Chester, the bride to be of Henry Uthwatt of Great Linford Manor. Chicheley Hall lies just 5 miles to the Northeast of Great Linford Manor Park, so it is easy to imagine that Frances and Henry would have moved in the same social circles, sparking a romance. They were married at Maids-Moreton on June 12th, 1750, but tragedy occurred just a few years later, when Henry was struck down in London by consumption, succumbing to the disease on December 22nd, 1757. He was aged just 29.

However, Henry had ensured that Frances would be well provided for; his will specified that she could live at Great Linford Manor as long as she lived, which turned out to be until 1800. Though Chicheley Hall is considerably grander in design than Great Linford Manor, when Frances gazed out of her new home’s windows, it must have felt a little like her childhood home, as the surroundings are reminiscent of Chicheley Hall. It too has a large spring-fed water feature in the garden, a Wilderness containing what appears to be a folly, and the parish church abuts the manor grounds. Additionally, Chicheley boasts an extraordinarily lavish stable block, which puts the similarly purposed twin pavilions at Great Linford to shame. One other significant difference is that Critchley Hall is still surrounded by farmland, as once would have been Great Linford Manor.

Like Great Linford, the present grand house was a replacement for an earlier building, of which little remains, except one Jacobean over-mantel with termini caryatids, and some panelling that had been relocated to the new house. Sir John Chester, who was Frances’s grandfather, inherited the Chicheley estate from his father, Anthony in 1698, but construction of the house did not commence until 1719. Sir John died in 1725, just as the interior was being finished, and was succeeded by his son, also called John, born in 1693. John was married in 1718 to Frances Bagot, and in 1728, Frances was born to the couple, joining a brother, Charles, who had been born in 1723. The house in which Frances was born has reportedly seen little in the way of alteration since its construction, so the modern visitor is likely seeing it much as Frances would have.

Stable block.

The water gardens, which have been described as a three-sided canal.

The Wilderness, Chicheley Hall.

Possible folly at Chicheley Hall.

Dovecote at Chicheley Hall.

The ground floor of Chicheley Hall was open to visitors on the day of my visit, which gave me the opportunity to look for any portraits that might remain of the Chesters. Over the grand staircase, which was made in Italy and transported over when the house was built, are three portraits, identified as John Chester and his two wives. This John Chester would be Frances’s grandfather, who had started the building of the house but died just before it was completed. Unfortunately, the portraits are not labelled, so we cannot be certain of the identity of the two women, but John’s wives were named Anne Wollaston and Frances Noel.

Portrait, thought to be either Anne Wollaston or Frances Noel, both wives of John Chester.

I was unable to obtain a good vantage to photograph the other two portraits over the staircase, but they can be viewed elsewhere online, here and here.

A portrait of Frances Uthwatt, nee Chester, is proving elusive, but there were once many more family pictures at Chicheley Hall. The Genealogical memoirs of the extinct family of Chester, published in 1878, contains the following description, purported to be portraits of Frances's parents, John Chester and Frances Bagot.

There are portraits of Sir John and his wife at Chicheley Hall. They are both of three-quarter length, and were evidently taken soon after their marriage. Sir John has a handsome oval face with an aquiline nose, dark-blue eyes, and dark hair drawn back from the forehead, and worn in a pigtail. His coat and breeches of yellow satin are fastened with gold cord, and are set off by a blue-silk scarf over the right shoulder. His collar and cuffs are of point-lace, and a sword hangs at his left side from a belt of red and gold. The portrait of his wife Lady Chester justifies the tradition of her beauty. She has large blue eyes, with well-pencilled dark eye-brows, a straight nose, and small mouth. Her luxuriant fair hair is parted from the forehead, and falls in a large curl over the left shoulder. She is dressed in simple white satin, trimmed with blue and cut low at the neck and sleeves.

These are not the only portraits known to have been at Chicheley Hall. A feature on the house published in Country Life magazine in 1936, provides a photograph of several additional portraits hung in one of the bedrooms. This particular issue of Country Life has been made available on the Archive.org website. Perhaps one of these is a portrait of Frances, though none appear to match descriptions of her.

During my visit, I was also able to photograph several of the rooms within the house.

The grand staircase at Chicheley Hall, imported from Italy.

The grand staircase, imported from Italy.

You can read more about the life of Frances Uthwatt, nee Chester, here.

]]><![CDATA[A brief history of fires at Great Linford]]>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 14:39:07 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/a-brief-history-of-fires-at-great-linfordArguably, it seems that not a single village, town or city has escaped at least one calamitous fire in its history, and Great Linford is no exception. At an unspecified time on Thursday, February 26th, 1778, the cry most feared by the village’s inhabitants rang out. “Fire!” Most houses would, of course, have been thatched, and so a single spark, perhaps from a chimney, could quickly catch hold and spread from roof to roof. With no fire brigade to call upon (Newport Pagnell’s brigade was not established until 1855), it would have been up to the community to rally round and do what they could with buckets. Though the particulars of any firefighting efforts are unremarked upon, the account carried in the Northampton Mercury of March 2nd, 1778, paints a grim picture of the aftermath and the impact on the village’s inhabitants. The fact that the blaze was reported as far afield as Leeds and Hampshire also certainly suggests it was considered no ordinary event.

Whereas a Fire broke out in this Town, on Thursday last, by which seven houses, besides Out-Houses, Woodpiles, &c, were entirely consumed, and the Rapidity of the Flames prevented the inhabitants from saving their Household-Goods and Effects, except a small Part, and several Families, unless relieved by the charitable Contributions of the Public, will be entirely ruined: Therefore, at a Meeting of the Parishioners, a Committee was appointed, to solicit and receive Donations of the Public, by which, the Whole of the Contributions will be distributed to the Sufferers without Charge. And it is requested, the benevolent Public will not give to any Collectors, except the Gentlemen of the Committee, who will, in a few Days, wait on the neighbouring towns.

We do not know where in the village this fire occurred, and no further information can be found on the fate of those unfortunate families whose homes were consumed by the flames. It is to be hoped, however, that they received at least some charity, essentially the only help on offer to the poor and destitute at this time. This is not to say insurance was unavailable, and indeed several houses on the High Street were insured against fire at around this time. We know this as two houses on Forge End Row have Sun Alliance fire marks affixed to them, which means the owners had taken out policies.

Fire insurance marks (or plaques) were not just to indicate that a house was covered for damage and loss, but also as a confirmation to the private fire companies maintained by some insurance companies that the property was on their books. In this regard, something of an urban myth has grown up around fire marks, to the effect that if the house was not covered by a policy from the attending company (or covered by a different company), then they would stand by and let the house burn. This does not seem to be true, as aside from the moral and ethical considerations of such a policy, it would also be terrible publicity. Besides which, on more practical terms, letting fires burn out of control in the age of wooden and thatched buildings was a particularly bad idea. There was every chance that an uncontained fire would spread to a building that was covered, so it seems more than likely that the lack of a fire mark did not automatically exclude your house from rescue.

Fire mark 408997 on Great Linford High Street.

From the numbers inscribed into the fire marks, we can find the original records of the insurance policies taken out. Policy number 408997 was taken out on January 25th, 1779, by a Richard Bakehouse, a farmer, for what is now number 27 on the High Street. The sum insured was £100, with the additional note that the house was occupied by widow Bakehouse. It should be noted that the name Bakehouse is likely an error by the scribe, who misheard the name. The more likely name is Bacchus, a family strongly associated with the village, and specifically The Nags Head. The other fire insurance mark is numbered 404775, which was taken out on October 28th, 1778, by Hannah Hobbs, a shopkeeper.

We do not know if the Sun Alliance company employed any firefighters in the vicinity of Great Linford, but the existence of the fire marks certainly suggests as much, though it is interesting to note that the policies taken out by Richard Bakehouse and Hannah Hobbs were purchased shortly after the Great Fire of 1778. In fact, with the exception of another policy taken out by Richard in 1777, all the policies recorded by the Sun Alliance for properties in Great Linford were purchased after the fire. Perhaps the trauma of the event had focused minds on the need for insurance, or an enterprising insurance agent had sensed an opportunity.

Thankfully, in the decades following the great fire of 1778, no further accounts are to be discovered of fires in the parish, and in fact, it is not until 1839 that we find word of what appeared to be an arsonist on the loose in the county. Under the headline, “Second incendiary fire at Newport Pagnell”, the Bucks Herald of December 9th reports that a great deal of damage had been caused to a rick yard (a storage area for harvested crops) at Tickford Park, the second such occurrence in recent days. Suspicions of a serial arsonist were further aroused by the fact that, soon after, an attempt was made to set alight the property of Mr Thomas Hawley of Great Linford.

In this case, the fire was discovered by neighbours and extinguished before serious harm was done, but the Bucks Herald also adds the intriguing note that “Some clue, we understand, has been obtained, so as to lead to the apprehension of the parties in this case.” However, if arrests were made, there seems to be no follow-up story, though over several weeks, the story was picked up by numerous other newspapers, including The Weekly Chronicle of London, which repeated the basic facts of the story in more lurid prose, including the observation that the fire at Mr Hawley’s property had been achieved “by the same diabolical means” as the earlier attacks.

Thomas Hawley had gotten away lightly with the attack of 1839, but his luck would not hold in 1856, when the following story was reported by a number of papers, including the Bedford Mercury of April 12th.

Fire – On Thursday, the 3rd instant, the inhabitants of this village were greatly alarmed by the discovery that the dwelling house of Mr Thomas Hawley, grocer, &c., was on fire; smoke was observed to issue from the roof, which consisted of thatch. An alarm was instantly given, and a messenger immediately rode off to Newport Pagnell for the fire brigade. The flames spread rapidly, and as Mr Hawley had several Ibs. of gunpowder in the store room. It was deemed improper to attempt the remove the goods from that part of the premises. The dwelling house and much of the stock and furniture was destroyed, and an adjoining house occupied by a widow named Sharp was consumed, but most of her furniture was removed uninjured. The Newport fire brigade soon arrived with the best engine, and speedily extinguished the flames. The fire was occasioned by the flue of a copper, in which water was being heated to scald a pig, taking fire, and igniting the thatch. Mr Hawley’s house and shop were insured by the Phoenix Fire Office, and we understand that office has met the claim in a very prompt and liberal manner.

This represents the first fire in the village whose location we can positively identify. Thomas Hawley’s premises occupied the same plot as the house known as The Old Post Office. This was built on the ruins of the earlier house. It is also very clear from the photograph below that the adjacent house, occupied at the time by widow Sharp, was partly rebuilt, with the upper portion being restored with bricks. It is known that one of the roof timbers has an inscription by the builder, which reads, “This roof was raised by J Bird for the hall of W. A Uthwatt in the year of our lord 1856.” J Bird would be John Bird, who ran a building and carpentry business in the village.

Houses in Great Linford damaged by fire in 1856.

The Old Post Office, right, the previous house on this plot having burnt down in 1856.

Our next fire was a considerable one, doing great damage to farm buildings belonging to The Black Horse Inn. Croydon’s Weekly Standard newspaper of February 19th, 1859, contains a detailed report which can be read on this website’s page on The Black Horse Inn, but in brief, seven outbuildings and a great deal of agricultural equipment was lost, though thanks to the quick witted and brave actions of a 16-year-old servant girl, the animals, including horses and cows were saved. The newspaper offers a curious postscript to the story, that someone identified as William Emerton, of Broughton, had several times wilfully attempted to stop the supply of water through the fire brigade’s hose by placing his foot on it. The article makes no attempt to connect William Emerton with the alleged arson, but his behaviour would certainly make him a prime suspect.

It seems that someone had it in for The Black Horse Inn, as just a few years later, another suspicious fire broke out, affecting the remnants of the outbuildings that had survived the previous fire. The fire was discovered in good time, having started in the thatch of a cow hovel. A message was sent for the Newport Pagnell fire brigade to attend, but before they arrived, the fire had been brought under control as there was plenty of assistance on hand and a good supply of water. Croydon’s Weekly Standard of May 4th, 1861, offered the theory that the fire “was strongly suspected to be the work of an incendiary.”

The next case of fire occurred in 1889, and once again involved alleged arson on a farm, though in this instance, the perpetrator, a thirteen-year-old lad named Arthur Daniels from Newport Pagnell was apprehended and confessed. Brought before the magistrates on Monday, the 12th of August for an initial hearing, a great deal of circumstantial evidence was presented, placing Arthur at work in the vicinity of a hay rick located in a field owned by his employer Thomas Brafield of Wood End Farm. However, toward the end of the proceedings, a police constable White presented testimony that Arthur had tearfully confessed, saying, “I set fire to the rick sir, with the matches I bought at Mr Lines at Bradwell, to light some cigars.” Constable White also stated that Arthur had committed this confession to writing.

An open and shut case, surely, but when in November the case came to court, considerable doubt was cast on the confession and its extraction by Constable White, who was accused in court of some underhanded tactics, having failed in effect to clarify with Arthur if the confession amounted to an admission of arson or an accident. Having heard that Arthur had assisted in fighting the fire, the jury was inclined toward believing it was an accident, and Arthur was acquitted with a stern warning from the Judge to be more careful in future.

The Black Horse Inn was the location again of a fire on the evening of Saturday January 25th, 1890, though unlike the previous blaze that had done so much damage, matters in this case were quickly brought under control with water from the canal and the help of the pub’s patrons. The result was that only one room was damaged, and a quantity of hops lost.

In 1902, a calamity almost struck the Manor House, as reported in the Bucks Standard of January 11th.

FIRE AT THE MANOR HOUSE – About twelve o’clock on Thursday morning, January 9th, a maid in the employ of W. Uthwatt, Esq., of Great Linford Manor, had occasion to go upstairs, when she discovered the presence of a fire in the roof above the nursery. Alarm was quickly given, and a number of willing helpers from the village came forward to assist. In the meantime, a message was sent to Newport Pagnell for the fire brigade, the call being about 12.25. Within about ten minutes the brigade, under the superintendence of Captain Coales, with their No. 1 engine, were quickly off to the scene of the fire. On arrival however, it was soon seen that the fire was located under the roof, which was partly covered with slates and tiles, and was therefore confined, so the attention was directed to the wood-work. But in case the fire might break through, the hose was fixed to the engine and connected with the pond in front of the house. A sufficient supply of water, however, was obtained from a tank at the top of the house, water, in this instance, not being so essential as the axe, the latter being freely used by the firemen in cutting away the burning beams and woodwork of the roof, which had got alight. Ultimately their efforts were rewarded with success, for the fire was got under without bringing the engine into use, thanks to the foresight of the captain of the brigade, who by this thoughtful act and the response of the men, saved much property that would have been damaged by water. Some idea of the actual damage caused may be gathered when it is stated that it will cost about £200 to put the property in proper repair.

The damage, estimated at £200, is likely to equate to about £20,000 in modern terms, so does seem to have been quite significant, and indeed, if not for the fortuitous discovery of the fire by the maid, the park might look quite different today.

Not so fortunate was Major Harold Edward Churton Doyne-Ditmas. He and his family had moved into Ivy House, now known as Linford Lodge, at some time around 1908, but in the early hours of Monday, March 24th, 1919, a terrible fire broke out. With some irony, it had begun in the smoking room, suggesting the culprit was a smouldering cigarette, cigar or pipe. Having evacuated his family and servants, Harold drove to Newport Pagnell to fetch the fire brigade, but by the time help arrived at around 5.30 in the morning, a full hour and a half after the blaze had first been detected, much of the building was alight, and only a fraction of the contents could be saved. By the time the fire brigade departed at 6.30pm, only the “morning room” remained unscathed. The fire was not without its casualties, three members of the fire brigade having been struck and injured to varying degrees by falling masonry when one of the chimneys collapsed. For more details on the life of Major Harold Edward Churton Doyne-Ditmas, please see the page on Linford Lodge.

In later years, farms continued to suffer more than their fair share of fires. In 1946, Wood Farm was the scene of a major blaze, that did serious damage to a large thatched barn that contained dairy machines. Then in 1959, the first of two devastating blazes that afflicted the Nagington family broke out in the grounds of their home Grey Gables, the name that the Old Rectory was then known by. The Nagingtons had been running a poultry farm from the house, as well as nearby Great Linford House, and on Wednesday, November 6th, a large single-story wooden poultry house, complete with electric heating equipment, was destroyed, with the loss of 2000 hens. A second fire in May 1960 came close to spreading to the thatched roof of the Nags Head pub, and was prevented only by the prompt actions of fire brigades from Newport Pagnell and Wolverton. There is a biography of the Nagintons and additional details on the fires on the page about Great Linford House.

The early 1960s were a bad time to be a farmer in Great Linford. In January 1960, a number of pigsties and their unfortunate occupants were consumed by fire at Lodge Farm, followed in 1962 by a blaze at Church Farm, which had broken out near an "electric grain drying plant.” Lodge Farm was back in the news in October 1963, with a hay rick fire described by the Wolverton Express of the 25th as a “blazing inferno” requiring the attention of three fire engines.

Hay rick on fire at Lodge Farm in 1963.

Finally, yet another rick fire, which seemed to be a perennial danger for farmers, broke out at Windmill Farm on the evening of Wednesday, June 10th, 1964, destroying 15 tons of baled hay. This, though, seemed to signal the end of this run of bad luck for the farmers of Great Linford, but it was also close to the end of farming in Great Linford, as the new City of Milton Keynes would soon swallow up their land.

This brings to an end this brief history of fires in Great Linford, but if you know of any other stories, please add a comment to this page.

]]><![CDATA[Sun brings visitors for a busy Heritage Open Day]]>Wed, 02 Oct 2024 20:53:36 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/sun-brings-visitors-for-a-busy-heritage-open-dayWith the sun shining brightly, and in collaboration with their always supportive partners in the local community, the Friends of Great Linford Manor Park joined in a highly successful Heritage Open Day on September 14th, 2024. Here are some highlights of the activities offered on the day.

History Walks around Great Linford Manor Park

The history walks organised by the Friends proved particularly popular with visitors to the park, with at least 60 persons attending across the three sessions on offer.

On a sunny day, two dozen people stand on a path bounded by lawns, looking toward a grand manor house, fronted by a row of large trees in full leaf.

A history walk setting off into the grounds of Great Linford Manor Park.

As a special feature of the Heritage Open Day this year, walk participants were treated to a visit from Francis Uthwatt, the lady of the manor in the mid to late 18th century. As can be seen from the next picture, Francis (played here by costume maker extraordinaire Julie Ireland) was not the only person in the park in a wonderful costume.

Three people pose before a picturesque manor house, to the left a lady in Georgian costume, to the right a woman & child in traditional Chinese attire.

It was delightful to capture this portrait of Lady Uthwatt meeting two special visitors to the park, who came dressed in traditional Chinese attire.

Lace-making heritage at Great Linford

Also in costume were Wendy and Ros, who were on hand in St. Andrew’s Church to demonstrate the art of lace-making, once an important cottage industry in the village. Wendy also brought along her extensive research into the hundreds of women and girls who had once plied the trade in the village.

A smiling lady in white top and bonnet hat sits before a blue box, upon which are laid out her lace-making tools and delicate samples of lace.

Lacemaker Wendy awaits visitors in St. Andrew’s church, the tools of her trade laid out before her.

Milton Keynes Arts Centre activities

Milton Keynes Arts Centre was kept busy hosting a variety of fun activities for all ages, most notably offering visitors the opportunity to experience what it was like to have their photograph taken in the Victorian era. This was linked to the presence in the village in the late 1800s of a commercial photographer named Henry Bartholomew.

A man and woman pose before a painted floral backdrop in a courtyard garden while a photographer prepares to take their photograph with a box camera.

A couple have their photograph taken with a Victorian box camera in the Arts Centre garden. Photo credit: Milton Keynes Arts Centre.

A clear Perspex case containing a selection of black and white vintage photographs and an infographic about Victorian photographer Henry Bartholomew.

An exhibition of original photographs taken by Henry Bartholomew was on display in the Arts Centre.

Additionally, the Arts Centre hosted several craft sessions, one to make a thaumatrope, and another to create instruments such as drums and mini banjos from everyday household objects. Participants in the latter activity were then invited to compose a piece of music inspired by the history of Great Linford Manor Park.

Great Linford village history talk at St. Andrew's

A new addition to the Heritage Open Day offering this year was a well-attended talk held in the historic venue of St. Andrew’s Church. Well-fortified with tea and cake supplied by the church canteen, some 70 persons listened to an hour-long illustrated talk, covering not just the manor park, but also the history of the village High Street.

An attentive audience sits looking toward the altar of a church, where a speaker stands before a podium presenting a presentation on a large screen.

The well-attended illustrated talk on the history of Great Linford, presented by John Gosling. Picture credit: Sue Maccabe.

Looking ahead to 2025 Heritage Open Day events

Events this year were very well received by members of the public, and an equally successful Heritage Open Day is eagerly anticipated for 2025. To keep up to date with local history activities in the park, which is located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, please join the Friends of Great Linford Manor Park Facebook group.

]]><![CDATA[The Great Beer Shortage Panic of 1969]]>Mon, 06 May 2024 07:18:25 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/the-great-beer-shortage-panic-of-1969

Canal bridge at Great Linford closure 2024

With the canal bridge presently closed for repairs, I am reminded that prior to the establishment of the city of Milton Keynes and its extensive road system, the closure of a bridge was a much more serious matter than it is today for the village. This was very much the case in February of 1969, with concerns raised as to the safety and weight bearing capacity of bridges connecting the village to the wider world.

The Bucks Standard of Friday, February 28th, 1969, broke the story, with a headline posing the alarming question, was “Linford to be cut off?” Not quite, even a provisional newspaper knew the value of an eye-catching headline (and yes, my own headline is equally as guilty), but as the story elaborates, it was recently imposed weight restrictions on three crucial bridges that was the cause of concern. The matter had then been brought to the attention of Newport Pagnell Rural District Council by Stella Uthwatt, the elected village representative on the council.

Stella was of course the last Uthwatt to hold title to the Manor House and gardens, and by all accounts still a force to be reckoned with in village life. Speaking at the council meeting of Wednesday 26th, Stella had pointed out that lorries over four tonne axle weight were not allowed into the village, and “this means that the whole farming community will come to a standstill and we will have difficulties getting food and beer supplies through.” Dramatically, she added, “The whole village is in great danger.”

The canal bridge in 1969 with four tonne weight limit signs.

The clerk of the council, acknowledging Stella's concerns, explained that the safety of the bridges, and most specifically the main canal bridge (on Marsh Drive) had yet to be established. A letter had gone out to Bucks County Council, and reassurances had been made that the county surveyor had been tasked with resolving matters. Stella then asked if a Bailey Bridge could not be erected as a temporary measure but received a non-committal response.

There was good news in April, with a front-page story in the Bucks Standard of Friday 11th, headlined, “Relief of Great Linford Near – Beer wagon to roll again.”

The story provides a great deal more detail as to the background to the crisis, explaining that it was a decision of the British Waterways Board that had imposed the four-tonne weight limit on the Marsh Drive bridge, while two tonne limits had been imposed on the bridges on the Willen and Woolstone roads. Bucks County Council had then formulated a plan to renovate the Marsh Drive bridge to allow a six-tonne weight limit, the county surveyor Eric Frankland predicting that, “this will allow vehicles such as the fire engine and brewery vehicles into Great Linford and should ease the situation considerably.”

It is not recorded if the villagers felt access to beer or a fire engine was the higher priority, though the article states, “there were fears at one stage that no more supplies of beer would get through to the Nags Head.” However, as explained by the landlord Norman Carter, arrangements had been made that the pub was placed last on the delivery route, so the brewery lorry, by then greatly reduced in weight, could safely negotiate the bridge crossing.

It was inconvenient, leading to late deliveries, so as Norman added, “I and the rest of the village too will be glad to know that the weight limit is to be raised, so we can get back to near normal again. This move will come at a good time too, just before the summer because we will need a lot more beer at the pub which will mean more deliveries.”

But calamity; a happy ending was not so near. The Bucks Standard of May 30th carried the ominous headline, “Relief of Great Linford Delayed.” The problem now was that despite the council having agreed to do the work, the British Waterways Board had yet to grant permission for the work to proceed. Assurances were made that the council would pursue the Waterways Board for the permission, though as the article observed, “It looks as if the village may well have to wait a long time before the bridge is completely reconstructed to take all traffic, and the answer might rest with the new city. One of the early roads suggested in the interim report comes from Bletchley through the new city centre to join the main A422 road with a junction near Great Linford.”

However, the prognosis of a long delay appears to have been premature, as in the July 4th edition of the Bucks Standard, came the welcome news that permission had been granted by British Waterways, and that the clerk of the council had offered the opinion that work would begin shortly. That no further news of delay appears to have been reported, indicates that the work did indeed take place before the close of 1969. Of course, now access to the village is well served by the new city grid road system, but it is fascinating to think that just a few decades ago, the village could, for want of a strong bridge, become so cut-off from the modern world, and a reliable supply of beer.

]]><![CDATA[Famous Faces at Great Linford]]>Fri, 23 Feb 2024 14:35:53 GMThttps://www.greatlinfordhistory.co.uk/great-linford-history-blog/famous-faces-at-great-linfordGreat Linford has certainly had more than its fair share of famous faces pass through, though this is hardly surprising as for many years the Manor House served as a prestigious music recording studio, welcoming some of the top bands and singers in the world. But other names can be associated with the village from the world of show biz and television, some with more certainty than others, and two providing a link to one of the most infamous political scandals in British history!

Diana Dors

Above: Diana Dors, 1955. Silver Screen Collections, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Diana Dors was an actress and glamour model, whose reputation as a sex symbol and lurid tabloid headlines disguise the fact that she was by all accounts a very accomplished actress, and that but for personal misfortunes and misjudgements, could very easily have secured her reputation as a serious artiste. Her name has come up in conversation often in connection to Great Linford, with older residents remembering her presence, but under exactly what circumstances she was here, and for how long she stayed, is a matter of speculation. What seems relatively certain is that she had a connection to the house known as The Mead.

The Mead, Harper's Lane, Great Linford. Possible home of Diana Dors.

Above: The Mead, located on Harpers Lane.

It has been suggested that she owned The Mead, but it seems more likely that an aunt and uncle were living there in the 1950s or 1960s. Dianaâ€™s real surname was Fluck, while her mother's maiden name was Payne, but neither name can be connected to The Mead. A name sounding something like Gutteridge has also been suggested, but again, a blank is drawn in trying to connect the name to the house. A person who remembers the owners of the house in the 1980s relates the understanding was held that Diana had owned it, and that it was her country get-away, but having run the theories past an expert on Diana Dors, a home in Great Linford is entirely unknown, and given that hers was a very public persona with numerous books written about her (and by her), the lack of evidence for her ownership seems compelling.

But despite the mystery of the ownership of The Mead, it does seem entirely likely from the recollections of residents of Great Linford, that Diana Dors had once turned heads in the village.

Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice Davis

Above: Christine Keeler. Hugo van Gelderen / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

â€‹Beginning in 1961, John Profumo, the 46-year-old War Minister in the Conservative government of Harold McMillan, began an affair with a 19-year-old model and exotic dancer named Christine Keeler. At the same time, Keeler had entered into a relationship with an attachÃ© at the Soviet embassy named Yevgeny Ivanov, a state of affairs with clear implications for national security. The exact circumstances behind Keelerâ€™s brief relationship with Ivanov are subject to dispute; Keeler alleges in her biography that she was being set up and the intention was to generate blackmail material so that the Soviets could ascertain NATO nuclear plans in Europe. But what does this have to do with Great Linford?

The circumstances are certainly strange. The suggestion that Christine Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice Davies had visited Great Linford had been offered by a resident who remembered seeing them in the village, but is there any proof? Indirectly there is, and the trail starts at the manor house, which in 1956 had been occupied by a Michael Dibben, an entrepreneurial character who had developed a novel way of making casts of old garden statuary and then turning out copies. His unique selling point was that he had developed a way of cheaply reproducing items with a special concrete formula that simulated the patina of old garden ornaments. Chilstone proved very successful, and the company still exists to this day; you can even still buy â€œGreat Linfordâ€ branded items.

But how does this bring us closer to a connection to the Profumo Affair? To join the dots, we need to talk about Michaelâ€™s father, Horace Harold Dibben, known as â€œHodâ€ to his friends and acquaintances. Hod Dibben was an antique dealer who had made a name for himself as a nightclub owner in London, but his establishments were the more respectable front for the private parties he became infamous for, secret assignations where the rich and famous could shed their inhibitions. Christine Keeler denied ever attending one of these parties, but Mandy Rice Davies had, and in the highly charged atmosphere both girls inhabited, intrigue and blackmail went hand in hand, as did espionage.

The name of Hod Dibben is one that exists on the periphery of the Profumo Affair, but it certainly gives credence to the idea that Keeler and Rice-Davies could have visited Great Linford as guests of the Dibbens. This is not to impugn the reputation of Michael Dibben, no concrete evidence points to any shenanigans at the manor, and indeed the story that has bee passed down suggests they stayed at Linford Lodge. Christine Keeler makes no mention of Great Linford in her biography, but perhaps we can speculate that as the Profumo Affair exploded into the public eye, Keeler and Rice-Davies sought a respite from the incessant press attention in a quiet little Buckinghamshire village.

Great Linford Manor: The place to be

â€‹The tenue of the Dibben family certainly seems to have been a period when the manor was well known to various showbusiness luminaries of the time. It is recalled that the celebrity hairdresser Vidal Sassoon stayed at the manor, as did the actor Ian Hendry, well known for his role in the classic British drama The Avengers. Even more intriguingly, I am reliably informed that another visitor to the manor was Eddie Chapman, a well-known criminal and a wartime double agent, known to his handlers in the intelligence service as Zigzag.

â€‹While on the run from the police, Chapman was caught and imprisoned in Jersey and was still incarcerated there when the Germans invaded in 1940. No doubt sensing an opportunity, Chapman offered his services as a spy and was subsequently parachuted into England, where he promptly handed himself in and turned double agent. After the war, he was involved in a number of businesses, and wrote his autobiography. Exactly what brought him to Great Linford is unknown, but it certainly adds a degree of intrigue to the history of the Manor.

Above: MI5 mug shot of Eddie Chapman. Unknown British photographer., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The cast and director of Suspect

Toward the end of 1969, a television crew descended on a snowy Great Linford to film a gritty crime drama called Suspect, which was to serve as a trial run for a short series called Armchair Cinema for Thames TV. Shot on film, which was an unusual extravagance at the time, Suspect and the stories that followed are well-regarded as programmes that served as a training ground for up-and-coming actors, writers and directors; one episode entitled Regan would be spung off into the immensely popular The Sweeney. Suspect was the work of Mike Hodges, who would go on to critical acclaim for his film Get Carter, which starred Michael Caine. Hodges is also well known for the camp cult classic, Flash Gordon.

Above: Mike Hodges in 2015. Kirsty Downs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hodges wrote and directed Suspect, which filmed extensively inside the manor house, on the High Street and many other familiar locations in and around the village. The cast was led by Rachel Kempson, a RADA trained actress with many roles on stage and television to her name, including in later years Out of Africa and The Jewel in the Crown. She often co-starred with her husband Michael Redgrave, the couple founding an acting dynasty that included Vanessa Redgrave.

â€‹In Suspect, Rachel plays Phyllis Segal, who worries that the disappearance of her husband, coinciding with the apparent abduction of a local schoolgirl, must in some way be connected. But when the police arrive, she decides that she must keep up appearances at all costs and does all she can to deflect suspicion from her wayward spouse.

Above: Rachel kempson. Photo credit: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The police are led by Detective Inspector Barnes, played by George Sewell, whose craggy features graced many crime dramas of the period, playing characters on both sides of the law. He may be best remembered as Colonel Alec Freeman in Gerry Andersonâ€™s live action UFO series. In Suspect, Sewellâ€™s detective is a somewhat world-weary character, but determined to get his man.

Rounding out the main cast is Bryan Marshall, a stalwart of British television, but with roles also in movies like The Long Good Friday and The Spy Who Loved Me. Marshall plays the son of Phylis Segal, returning home to find the familyâ€™s life in turmoil.

Suspect is a particularly good crime drama, with plenty of suspense, and it is certainly fascinating to think that the village was once home to a television production of this nature. As of writing, the episode is available on YouTube.

â€‹Bill Oddie

Bill Oddie is a name that immediately brings to mind the phrase â€œGoody goody yum yumâ€, evoking his role in the anarchic television comedy, The Goodies. But Oddie has also been a lifelong conservationist, and it was in this capacity that he came to Great Linford in 1990 to help promote the launch of the first door to door recycling scheme in the country. He met locals in Great Linford and was photographed at the launch in the manor grounds.

Above: Bill Oddie in the grounds of Great Linford Manor. Picture reproduced with the permission of Living Archive.

Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya Hussain was catapulted to fame after winning the Great British Bakeoff in 2015 and is now a popular television cookery star. In 2017, she visited Great Linford Manor Park for the first episode of Nadiya's British Food Adventure, which saw her meeting Turan T. Turan, who was then running a food smoking business from one of the pavilions. The episode is occasionally repeated on the BBC, but as of writing is not available on iPlayer, though it can be purchased via Amazon and Apple TV.

Dr Michael Mosely

Journalist, producer and TV presenter Dr Michael Mosely visited the park in 2023 to film for his TV series Secrets of your big shop.

Above: Dr Michael Mosely. SBS On Demand, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Wimbledon tennis stars

Great Linford was once home to a promising tennis player named Jean Gambell. She played at the juniors at Wimbledon in the late 1930s, but her career was cut tragically short when she died aged just 19. Her father Philip Clayton Gambell was an important figure in county tennis, and it is said that as a result, famous tennis players were to be seen playing on a court at the Gambell's home, Linford Lodge. Unfortunately no firm evidence has been found to support this, but you can read more about tennis in Great Linford here.

Great Linford Manor Recording Studio

Arguably saving the best until last, the manor house was home from approximately 1984 to the early 2000s to a recording studio. Bought by music manager Harry Maloney and converted into a residential studio, artists travelled from all over the world to use the facilities, which included digital equipment, making it one of the first studios to use such cutting-edge technology in the UK. In later years, the studio came into the hands of the manorâ€™s present owner, Pete Winkleman. He continued to run the business for some years more, though its days as a recording studio are sadly now over.

Some extremely well-regarded albums were recorded at the manor, amongst which was P.J Harveyâ€™s acclaimed album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, which was recorded between March and April of 2000. Other big names that passed through Great Linford was John Lydon of Sex Pistols fame, who recorded at the manor with his band PiL, as well as Del Amitri and Babylon Zoo. John Lydon was spotted in the Nagâ€™s Head.

Iâ€™ve been told that the artists rather kept themselves to themselves though â€œSkunk Anansie, Feeder and Jamiroquai were recording during one of the festival times in the park and made appearances either on the Friday in the garden or when the stage was in front of the manor.â€

Skunk Anansie offer their recollections of recording at the manor in the video below.

â€‹One band for whom we have photographic evidence of their presence is ELO Part II, portions of whose album Moment of Truth was laid down at the manor in 1994. The band were captured on film at the manor, and having a crafty pint in the Nagâ€™s Head, by photographer Paul Spencer, who has kindly given permission to reproduce the following photographs from the album sleeve. Please visit Paulâ€™s Instagram account here for more great photographs.

ELO as seen from a window in the Manor House. By permission of Paul Spencer.

Above: ELO in the Nags Head. By permission of Paul Spencer.

Much has been written about the Manorâ€™s days as a recording studio, so rather than repeat this here, I will provide some links for those who are interested to further explore.

The Discogs site provides a very comprehensive looking list of the artists who have recorded from the manor, and using this, I have created a Spotify playlist. Itâ€™s not complete as unfortunately not every song is available on Spotify, but if you have an account, you can listen to the Great Linford Manor Spotify playlist by clicking here.

Some rather grainy videos of the manor studio can be viewed on the record production website, and for those with an interest in the technical aspects of a music studio, the same site also has a piece here on one of the consoles used.

Home and Studio Recording Magazine featured an extensive article about the studio in their May 1987 issue, which can be viewed online here.

For an obituary of Harry Maloney, click here and for a general overview of the manor house as a recording studio, click here.

Share your celebrity stories

Do you know of any other famous faces who have visited Great Linford, or have stories to tell about the celebrities named above, perhaps even photographs or memorabilia? Please comment below.

]]>