Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

72 Road junction would have been much closer than it is now, literally just across the road. Mr Page did not long enjoy his new home: he died in 1912. His widow continued to live there until her own death in September 1917, when the house passed to her recently married youngest daughter, who lived there for much of the rest of her long life. See Stannard, Violet Kate. The Grove , a residential enclave off Glebe Lane, was previously a paddock attached to ‘Foyers’ in Lucks Lane, owned by Walter Milner, in which he kept two donkeys, Mary and Joseph. (Hence a proposal, made to the parish council but rejected by the developers, that it be called Bray Close.) The Hoo, Church Street [MapRef 3], a large Edwardian house, began life as a Georgian farmhouse, traces of which have survived the rebuilding undertaken in the 1900s by, almost certainly, the builders G. Page & Son. (The ‘Son’ of the partnership, George Thomas Page, moved into the house in 1913, and remained there until his death twenty-five years later; his widow continued to live there.) Later in the 20thC, The Hoo became nationally known as the home of Herbs from the Hoo, an enterprise run by Elizabeth and Reginald Peplow. Among their admired products was the Hoobag, a small sack of mixed herbs. When hung in a car, its lemony aroma neutralised the smell of stale cigarette smoke and other unwanted odours. See also Hoo Farm. The Osiers is a residential cul-de-sac off Lucks Lane. For the significance of its name, see Weir Close. The Towers (also known as Buckden Towers ) [MapRef 26] is built on the site of the former Buckden Palace, the remains of which are a monument to the influence of the bishops of Lincoln on the religious and political life of England from the 12thC to the early 19thC. Their presence also brought added prosperity to the inhab- itants of what might otherwise have been a convenient but unremarkable way-station on the Great North Road, as well as the occasional excitement of visits by great person- ages of the day. No doubt the excitement wore off – (‘I see that Pitt the Younger fellow's hanging about the bishop again. Time ‘e growed up and stood on his own two feet.’) – but at least they must have been better informed about the world be- yond the parish boundaries than many villagers. The Palace became The Towers in 1872, when the house was built for the Marshall family. In 1919, its new owner Robert Holmes Edleston (q.v.) reverted to the old name in both its forms, sometimes The Palace and sometimes Buckden Palace. Since 1947, after a century or so of variable fortunes, Buckden Towers has reclaimed its strength and peace as a retreat and conference centre run by the Claretian Mis- sionaries. Its architectural importance is explored in Chs 3 and 4 ; its historical importance is a theme running through the whole book. Thomas, John (1691-1766) was Bishop of Lincoln (1740-61) and Salisbury (1761-66). He was best known for having a sense of humour, four wives and a squint (bizarrely, Salisbury had three bishops in 1761, two of whom were called John Thomas and had a squint). He claimed that his first three wives sank into lethargy and death because he never argued with them. It was said that the following motto was inscribed on the ring he wore for his fourth wedding: ‘If I survive, I’ll make them five’ Thomson family. A remarkably inventive Buckden family of carpenters, builders and agricultural machinists. On 9 December 1859, James Thomson and his sons Robert and Henry ‘all of Buckden, in the county of Huntingdon’ were granted patent No. 2799 for their invention for ‘An improved agricultural implement.’ At the time, James was forty, Henry seventeen and Robert only nine! On 31 October 1862, Henry branched out into a different line of business with provisional patent No. 2944 for an invention for ‘Improvements in railway signals’. The family were still at it some fifty years later. In March 1899 the St. Neots Advertiser reported that Mr J. Thomson was patenting an improved hoe, and in February 1900 that he had applied for a patent ‘for an adjustable double or multiple brush or squeegee.’ Only a few weeks later, on 28 April, it was the turn of another member of the family: ‘Mr H. Thomson has taken out a patent for an improved tobacco pipe.’ These may have been sudden bursts of millennial inspiration, but it seems more likely that further research will reveal there had been other pat- ents applied for and possibly granted in the intervening years. Certainly a company, the Phoenix Memnon Compa- ny Limited, with a capital of £1,600 in £8 shares, was registered in 1882 to construct and supply mechanical and electrical appliances; in practice, it was set up to take over the business of James Thomson senior. In 1861, the family (except for Henry whose whereabouts are obscure) was living in Bakers Lane (q.v.); From 1871 onwards, the censuses show most of them as living on the south side of Church Street, towards Hunts End, though Henry for a time lived in and managed the Lion and Lamb, having married the previous host’s widow. See also Langley family and Osborn, Eliphaz Thornhill Estate. Although the Thornhill family had their seat at Diddington Hall (described in 1854 as ‘a good modern mansion with a small but picturesque park’; de- molished in 1962), they held land and property in several parishes in at least three counties. Towards the end of the 19thC, they are recorded as being one of Buckden’s chief landowners, along with the church, the Lintons of Stirtloe, William Bowyer and the Green family. In the early 18thC, “The Towers” built in 1872. St Hugh’s late 20thC statue in the foreground.