> Marshalls Home
It is impossible in Harwell to ignore its historic beginnings. The old Cherry
Barn with its thatched garden wall was, in 1200, part of Middle Farm, known then
as Bayllols Manor. Walk down Townsend and on your right is Bishops Manor
once the grange of the Bishop of Winchester, with records dating back to 1209.
Again, go down Kings Lane bearing right at the bottom. Head for the tower of
the 13th century church of St Matthew and on your left is Princes Manor,
awarded by William the Conqueror to Robert DOily renamed Princes Manor by
the Black Prince.
Down the High Street is Adnams Farmhouse, which survived the Great Fire of 1852.
In its farmyard, it is believed, a discharged labourer set fire to a hay rick,
and left most of the houses down as far as the Crown public house and Allens
Farm in smoking ruins.
On the next street corner is Jennings Lane he was a successful yeoman and is
commemorated with his wife and their twelve children by a brass memorial in the
church. Across the High Street from this corner is Gaveston Road, named after
Piers of that name, Duke of Cornwall, and lord of the Upper Manor (Princes)
130812. His coat of arms can be seen in the churchs east window. He was
executed by the barons during their disputes with King John prior to the signing
of the Magna Carta.
Walking up Gaveston Road, first on your right is Loder Road. Robert Loder was
tenant at Princes Manor, paying rent to Queen Mary Tudor. He was able to
purchase the property, leaving it to his son, Robert. Loder Road now gives
access to a modern housing estate, tucked away and discreetly infilling the land
behind the houses and the back of the Crown pub. The developer planned to build
houses right down to the A34 but Harwell voted unanimously against that threat
to its ancient boundaries.
In 1985, at a Millennium Pageant, various village groups put on the different
historical events of 1,000 years: Ethelred the Unreadys signing of the Royal
Charter, the ten freemen, the Bishop of Winchesters Feast still commemorated
each year, the levy of archers for the Black Princes French Wars, the wedding
of a yeomans son to a daughter of the manor, a 17th century horse fair, the
Cherry Teas of the 1760s and the Great Fire of 1852, with Harwells entry into
the 20th century providing a climax.
What a climax! A march past represented two world wars with a boy bugler on the
church tower playing the Last Post, while others in white coats ushered in the
atomic age of Harwells Atomic Energy Research Establishment and the Rutherford
Laboratory, and the nearby JET Project at Culham.
That Millennium Pageant not only brought all groups together, the old timers and
the newcomers, the scientific establishments, the fruitgrowers, the farmers, the
retired, the workers and the schoolchildren, but demonstrated how Harwell
village and its people had developed from that historical foundation.
Stand on high ground and you can see all of Harwell lying below you, the curve
of the orchards stretching down and past the A34, nearly all under Grove Farm
management now. Some of the famous cherry trees still belong to the Lay family
of Bishops Manor. The Golden Mile of the ancient highway, so named because so
many important personages travelled past the village along old travel routes
such as Icknield Way, Portway, or the Ridgeway Path, is now only a collection of
names on the ramblers maps. There is a new kind of Golden Mile now and
Harwells scientific research centres attract experts from all over the world.
Click here
for a quote and to instruct your survey online
> Marshalls Home