Land Belonging To Bucks
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 09:11:44 pmAs late as 1888 parts of Long Marston and Puttenham belonged to Bucks. The respective areas are shown on the LMPAGD map. Fields 116, 121, 53, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 43, 42, 41, 41a, 30 and 29m belonged to Drayton Beauchamp and fields 137, 147, 148, 149, 150 and ground (Loxley Farm) to north east of field 145 belonged to Marsworth.
These areas became part of Hertfordshire as a result of the Local Government Bill of 1888. This far-reaching Bill was introduced by the Conservatives to reformed Local Government. The aim of the bill was decentralisation of government, greater representation and to infuse a spirit of municipal life into rural populations. Each county was to be divided into electoral districts and voters would elect members of the council. Where towns or urban districts are situated in two or more counties these were to be included in the county in which the majority of the population is found. Not surprisingly there were worries that the new system would be more expensive and no more effective than the old which had been administered by country gentleman.
Churches
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 09:11:01 pmTiscot
Tiscot had a chapel which was pulled down in1661. Until 1748 the hamlets of Tiscot, Betlow and Aldwick were in the parish of Marsworth.
Long Marston
The original church of Long Marston was to the west of the village, at the end of chapel lane and was pulled down except for its embattled tower, in 1883. The church probably dates back to the twelfth century but when it was pulled down the oldest remaining part was from the 14th, century consisting of a Nave, Chancel, south porch and west Tower. When originally built the church had a high pitched roof but this was changed during repairs in the 16th century to a flat pitched one when also the final stage of the tower was built. Architects recommended in 1881 that the site should be abandoned as the church was in a dangerous state due to use of unseasoned oak in the roof and saturation of the foundations by water from lack of gutters and the mote on the northern side.
The present church was built on the north side of the village at a cost of £4000, on land given by the then lord of the manor, Lord Rothschild. The new building was built of stone in a Gothic style, using parts of the old church, including in the north aisle, fifteenth-century piscina and two fourteenth-century windows. The clustered columns, high moulded bases and organ came from Tring Church. The columns at Tring church were replaced by the Victorians as they considered that they were not strong enough.
The new church was consecrated in 1883 but was left unfinished until 1888 due to lack of funds. A church tower on the west side of the church was planed but not built.
In 1898 Lord Rothschild gave to the parish the new cemetery.
In 1906 the church became dangerous due to foundations and the roof giving way, and was closed for two years for repairs.
The Long Marston Rectory
Before 1871 the living was a perpetual curacy annexed to Tring, but in 1871 2½ acres was given by the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church Oxford for a new rectory. Work commenced in 1882 and it was finished in 1883 at a cost of £2400. It consisted of 5 bedrooms, drawing room, dining room Study, Kitchen, scullery up and down stairs WC and Bathroom. Outside there were stables and a garage. A May pole was erected in the grounds at some time, as its presence was reported in a Bucks Herald of 1888. The Rectory was sold in 1971 and demolished to build the 17 houses of Church View. A new Rectory was built at the Wilstone end of Watery Lane.
Puttenham Church (St. Mary)
The church is to the north of the road and dates from at least 1300. The present building is in early Tudor style and consists of a nave, chancel, porch and north and south aisles. The aisles were built on to the earlier stone structure towards the end of the 14th century and the present porch was built in 1889. The chancel was re built in 1851 and is externally faced with flint. The upper tower and porch were re built, the south aisle roof renewed and a new floor laid down in the chancel in 1889. In 1911 the tower and parts of the church were shored up due to settlement and cracks. Between 1952 and 1963 the church was badly neglected. In 1962 lead from the north aisle roof was stolen. The south aisle suffered the same fate in 1972 and the north aisle again in 1979 when the thieves were interrupted and abandoned the lead and their stolen loary.
The Puttenham Rectory
The old rectory was built in XXXX and still stands as a private house. It was enlarged in 1894 and at that time the grounds extended to 194 acres.
The Long Marston Parish was formed in 1867 from parts of the ecclesiastical parishes of Tring Herts and Drayton Beauchamp and Marsworth Bucks. Wilstone was added to form civil parish of Tring Rural in 1894.
The parishes of Long Marston and Puttenham were united in 1911.
Tea at the Tower That Was
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 07:11:23 pmLast month I wrote about how a small group of us locally raised funds to restore the Old Church Tower in Chapel Lane Long Marston.
One of the fund raising activities was Tea at the Tower. This proved to be one of the most successful and popular events of the summer and it continued to be held annually long after funds were raised sufficient to secure the safety of the Tower.
The event took place in the gardens of Old Church Cottage and Old Church Farm. It extended along the road between the two houses and also the churchyard within which the tower stood.
Games and activities for children were set up at Old Church Farm. A helpful potter gave hands on demonstrations making all sorts of vases and pots. Children were encouraged to try their hand at it and were able to take away their personal creations. Other craft attractions included spinning and basket making.
Alongside the road, beekeepers put up a large bee tent and gave demonstrations on how the hive functioned all dressed up in their white protection gear looking like space men. Naturally there was honey for tea.
Butterfly Conservation always attended promoting their activities with lots of information on how to attract butterflies to gardens and highlighting our local butterfly reserve at Millhoppers.
An important feature of our local landscape is the Black Poplar Tree. We have in this area one of the largest concentrations of this rare tree and they are under threat. A lot of information was available on work carried out to safeguard these trees and copies of the local Black Poplar Walk were distributed.
Perhaps the most eye catching stall was the fruit and vegetable display and sale. We were very fortunate to get a substantial discount from a local Pick Your Own farm as they were very sympathetic towards what we were trying to achieve. Tea at the Tower was held on a Saturday and on the day before a team of pickers set off early to dig potatoes, carrots and pick peas, broad beans, onions and many other vegetables.
On the Saturday, the day of the event, another picking party set off to gather many types of soft fruit. This party had to set off even earlier in order to get the fruit as fresh as possible. On return all the fruit and vegetables had to weighed, packed and priced. The prices were adjusted to local supermarket prices in order to make a reasonable profit. Under the gazebos the stall looked like a mini Covent Garden and it was always a sell out.
The most important feature of course was Tea; in fact tea, scones and cakes with fruit drinks for the children. All this was provided by local residents and many hours were spent making
scones to be stored in home freezers up and down Chapel Lane. Tables were set up in the churchyard and garden of Old Church Cottage and of course we always had good weather.
This all took a lot of organising and hard work but it was a lot of fun. It produced a great sense of camaraderie and what is more it was highly popular and raised a lot of money. So popular did the event become that it continued for a number of years following completion of the Tower restoration. As the money was no longer required to fund the restoration we had to find other projects that could benefit from this largesse. It was decided to split the money three ways. A third was donated to Long Marston Church, another supported the Village News, then its early days and the final third was retained to manage the trees in the churchyard and to carry out any further maintenance on the Tower.
All such events require an enthusiastic and active team. Unfortunately many of the organising team were clocking up years and running out of energy. Furthermore there were no takers to replace us so the event fell off the village calendar. This is very sad as it was a well attended event, a highlight of the summer and it raised money for good causes.
Could it be resurrected? Are there any takers? It’s hard work but a lot of fun.
Article by John Noakes.
The Old Church Tower and its Surrounding Churchyard
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 07:11:24 pmIt is now ten years since a group of us came together in an attempt to restore the Old Church Tower at Long Marston. A Grade 11* listed building, situated in its small churchyard with a few gravestones, it is surrounded by sombre old yews and dominated by a gigantic lime tree. On one side is the remains of a moat whish once surrounded the long lost Manor of Long Marston and adjacent is a 16th century thatched cottage.
The history of the church tower and its lost church is worthy of a whole article in itself but as this is the tenth anniversary of the restoration, newcomers to the villages may like to know how we approached the task and in a later article, some background about the lost church itself.
Up until 2001 the old tower was disintegrating; pieces of masonry were falling down, the glass in the windows was smashed. The small churchyard was being used as a dumping ground for people’s rubbish. The structure was infested with ivy and the roof leaked as some of the lead had been stripped. The building had been taken over by jackdaws and feral pigeons. It was a sad sight, abandoned, neglected and unloved! Equally important, it was dangerous. Some action was needed urgently.
A small group of locals came together to form a task force to seek advice, help and funding. The Parochial Church Council had no funds for such a large task but the Diocese of St Albans needed to be approached in order for us to take on this project. This they agreed. Several grant giving organisations were then approached but whilst sympathetic, the message from them all was the same- we had to demonstrate that we could raise funds ourselves, so called pump priming funds, before they would consider any requests.
Through a series of events including dinners, concerts and notably Tea at the Tower we raised sufficient funds to go back to the organisations to review their attitude to our request. Incidentally Tea at the Tower became such a popular event that it continued annually long after the Tower had been restored; some of us would dearly like to resurrect this. Any offers; most of us getting old we need younger input?
Dacorum, Hertfordshire Landfill Partnership and English Heritage all then agreed to help us. We were able to engage an architect to carry out a feasibility study and then organise the work to be done.
The work included building a new parapet with water chutes and a new lead roof. An internal ladder had to be constructed to get access to the roof and old belfry. Festoons of ivy had to be removed from the walls and lintels replaced and the windows meshed over to prevent birds getting access. Before any of this could be done years of pigeon poo had to be dug out and removed. This was almost four foot deep and was considered toxic and had to be carried out by a team wearing protective clothing.
With a final six coats of limewash the work was completed all for a sum of £47,000! If we had known this figure at the outset I doubt if any of us would have contemplated the idea of taking on this project. However although a lot of hard work it generated a lot of fun and great camaraderie. The final result is that the Old Tower is secure for centuries to come.
Article by John Noakes.
Long Marston Airfield
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 05:11:09 pmFields on the site of what would become Long Marston Airfield were used as an aerodrome in 1917 during the First World War, but activities ceased after the armistice.
In 1940, farmland worked mainly by Arthur Rees and some by William Southernwoods was requisitioned, and 1941 saw intense activity as building contractors George Wimpey flattened the land and constructed runways, service roads and buildings.
In March 1942 the new airfield (a satellite station to Wing) welcomed No. 26 Operational Training Unit of the Royal Air Force. This O.T.U. flew Avro Ansons and Vickers Wellingtons.
Then in September 1942 the facility was transferred to the United States Army Air Force. The first aircraft of the 8th Air Force 44th Bombardment Group to arrive were the nine B24 Liberators of 66th squadron, followed by those of 67th and 68th – all of which made the hazardous flight across the Atlantic.
But this first American occupation was brief; in October 1942 the group was transferred to RAF Shipdham in Norfolk, and the British O.T.U. moved back to Long Marston.
The following year the Americans returned, the airfield being handed to the 8th Air Force’s 12th Combat Crew Replacement Centre equipped with B24D Liberators. At this time the airfield became “Station 113”.
In March and April 1944 twin-engined P38 Lockheed Lightnings were based at the Airfield, flown by 50th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Reconnaissance Group, but the squadron was not made operational.
Other squadrons assigned to Long Marston in 1944 were:-
850th Bombardment Squadron (B.S.) 8th Air Force Composite Command (8AFCC) 11th – 27th May.
858th B.S. 8AFCC 19th June – 10th August.
406th B.S. 8AFCC 5th August – 16th March 1945.
36th B.S. 8AFCC 15th August – 28th February 1945.
This last squadron flew secret missions in specially equipped Boeing B17 Flying Fortresses and B24 Liberators, jamming enemy radar, disrupting radio signals as well as transmitting false information about non-existent Allied raids. Leaflets, including “Safe Passage” for surrendering German soldiers, and fake food coupons (which caused chaos in queues for dwindling supplies) were also dropped.
The airfield was not without tragedy; in 1944 the B24 liberator captained by Lt. Norman Landburg crashed, killing two members of the crew. (A memorial was dedicated to them at Ford End Farm in 2009).
In 1945, on the 19th February, Liberator 42-50385 “The Beast of Bourbon” piloted by Lt. Louis McCarthy suffered instrument failure immediately following take off, and in poor weather conditions it crashed in Upper Brade field. The ‘plane caught fire, and three crew members (all gunners) died. (On May 7th 2011 a ceremony was held in Long Marston to honour these men and dedicate a new memorial stone).
A further memorial to members of the US Armed Forces is situated at the Lukes Lane entrance, and uses an old runway light as its centre.
After the Second World War, the airfield was taken over by the British army, and closed (officially) in 1952.
However, the Great Train Robbery in August 1963 brought the area to the notice of the media, and a few weeks after the robbery, the BBC broadcast a current events programme exposing the covert activities on the airfield site.
Evidence emerged that the airfield had been used jointly by the CIA and MI6 to store weapons as part of a NATO operation code named GLADIO. In the event of Western Europe being invaded by the Warsaw Pact, these weapons would have armed “The Resistance”.
Today, although the runways have been removed for hardcore, much of the airfield is still intact. Service roads and buildings are used by an industrial estate which has an entrance off Cheddington Lane. A grass runway is still used occasionally by light aircraft.
If you have any information you would like to include, please let us know.
Flooding in Long Marston
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 04:11:55 pmLong Marston and the surrounding area are criss-crossed with streams and drainage ditches, but despite these attempts at keeping the water levels under control, the village has suffered with flooding on many occasions.
In 1978 the village flooded at least 4 times, the water rising to a depth of 3 feet behind the houses in Marston Court, and reaching from the crossroads to Loxley Farm.
Twenty five years later, at the start of January 2003, some residents of Marston Court were unable to return to work after the Christmas break as their cars were surrounded by deep water.
Here is an eye witness account by one of the residents:
“On the afternoon of 1st January, we returned from the cinema to find a very large puddle had appeared behind our houses. This was quite puzzling, as we had not had any rain that day. The puddle continued to grow, until by the next morning the area at the back of our houses in Marston Court was under deep water from end to end and many people could not get to work. One or two people even took to the water in canoes and inflatable’s!
“By late morning the main village street was under water, and the shop flooded. Many villagers went to help Tina, the owner of the shop, with bailing out, and more helpers were at the Queen’s Head with buckets and brooms in a vain battle against the flood.
“The Fire Brigade arrived later in the day, to distribute sand bags and pump out any properties that had been badly affected.”
The next day the flood water had almost all receded, leaving a very soggy village behind.
As in 1978 the cause of the flood remained a mystery, and discussions between Dacorum Council, the Environmental Agency and British Waterways, did not reveal any answers. The brook which runs through the village was investigated and cleared as a precaution against this happening again.
If you have any stories about flooding in Long Marston, please let us know. We would be glad to add new information.
Three Counties Kart Club
Posted by lmphs - 16/11/11 at 04:11:25 pmThe Keelekart Company was founded by racing driver Michael Keele in the 1950s in Tring, with the engineering workshop being set up on the old gasworks site. Another resident of Tring at the time, Stirling Moss (later Sir) invested in the company and became a partner. He raced the karts in some exotic locations, such as the Bahamas, and through his contacts 20 karts were sold to the King of Jordan.
Meanwhile, the world-leading company were looking for somewhere more local to race, and in 1959 it was announced that part of the airfield at Long Marston would be used, and evens would be run by “The Three Counties Kart Club”. The set up was an immediate success when racing started in 1960, and the local papers carried details of results and photos of winning drivers and their trophies.
Michael Keele’s son Roger had joined the business and soon became a superb racer, and was the top driver at a meeting held in March 1961, when the track record stood at 34.4 seconds.
Another first class driver to race at Long Marston was Roy James (a.k.a. “The Weasel”). He was a successful Formula 2 driver (he was reputed to have beaten the great Jackie Stewart) who aspired to Formula 1, but he could not get sponsorship, so he turned to a life of crime. He became a get-way driver, and it was in this role that he was involved in The Great Train Robbery – perhaps he was using the karting as a cover for “casing the joint”!
The race meetings were held on Sundays, and were very noisy, and complaints were made about the disturbance. Berkhamsted RDC granted permission for the kart track to continue operating for another year in October 1961, but even then court proceedings were pending under the Noise Abatement Act. In fact, meetings continued until 1964, when racing ended, but for four years Long Marston had rivalled Silverstone!
Fireworks Night – Saturday November 5th
Posted by lmphs - 16/10/11 at 04:10:07 pmContinue reading Fireworks Night – Saturday November 5th…
Millhoppers Reserve.
Posted by lmphs - 06/07/11 at 07:07:14 am1998 Saw the acquisition of 3.5 acres of unimproved grassland by Herts. and Middx. Branch of Butterfly Conservation between Wilstone and Long Marston. Continue reading Millhoppers Reserve….
Long Marston Victory Hall Hire Application Form.
Posted by lmphs - 21/06/11 at 11:06:32 pmIf you wish to hire the Victory Hall, please see below. Continue reading Long Marston Victory Hall Hire Application Form….
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