Winslow History | News / events

Events: Heritage Open Days

Friday 6 Sep	Winslow History Walk: Railway, Workhouse, Baptists A tour of the north of Winslow starting at the Library and finishing at the Winslow Tabernacle (built 1864) which will be open for visitors. We’ll look at how Winslow grew with the building of the Workhouse in 1835 and the opening of the railway in 1850. Please contact David Noy via email (d.noy@btinternet.com) or phone/text (0771 3641238) to reserve a place.	*Walk starts at 14:00 at Winslow Community Library (which is open from 13:00)*
Monday 9 Sep	Winslow History Walk: Forgotten Routes and Hidden Connections We’ll look at how Winslow has connected to the wider world for 1200 years, walking around the centre of the town via the Market Square, Church Street and Horn Street, finishing at Keach’s Meeting House where Baptists from a wide area have met since 1695. Please contact David Noy via email (d.noy@btinternet.com) or phone/text (0771 3641238) to reserve a place.	*Walk starts at 11:00 at Winslow Town Council Offices, 28 High Street, which will be open from 10:30 with a display of information*
Wednesday 11 Sep	The Winslow and Villages Community Board are hosting a heritage morning at Winslow Library. David Noy and the Bucks Archives Team will be in attendance. No booking required. Feel free to pop along to look at historical artefacts and ask questions.	*Winslow Community Library, 10:00-12:00*

News

HOW ONE MAN TRANSFORMED A TOWN:
WINSLOW 1640–1770 AND WILLIAM LOWNDES

Why does Winslow Hall dwarf the rest of the town? Why is there a vast open space in front of it? Why has Winslow got so many houses with a mixture of architectural styles from different centuries? Why are all the farmhouses hidden away in the fields?

This book tries to answer those questions, starting with Winslow in the 1640s when it was a town of small-scale farmers and craftsmen and had two visits from Oliver Cromwell. William Lowndes went off to London in 1667 and soon made enough money to start buying up land in Winslow and knocking down houses. He turned the town into a place where one family owned most of the land, and built a mansion in a style Winslow people had never seen. Meanwhile the Baptists became very influential for a time and built their own meeting house. Lowndes family money helped to create a town full of doctors and lawyers who modernised their houses, and the market and turnpike road provided business for inns and shops. The open fields were enclosed and farmers moved out into newly built farmhouses.

The book’s 386 pages also include ten detailed studies of Winslow families and 28 photos and maps. It is available from the Bucks Archaeological Society (https://bas1.org.uk/) for £11 + £3.50 p&p. If you’re in Winslow you can get it for £11 direct from David Noy (16 McLernon Way, tel.711683, d.noy@btinternet.com).

The Bucks Family History Society has published a transcription of the Winslow parish registers 1560-1901 on CD-ROM: click here to order

A transcription of the Winslow Congregational registers, with lists of members and abstracts of some minutes, is now available from the Eureka Partnership.

Winslow books for sale:

David Noy, Winslow in 1556: The Survey of the Manor (Bucks Archaeological Society, 2013): £5
David Noy, Winslow Manor Court Books 1327-1377 and 1423-1460 (2 vols, Bucks Record Society, 2011): £10 (drastically reduced price)
Alan Wigley, A Window on Winslow (Winslow, 1981): £5 - this contains many historical photos of Winslow

Please contact d.noy@btinternet.com for more information.

Additions to website

13 July 2024	George Sear in court (1908) after a firearms incident at Didcot station
8 July	Western Lane: cottages on the north side come into the ownership of Maria Walker, 1874
30 June	Will of Margaret McEwan Porter, spinster, 1948 (proved 1951): she lived at 2 Parsons Close News from 1908 about: Congregational Church
23 June	Murder and suicide in Hobhouchin Lane, 1908 Church survey 1602: Jana Sibilla, Lady Grey, was expected to repair the chancel Will of Maude Celia Selby-Lowndes of Tinkers Corner, 1952 (proved 1957) News from 1908 about: The Elms, Redfield, Oddfellows Hall, School Sports, 3 Horn Street
22 June	News from 1908 about: Hobhouchin Lane, Workhouse, Don Slate Club, 15 Market Square, Redfield, Cattle Market, Church Room/Cricket Club, Church, Tuckey Farm, Flower Show, Winslow United FC
4 June	Board of Guardians: Poor Law Board approves Mr Grace's appointment although he is 74 1 Horn Street: sale of furniture of Robert Ivatts, deceased, 1821
31 May	Board of Guardians: appointment of Daniel Grace as collector of poor rate, 1863
26 May	Blake House: new information from the 1930s-50s
24 May	Workhouse: Inspector's report, 1863
19 May	Workhouse: correspondence with Poor Law Board, 1860, states there are 39 inmates
13 May	Alehouse recognizance for the White Hart, 1763 The Elms: new information about some of the Czech refugees living there in 1939
5 May	Will of Martha Varney, widow, 1932 (proved 1942); she lived at 31 Station Road
26 April	Board of Guardians: minutes from 1851 and outdoor relief orders
22-23 April	1921 Census added to: Blake House, Western House, Church Street, Tennis Lane, Vicarage Road, Vicarage, Western Lane, Tinkers End, Tuckey Farm
14 April	Article about Winslow Hall from Country Life, 1951: the author regarded the attribution to Christopher Wren as nearly certain, and described the appearance of the Hall in 1951
12 April	Will of John Varney, veterinary surgeon, 1921: parish councillor and builder of Newlands, 30 Station Road
6 April	Public Hall: public meeting in 1945 about turning the Oddfellows' Hall into a community centre Alehouse Recognizances: now complete for 1794-1820
30 March	Will of Joseph Cox of Little Horwood, baker, 1708 (proved 1708/9) Will of Robert Grainge of Little Horwood, esquire, 1741/2 (proved 1750): this will, which lists a huge number of distant relatives, was contested
26 March	Winslow road names updated
19 March	Workhouse and Board of Guardians: information from 1850-51 added, including more about the James Spicer affair and trouble with "refractory" inmates
15 March	Will of Thomas Adams of Little Horwood, yeoman, 1657 Will of Robert Hawkins of Little Horwood, husbandman, 1657
14 March	Outdoor relief for Winslow paupers, 1849-51 Pages for The Greyhound and 30 High Street reorganised with a new theory about where the Greyhound was
6 March	Keach's Meeting House: church re-formed, 1862, and accounts 1916-17
5 March	Winslow Almanac, Handbook, and Diary for 1910: detailed description of the town and a large number of adverts for local shops
29 Feb	1919 Parish Council election: Winslow elected its first Labour council, but the result was reversed when a poll was called
25 Feb	Keach's Meeting House: new information 1812-1853 Will of John Walker, greengrocer, 1912, and sale of 82-84 High Street
18 Feb	Attempted murder, 1860 updated
15 Feb	List of Winslow pupils at the Royal Latin School, Buckingham (1907-22)
11 Feb	Workhouse: Guardians' minutes about the James Spicer scandal (1850) Keach's Meeting House: account of events c.1807-1812 Will of John Illing of Little Horwood, yeoman, 1609
7-8 Feb	Board of Guardians: minutes and orders for outdoor relief, 1849-50
3-4 Feb	Land Tax Assessment, 1832: extensive list of owners and occupiers of houses and land Fire insurance policies from 1742 for John Budd, William Firth Bucks County Council election, 1907: a Conservative win, reversing the previous trend Winslow RDC election, 1907: with a poem Winslow Hall: Agricultural Show, 1907 News from 1907 about: The Swan, water supply, Shipton, tennis Map of the proposed Relief Road (1980s) 1871: sale of land by trustees of George West
31 Jan	News from 1907 about Winslow Hall, telephone service, Flower Show, Workhouse, Market Square well, church 'Don' Slate Club: a new mutual aid society with 50 members
30 Jan	News from 1907 about Oddfellows Hall, Winslow United FC, hockey, tennis, Evening School, 14-16 Church Street Workhouse: appointment of new master and matron School: installation of a new flagstaff Evangelical tent mission in the Flower Show field Sale by executors of James & Elizabeth East: 9 Station Road, 60 & 124 High Street
25 Jan	Bull Inn: fire in 1928 Silvanus Jones: anecdotes about the Three Pigeons and the Northampton Mercury in the 1830s Henry Arthur Jones: obituary; sale of remaining property (1929)
23-24 Jan	Board of Guardians: additions to minutes 1841-43 Henry Rodwell, protester and emigrant (1811-1898)
14 Jan	Workhouse: the scandal of James Spicer the master, who embezzled funds and suffered from "alcoholic mania". The inspector's notes also point out that it will cost 33s 9d per week to keep a family in the Workhouse where they could stay in their own home if the father was paid 9s a week for his work as a farm labourer.
9 Jan	Workhouse: another complaint from some paupers, this time about bad sanitation and a collapsing wall Return of emigrants assisted to go to Australia by Poor Law funds, 1848-49: the Goodger and Budd families
7 Jan	New page: 28-30 High Street. T.P. Willis turned some older properties (including a short-lived inn called the Black Bull) into his house and offices, "The Elms". In 1939 it was occupied by Czechoslovakian refugees.
4-5 Jan	Lawsuit from 1481 concerning John Worsop Lawsuit between Henry Hughes and Robert Gibbs, 1664 Lawsuit between John Pearse and William Hogson, 1664 Silvanus Jones: picture added Fire insurance: list of Royal & Sun Alliance policies, 1787-93
3 Jan	Board of Guardians: orders for outdoor relief 1841-44