Thornborough
Little Mysteries from Thornborough - Solved 2021?
Tony Dixon of Bideford, who is researching the life of his great-great-great grandfather William Ayres, has just (July 2014) sent me a fascinating story.
The Northampton Mercury of 18th June 1842 reported an inquest on the body of a gypsy called Caroline Smith at Thornborough on the 15th, three days before. Here is a rough precis:
On 13th inst., Caroline Smith was seen on "Welsh Lane" (see below) being supported by William Ayres, a gypsy. She looked very ill, couldn't speak and had two black eyes (which Ayres said were the result of a fall).
She died within the hour.
Her body was taken to the “Leather Bottle” inn and Ayres was detained.
C.S.'s daughter (age 11) said that Ayres & Smith were unmarried, but lived together as man & wife. They had been to Tring and travelled from there to Great Horwood Lane, where C.S. became ill and fell down. They had been on their way to “Thornborough Brickhills”.
A witness Matthew Horwood, at work on Welsh Lane, saw C.S. being dragged by Ayres, but not ill-treated.
Verdict: a fit of apoplexy, with an added reprimand to Ayres for his “inhuman neglect” – in other words, she should have had medical care.
I am intrigued by Tony Dixon's story but my interest in the area obviously has a different focus: roads & place-names. I had come to a dead end (2014) when Michael Mooney, a local historian from Hoggeston, emailed in 2021 and cleared up a lot of confusion. Ed Grimsdale & I had not heard of the expression Welsh Road/Lane being used east of Buckingham, but Michael referred me to the following:
- Bucks Herald 1902: Winslow RDC was trying to persuade Bucks CC to adopt what is described as "The Welsh Road...the Buckingham & Bletchley Road..." In 1903 a reply from the CC uses the same expression. Previously, I had only heard of the A421 referred to as "London Way".
- .Witness at an inquest John Frankton states: "I am a gardener living in the Welsh Road, Thornborough, near The Lone Tree..." The LT was an inn on the A421.
- (I like this one.) Report on the Whaddon Chase Hunt, 11/11/1905 in the Bucks Advertiser: "... over Shelspit Farm and across the Welsh Road between Pilch Lane & Singleborough..." Case closed. Could only be A421.
Michael gives more references, but those three, from different sources, are enough to convince me. He then suggests that the "Thornborough Brickhills" was a misprint for "Brick Kilns". There were “Brickyard Cottages” between Thornborough and Padbury which Betty Bunce, a village historian, can remember. But they were not on a hill...
Michael to the rescue again: old OS maps, he says, show kilns and a "brickfield" in the area of Coombs Farm, south of the A421 at SP734319, certainly not on a hill! And gypsies, he says, might well have gravitated towards the spot to warm themselves.
Thank you for all that, Michael. Now to email Tony Dixon...
* * * * * * *At least I can confirm that the ‘Leather Bottle' was behind the house on the left in #1 at the bottom of Bridge St. The owner has found numerous clay pipes in the back garden (#2).
The House on the right in #1 is The Maltings Barn, where the beer for the village - and of course for the drovers who stopped at The Leather Bottle - was brewed. There is a large barn behind the house for drying the hops.
A grass layby (#3) on a bend near the old pub could have been used as a stance. The lane on the left of it (#4) peters out after 150 yards, but could once have been a cross-country route up to the A421 Welsh Road. And there was certainly a 'Cat [=cattle] Lane' at the bottom of Bridge St. And the owner of Cat Lane House seems to be certain of the derivation (#5).
Thanks to Tony Dixon & Michael Mooney for bringing this page alive.
