In the Shadow of the Abbey

This track guides you round the highlights of Bisham Church in 15 minutes.  All Saints Bisham sits on the banks of the River Thames by an ancient river crossing with a clunch chalk Norman tower and significant extensions from 1566, 1849 and 1870.  Enjoy the peaceful churchyard. The church was always linked  with Bisham Abbey after the priory was demolished and the monastery closed.  Home to the Kn...

Audio description of the Creckett and Brinkhurst brasses in Bisham Church. Featuring Thomas Creckett a Fishmonger and John Brinkhurst a Merchant Venturer and local philanthropist. Part of a series of mini-pods for the church by Sheila Featherstone-Clark

Unexpected inheritance funds the co-operative movement, Henry and Florence finally marry, the opening of the Bisham institute, new road and profitable development for wealthy residents. On November 4th 1885, 200 people attended GHVN the younger’s funeral at Bisham Church. He left £52,000 pounds and the Bisham estate to his cousin Edward.  Was this Abbot Corderys curse at work?  Edward Ernest was b...

The turnpike the train and the bridge, MP for the pocket borough of Bisham, ghostly copybooks?  Victorian Gothic makeover and new chapel for the Church, selling land to fund lavish lifestyles . George Henry the Younger was the first Vansittart heir to be born at Bisham, the Estate comprised 1800 acres  the landscape was changing with new modes of transport. The Hatfield to Reading Turnpike came th...

Daring merchant adventurers seize the day.  East India Company fortunes save Berkshire as the Nabobs arrive.  Georgian lavish lifestyle contrasts with fighting in France threatening the succession The time of the Hoby family at Bisham Abbey ended in 1780 with the death of Sir John Hoby Mill the 5th Hoby baronet of Bisham.  The succession had faltered and finally failed.  Sir John’s widow, Lady Eli...

The shape of the village and tudor brickmaking, From parliament to the church, illegitimacy saves the day, the start and end of the Hoby Baronetcy of Bisham, the succession finally falters and fails. The  Bisham estate passed to Edward and Thomas Posthumous Hobye,  in 1609, a map of the estate was drawn up.  The outline of the village is still similar today, on the road  to Marlow and Maidenhead....

Haunting the Abbey, nearly a countess, Pomp and ceremony for Queen Elizabeth in the Royal Progress, no chance for Shakespeare’s Globe and the Dowager's Magnificent monuments. Elizabeth Cooke had married Sir Thomas Hobbye on 27 June 1558.  In 1565, following his death in Paris where he was the ambassador, Lady Hoby returned to Bisham to bury her husband and to give birth to a fourth child, Tho...

The Hobbyes come to Bisham. Sir Philip, the King and the Stonor connection, Sir Thomas, the Courtier and the wedding, Princess Elizabeth under arrest. Religious turmoil. Diplomacy after death. Sir Philip Hobbye took over the Bisham estate in 1553 . In consideration of the good time and faithful service and council to us by our beloved councillor Philip Hobbye, Knight  Do give and grant to the afor...

In remembrance of Henry James Vansittart Neale KCB, Lord of the Manor of Bisham, lover of the river, deeply involved in his village community with a  sense of duty and service, remembered by Reverend  Farrer, for 25 years his parson and friend. Revd William Farrer had been appointed vicar of Bisham by Henry Vansittart Neale in June 1900.  He followed Revd Powell who had been vicar there for over 5...

New regime at the school, Mrs Young’s Guinea prize, wireless lessons, new houses built, the tin shed appears, Women’s Institute fete plan, Miss Phyllis steps up and Farewell to Sir Henry Writing my 25th Annual Letter reminds me that a quarter of a century has passed since I came here as Vicar. I sometimes look back at those letters, and they call to mind many events of interest in our Parish histo...

General election landslide, Church heating crisis, death of old friends, sale of the cricket pavillion, monitoring the weather and the registers, early close for the school and successful inspections.   (note the Bisham Parish Report from 1922 is missing) My dear friends, this is my twenty-fourth Parish Letter and report and I may for a change, begin with an expression of thanks to all who help th...

The Abbots curse, Margaret’s dovecote, the spring bird, the Brinkhurst brasses. Why Anne of  Cleves did not want to live at Bisham and Sir Philip Hobbye did. Bisham Abbey is well known as a National Sports Centre ; however its historical importance is more impressive.  It was originally part of the Bisham Estate which was dismantled in 1965. This included the Abbey, the village and land situated a...

Burial of the unknown soldier, Bisham Memorial Tablet unveiled, start of the school bus from Hurley, carving class delivers, no bathing in July. Life was taking longer than expected to get back to normal; “ In my last letter I referred to the difficulties and anxieties which the years of war had caused, and which had still to be faced with patience and courage.  Our hopes that the troubled sea wou...

The first 2 minutes silence, Women’s Institute comes to Bisham,  football club success, Expansion of the Bisham Institute  New Billiard table and ladies join club. Revd Farrer reflected on Winter 1919 in his report of May 1920. " It was a great pleasure to Mrs Farrer and myself to welcome once again the members of our Choir to a dinner at the Vicarage in the Autumn " The choir was in goo...

Change in the Church, the Bishop visits, Peace Day festivities in the rain, design of the war memorial unveiled, and Bananas for the school treat.   “I spoke last year of the noble way in which the men of Bisham answered the call of their country, and the service also of the women, the hardest perhaps of all being that of those whose duty it was to “stand and wait!”  The strain fell on all in vari...

Victory, remembering the sacrifices made by local families, another change at the school, finance and War Savings, no dances at the Institute, an April blizzard.   The War news was positive by May 1919; “From July to November came the unbroken record of successes in the war. During those months the British Armies took 188,700 prisoners and 2,840 guns.  On November 11th – a date long to be remember...

The impact of the influenza pandemic following WW1 was felt by millions of people in all walks of life. The Abbey family did not escape, especially Phyllis who served as a VAD nurse in France.  It was estimated that 50 million people died, many were younger people, weakened by four years of war.   Lady Florence and Sir Henry Vansittart Neale had already lost their son George to appendicitis age 14...

Hoping for the end of the Great War, local boys missing in action, great work at the school, death of the good greyhead from Temple and a cause for celebration. Revd Farrar is optimistic in May 1918 as he reflects on the past year and writes:  ‘Hope springs eternal’ – we have to go on hoping that the end of the war may be drawing nigh.”  It was hoped that the Americans joining the war last year wo...

The War Years episodes are part of the series In The Shadow of the Abbey, telling the stories of the Bisham Estate . They recount life in Bisham Village in the difficult aftermath of WWI (1918 – 1924). They are based mainly on the delightful Bisham Parish reports which were published in May each year covering all aspects of village life over the previous 12 months, including Bisham Primary school,...

In the Shadow of the Abbey explores the unique history of Bisham Village, telling the story of those who lived in and around Bisham Abbey in Berkshire.   I am your guide, Sheila Featherstone-Clark, I moved here in 1991.  My journey was triggered by the gift of a picture from Peter, whose family lived in this house for 122 years, I wanted to find out why he and others said: “We had nothing then but...