Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

BUCKDEN PALACE TO BUCKDEN TOWERS 108 The western section of the moat has now been re-excavated and the bridge across it, leading to the inner gatehouse, has been restored. The Little Park with its trees, several of them subject to preservation orders, provides an open space at the heart of the village, a fit setting for an ancient monument. The Friends of Buckden Towers A group of local residents came together in 1975 to form a trust, named the ‘Friends of Buckden Towers’. The Friends are a non-denominational registered charity dedicated to the preservation of the property for all, in fundraising and in practical ways. This includes arranging guided tours, maintaining Queen Katherine’s Garden, encouraging visits by professional theatre companies, holding an annual plant sale and planning and undertaking the restoration of the park and buildings. The following are some of the noteworthy events to have involved the Friends over the years: [a] Playing with Fire , a large-cast community play commissioned jointly by the Friends and Buckden Theatre Club and performed in the courtyard of The Towers over six nights in July 1990. It was set against the background of the violent protests that affected several agricultural areas in southern England during the winter of 1830. The play was a loose interpretation of the effect of these protests on Buckden, where a group of farm labourers destroyed a threshing-machine belonging to a prominent local farmer. [b] The Aragon Pageant, ‘a feast of flowers, music and history’, held in May 1995 to commemorate The Towers’ most famous resident, Queen Katherine. [c] The use of the older Towers’ buildings in 1997 as a location by Ardent Productions for the filming of scenes in the second series of Crown and Country , in which Edward Windsor 1 traced connections between the Anglia region and his royal ancestors. Some of the Friends appeared on screen, one as an impressive Katherine of Aragon. [d] ‘Eight hundred years of music and medicine’ presented in November 2000 by the Aragon Singers and friends to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St Hugh of Lincoln. Much has been done, but much remains to be done, which is why the Friends continue to publicise their work and future plans through regular newsletters and their website , www.fobt.org.uk. 1 Edward Windsor is one of the business names used by the Queen’s youngest son, HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.