By Alan Staddon

1 A History By Alan Staddon 2 Contents. Acknowledgment........................................................................3 Foreword....................................................................................4 Chapter One, Backdrop..............................................................5 Chapter Two, the Bear Hotel.......................................................7 Chapter Three, Charnham Street................................................9 Chapter Four, Mill Hatch and the River Dun.............................17 Chapter Five, the Site...............................................................22 Chapter Six, Building Begins.....................................................27 Chapter Seven, Taking Shape....................................................30 Chapter Eight, Bearwater Completed.........................................34 Chapter Nine, Bearwater Life.....................................................39 Chapter Ten, Dredging the Lake.................................................43 Chapter Eleven, National Fame! ................................................46 Chapter Twelve, Bridge Building and a Flood.............................47 Chapter Thirteen, a Slight Problem............................................49 Chapter Fourteen, the Social Scene............................................51 Chapter Fifteen, Open Plan and a Campaign..............................55 3 Acknowledgment. This booklet has been written in the hope that it will be of interest to those who live in Bearwater. Ray and Effie Stebbings reserved number 19 as soon as the development came on the market and they have followed the progress of Bearwater with a camera ever since. It is their photographic record which has formed the basis for this story. Others have contributed, however, and in no particular order they include: Hugh Pihlens Jack Williams Rita Offer Robert James David and Andrew King Tony Prentis Angela Evans Gideon Pickering Kath Walker Guy Mossop Henry Thornton My thanks to them all. Alan Staddon, Bearwater, December 2012. 4 Foreword. This interesting account of the history of Bearwater by Alan Staddon brings back many memories and some pride for Guy Mossop and me, as it was our first venture into the emerging market for private retirement housing. Being the first, it was not without its teething problems, yet despite these its success was assured by the creation of an active and sociable community that, as this story so clearly recounts, really set out to enjoy their retirement. The project was widely reported in the national newspapers, won a few awards, and was popular from the start. It gave us the confidence to launch many more such schemes across the South of England. Today retirement housing is an established part of the housing market and residents and developers are not the pioneers they were back in 1985. Bearwater, however is special, with its backdrop of the river, lake and water meadow providing opportunity for fun and enjoyment and the “back gate” a short cut to the shops. Henry Thornton, December 2012. 5 Chapter One, Backdrop. Bearwater occupies about five acres of land in a much larger historical plot comprising mainly water meadows, lying to the West of Bridge Street, Hungerford and North of the River Dun. Some twelve thousand years ago, it is likely that hunter- gatherers used the natural resources of the area. Archaeological excavations at Charnham Park in 1988 and 1989 revealed evidence of habitation from the Mesolithic period, circa 10,000 B.C., and Bronze Age, 2100 to 750 B.C., including fragments of an “Aldbourne Cup” associated with early Bronze Age burials. During the Iron Age, around 1000 B.C., people settled just to the East of the area at Eddington, living in thatched houses by the River Kennet. There is also evidence of a settlement at Cake Wood, just to the West of Bearwater. The Roman road from Silchester to Cirencester, now known as Ermine Street, runs through Shefford Woodlands just a few miles north of Hungerford. A branch of this road at Wickham crossed the Wantage Road at Gypsy Lane (Folly Crossing), less than a mile North of Eddington, and crossed the river at Chilton Foliat. This road passed along the valley through what is now Littlecote heading for the Roman town of Bath. Roman coins have been found on Strongrove Hill and, of course, the extensive remains at Littlecote show how important the district was 2000 years ago. In Saxon times the plot we know as Bearwater was in the Domesday Manor of Charlton, but by the 13th Century this same parcel of land became part of Charnham Street Tithing, in the County of Wiltshire. A route from London to Bath was then clearly established along the main road we know as the A4. The Tithing was divided into named fields, and appropriately, an area bounded by the River Dun, adjacent to the Bear Hotel stretching Westwards to the Chilton turn, was called Bearmeadow. In the 16th Century Charnham Street was joined with the Manor of Chilton Foliat in the ownership of Henry V111. He subsequently granted Lordship of the Manor to Edward Darrell, uncle of Jane Seymour. The Darrell family then lived at Littlecote House and included in their estate was “le Beeres Inne” with nearby land. In 1589 ownership of the Inn passed to Sir John Popham and it was to remain with the Leybourne-Popham family until 1893 when it was sold with adjacent land for £1500 to William Rennie. In1929 Sir Edward Wills, 3rd Baronet, bought the Littlecote estate. So the scene is set in history. Far greater detail can be obtained in “The Story of Hungerford”, written by Hugh Pihlens, first published in 1983 and “Hungerford, A History” published by Hungerford Historical Association in 2000. 6 The story of Bearwater cannot be told without reference to the various properties which share its boundaries. They are the aforementioned Bear Hotel, Charnham Street South side, Mill Hatch, the River Dun and Hungerford Marsh. Bearwater site map. 7 Chapter Two, the Bear Hotel. Land belonging to this historic coaching inn shares a boundary with the East side of Bearwater. It is possibly the best documented building in Hungerford, and evolved from the adjacent Priory of St John founded before1232. (www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk). The present building dates from the early part of the 17th Century and within the extensive grounds there was at that time stabling, glasshouses and an orchard. In 1893 the Leybourne-Pophams, whilst retaining the meadowland and Littlecote, sold the Bear Hotel to William Rennie. There followed a succession of owners until 1934 when Horace Arthur Cadd took over and granted a 42 year lease to Stradlings of Newbury for the purpose of operating a garage and filling station. Prior to this, with the increasing popularity of the motor- car, patrons of the Bear had petrol dispensed from a roadside pump owned by the hotel. The Stradling’s site comprised 141ft of frontage to Charnham Street with 90 ft depth. The Bear and Stradling’s Garage, circa 1938. 8 On July 1st 1953 Reginald Ernest and Ena Fitch bought the Bear and on 17th March 1954 sold the freehold of the garage site to Harry Neil Stradling, (mis-spelt Streading in the Land Registry). Then on May 3rd 1956 the enterprising Mr and Mrs Fitch disposed of a further 162ft frontage to Berkshire and Reading Fire Authority, the intention being to replace the Fire Station, by Faulkner Square, with a new building. The local volunteer force argued against this, however, because traffic congestion on the A4 prior to building of the motorway meant it would take too long to reach the fire scene. Fortuitously the present site in Church Street became available after the fire at James’ Mill in June 1960 and a new Fire Station was commissioned in 1968. Roy Tudor-Hughes, trading as Fine Inns Ltd., bought the Bear in 1978 and in due course built a house, initially for his own occupation, close to the Western boundary of his land. It is this same building, now known as “Bear Island” that overlooks Numbers 5 to 9 Bearwater. This photograph was taken in October 1985. Tudor-Hughes sold in 1988 and since then there have been several owners, with major refurbishment taking place at a reputed cost of £750,000 in 2005. 9 Chapter Three, Charnham Street. A question frequently asked about Bearwater is “when did it last flood?” and the answer is that in 1932 Charnham Street was under several feet of water, probably due to poor management of the many sluices controlling water levels on the Rivers Kennet and Dun. There have been isolated floods in Bridge Street and elsewhere since then but none seem to have affected land to the West of the Bear Hotel. 1932 floods, looking West down Charnham Street. Now, as we have seen, the garage site also shares part of Bearwater’s East boundary. Circa 1960 Stradlings sold out to the Chilton Group, at that time principal employer of labour in Hungerford. Ownership was with the Ward family of Chilton Foliat who founded Chilton Aircraft in 1936 and manufactured aeroplanes until 1945, after which they grew a substantial business making electrical goods, including the Chilton hair-clipper, Chilton shavers and shaver sockets, earth leakage circuit breakers, and marketing of the Chilton spin dryer. The Group also diversified enthusiastically into the selling of motor cars. A Ford dealership and Mercedes Service Agency were established, in addition to the existing petrol station, on the former Stradlings’ premises. On the other side of the road, next to The Sun, was another filling station at one time owned

Load more