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Wauchope, NSW, Australia
Welcome to Elizabeth and John’s blog, where you can join us on our latest adventure in 2011. We first blogged in 2007, while we were living in Cambridge, UK (you can find it under the title 'Living with the Angels'). John and Elizabeth are married, and are both ministers in the Uniting Church in Australia. Here you will find photos and musings about how successfully we are transplanting ourselves to the verdant pastures of Wauchope, and what we hope to do. 2011 so far has been a year of great change for us, having moved from Thornleigh in Sydney to working and living in the Hastings valley. Of course, as well as working, we will be visiting a number of places of interest in the area. Here, in the future, we hope to post photos and commentary on our time in Wauchope as well as other places we will visit. We hope you enjoy exploring the blog! And ... if you are wondering why this blog is called 'the rural reverends', you haven't been paying attention.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Hampton Court and Bushy Park

Our last excursion out of Cambridge was to Hampton Court in south-west London, where we planned to visit the palace, and also conduct a bit more ancestral sleuthing. Elizabeth had a great great great great grandfather (John Newbery) who came from the area, and armed with a will he had written in 1832, we hoped to discover whether any of his property still existed. His will had listed ownership of many “messuages and tenements” as well as stables, coach houses and outbuildings – and three malthouses.

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We arrived around 11.30 am and parked in Bushy Park. Bushy Park is the second largest of the Royal Parks, and is a whopping 445 hectares (1,099 acres). It is situated to the north of Hampton Court Palace.

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As well as deer, the park is home to many birds, and with its ponds and waterways, there are quite a number of waterfowl.

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The entrance road to the park has a famous fountain known as the 'Diana' Fountain (the goddess, not the princess), which forms a grand welcome to the park. The park also has a grand avenue of chestnut trees, and there are a number of houses of various architectural styles dotted through the park.

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Prior to it being a royal park, the area had an interesting history. According to its website, “the flat site of Bushy Park has been settled for at least 4,000 years. A Bronze Age barrow & burial mound was excavated near Sandy Lane and the contents are now housed in the British Museum. There are clear remains of medieval settlements, with the finest example found South of Waterhouse Woodland Gardens, where there are traces of the largest and most complex field system in Middlesex.”(http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/bushy_park/history.cfm%20accessed%2025/12/07).

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It was a very cold day, and the pond was frozen over, as were the waterways, at least in part. Coot, moor hens, ducks, geese and swans were in residence on the frozen surface, and we were very amused by a moor hen’s attempts to land on the ice.

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As well as the more common Canada geese, there was also a family of pink-footed geese in residence (pictured below).

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Despite the extreme cold, the sun was shining, and many Londoners were taking advantage of this to walk their dogs and play with their children in the immense grounds.

We consulted the map, and set off to examine the various lodges and cottages that were in the park. We first looked (from a distance) at Bushy Lodge, which was in the style of a Georgian manor, and would have been similar to the type of house John Newbury had lived in. It is currently used by a national science organisation, and thus was not open for closer inspection.


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We also took photos of Barton’s Cottage and Hawthorn Cottage, as this type of building was also mentioned in the will. John Newbery had built five cottages near to the park.


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Above: Barton's Cottage.
Below: Hawthorn's Cottage.

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Elizabeth was delighted to find several large herds of deer in residence. Their presence is probably due to the park once being a royal hunting ground. As well as the ubiquitous pigeon, other types of non water birds could be seen, such as jays, small field birds, and robins.

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After walking around the various paths, we again set off for a brief tour of the area by car. We initially set off to Kingston, another place named in John Newbery’s will, but it was extremely modern and very built up. Impossible to park in, with queues of cars waiting to get into shopping centre carparks, we gave up the idea of having lunch there and escaped to quieter places. (No photos, we're afraid.)

After a late lunch at Hampton Hill, we again walked back into Bushy Park to look at the Upper Lodge, which was an excellent example of a Georgian Manor.

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It had a house (pictured above) with the usual associated buildings (pictured below) -- carriage drive, stables, coach houses, outbuildings and a brewery, so this would have been very like the premises occupied in the early 1800s by Elizabeth’s industrious ancestor.

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Our day ended at Hampton Wick, which was actually where the wife of John Newbery, Sarah Newbery, was living, with her son-in-law and a servant, when the 1841 Census was taken. (Her husband had died 9 years earlier.)



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We stayed in comfortable accommodation in the apartment building where our friend Heather’s mother (Pam) resided. The flats were for the elderly and disabled, and were very small, so a guest room had been provided so relatives and friends could come and stay. We thought this a most enlightened policy.

Pam was pleased to see us again (we had previously met her in Australia) and gave us a great welcome and afternoon tea. We finished our day with an excellent Chinese meal, and a walk along the High Street of Hampton Wick. It was then back to our room to re-examine the Newbery will, and plot our movements for the next day.

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5 comments:

Erin said...

I can't believe you didn't post any photos of the queueing cars - very disappointing :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the Pics of Barton's cottage. My Grandparents lived there from ~1955-1965. I visited as a 5 year old and have faint memories of the Pond(great for a kid) and the smell of springtime. I live in the States now and don't get any chance to visit, so the Pics were nice memories.

Thanks again,
Paul

Anonymous said...

Paul, just stumbled on your comment.
I was brought up at Barton's Cottage with my brother. We lived there from 1967 and my parents lived there until fairly recently when both passed away. I remember someone visiting many years ago who said they lived there before (your grandparents?) I assume the house was empty from 1965 to 67 as it was in a poor state in 67 and is once more empty now I think. Phillip Griffin

Unknown said...

Hello Phillip,

We use to play in the front (or is it the back) around the pond. I saw a picture of pond recently, I remembered it being bigger in 1965. As your father did, my Grandfather worked for the Queen Mother (Clerk Comptroller from 1948 to 1972). I am very interested in finding out more about Bushy Park and Barton's cottage. If you are interested, send me a line at 2pjmartin@gmail.com

Paul

Unknown said...

This is so interesting I love Bartons cottage walk past on my walks love to know the history thank you