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Home , Bentley Priory, St John Zachary, St Mary Woolnoth

SOCIETY OUTINGS 2007

Organised and Reported by Sylvia Ladyman

Bentley Priory - 30 January

We were very keen to visit Bentley Priory, It was a most interesting visit. I hope the the home of RAF Fighter Command during building and its contents can be saved as a World War II, as at the moment the building museum and heritage site to honour the and surrounding estate are under threat from airmen of Fighter Command 1939-45. developers. At the moment it is an Officers’ Mess, but not for much longer. Archaeological Archive The estate was the site of an Augustinian and Research Centre - 19 May Priory in 1170, until the Dissolution of the Eighteen members of our Society travelled to Monasteries. The buildings were demolished what was, for most of us, new territory – and a new house was built which eventually Eagle Wharf Road, Hackney, to visit became the property of the 9th Earl of Mortimer Wheeler House. In this former Abercorn, who engaged Sir to factory are thousands of objects which have enlarge it. Later, in 1846 it became the home been excavated within the M25. We were of Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, welcomed by a notice saying Welcome to the until her death in 1849. After several new Young Archaeologists. This pleased us greatly owners, the house became a hotel, but by until we were told that a meeting was being 1908 it had become a girls’ boarding school. held there of a newly formed Young However this too was not a success and it Archaeologists Club. closed in 1924. Finally in 1926 the building Adam Corsini gave us a most interesting two and 40 acres of land were sold to the Air hour tour of the Archaeological Archive. He Ministry. had organised a display of some objects Many changes took place to make Operations excavated at Bury Street Farm, Ruislip, and in Rooms and an underground Control Centre. Uxbridge – a spur, buckles, pins, coins and In July 1936 Air Marshall Sir two blue and white tiles. The majority of the arrived and Bentley Priory became the collection is stored in cardboard boxes – now Headquarters of RAF Fighter Command, and row upon row in tall racks of shelving so played a vital role throughout the war. separated by narrow passage ways. Every As soon as you enter the building you are box is meticulously labelled by volunteers. aware of the link with the RAF. On each side In another room we suddenly came across are stained glass windows with images of the complete skeleton of a young female. aeroplanes and airmen. I remember the Later we were shown a Roman sandal and beautiful stone staircase with the flags of part of a walrus skull. Further on, were countries whose airmen were in Fighter display cases of ceramics and glass; much of Command, the Dowding room with his the latter from Whitefriars. memorabilia, the Rotunda with pictures of Lastly we entered the social and working fighter pilots, and an oil painting of the history section – items from our past, such as Queen Mother. But the most remarkable an Aladdin stove, a blackboard and easel, old item was a commemorative lace panel made cooking pots, bread bins, typewriters and in Nottingham in 1942-46. It is fifteen feet clocks. I think everyone enjoyed reminiscing, long and sixty-five inches wide, and shows seeing objects they saw long ago, and in some scenes of the bombing of London, the badges cases still possessed! of allied air forces and, of course, the aircraft themselves.

______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 36 Journal 2007 Local History Society Colchester - 23 June thirds of this wall still stands, with a well preserved gateway. It was a wet day when we visited Colchester, We took shelter from the rain in Tymperleys, the oldest recorded town in Britain. By 25 BC a wooden framed house dating from 1500, it was already the capital of the local tribe, which now houses a clock museum. In the the Trinovantes, and called Camulodum. afternoon some people visited Hollytrees Cunobelin, one of the most powerful early Museum housed in a beautiful Georgian Kings, reigned there from 5 BC to AD 40. In AD 43 the Romans quickly captured this Town House in Castle Park. Built in 1718, it Iron Age capital and built a fortress. A town has been owned by some of the wealthiest soon developed, and it became the first families in Colchester, and now contains capital of the new Roman Province. artefacts illustrating 300 years of home life. In AD 60 Boudica’s army took the town after Others visited St Botolph’s Priory – the first Augustinian foundation in , dating a two day siege and left it a smouldering from the 12th Century. It is now a ruin, but ruin. Colchester was rebuilt with a strong well worth a visit. protective wall, parts of which are still visible The Castle Museum has one of the largest today. The Temple of Claudius and other collections of Roman artefacts in the country. important buildings were rebuilt. With the The Colchester Vase is one of the finest coming of the Saxons Colchester gradually examples of Roman ceramic art, as it shows declined, but later grew in importance. By 991 it was a market town, and after the four gladiators and a hunting scene. There is Norman Conquest it grew rapidly. In 1076 also a large collection of Roman glass in construction of the Castle began using amazingly good condition after all these materials from the former Roman buildings years. Colchester was certainly well worth a visit. due to the lack of suitable local stone. It was the largest castle ever built by the Normans, Leicester - 21 July and it became a Royal Fortress in the Middle Ages. We were welcomed on our arrival in Many industries developed – pottery, leather Leicester with tea and biscuits at a local working, and the cloth trade. In 1565 Dutch Church where we met our two guides. weavers arrived, fleeing from religious Having refreshed ourselves, we started our persecution in their homeland. During the tour at the bridge over the river Soar where it Civil War Colchester supported Parliament, is said that Richard III’s spur struck a stone, but in 1648 a group of Royalists entered the and a wise woman foretold how his head town, as a result of which the Parliamentary should be dashed against that same stone. army laid siege to the town for seventy-six The earliest stone castle was built in 1107, but days. The townspeople were starving and little remains of it today. Some remnants can were eating dogs, cats and even candles! be seen in the hall of the Assize Court which Their troubles were not over, as in 1665 four has two Norman windows. In this castle the thousand five hundred people (half the Barons had a meeting prior to the Magna population) died from the Plague. Carta. In 1264 Simon de Montfort, the last Having had a brief résumé of the history, the Norman Earl of Leicester, entertained Henry town guides took us on an historical tour, III, and Parliament met here in 1349. commencing with a walk in the Castle The nearby Church of St Mary de Castro grounds, then a visit to the Dutch Quarter celebrates its 900th anniversary this year. just off the High Street. Nearby we saw the Lancastrian Kings worshipped here, and in remains of part of a Roman Theatre inside a 1426 Henry VI was knighted. It is believed building, and the outline of another part that Geoffrey Chaucer was married in this marked in the paving outside. Church also. It has been described as ‘the A little later, a huge water tower came into Jewel of Leicester’s Churches’. Sir Simon view – the largest such structure in England, Jenkins refers to its ‘superb Norman Chancel just inside the Roman wall. In fact, two and sedilia’.

______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 37 Journal 2007 Local History Society The Cathedral was formed from St Martin’s Street which was built in the 17th Century on Church in 1927, so it does not have the the grounds of several large country houses, wonderful architecture associated with other and now forms the border between the City Cathedrals like Winchester or Salisbury. It is and Tower Hamlets. It gained its more on the site of a Saxon Church and little common name from the sellers of old clothes remains of its Norman successor. Much was who were often seen there. In the reign of built in the 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries. James I Spanish people lived there, but they There is a memorial to Richard III. and the locals were driven out by the Plague Nearby we explored one of the best in 1665. Later, Huguenot weavers and preserved wooden halls in the country, built Jewish traders moved in. By 1750 it was a in the 14th Century. This Guildhall is the well established market and trading centre, City’s oldest domestic building still in use. which it still is today. The Great Hall gives a wonderful sense of By 1774 the Huguenots had their own space, being 62 feet long. Many great events Church which was later taken over by new have taken place here – banquets, meetings, immigrants to become Sandy’s Row and today even weddings. Adjacent to the Synagogue in 1854. In the 1870s Ashkenazy Hall there is a small police station (with wax Jews arrived and they wanted their own occupants!) places of worship, and so in five years After lunch some members visited the thirteen new synagogues were built. Attenborough collection of Picasso ceramics, We wandered through an alley, once the while others visited the Abbey Pumping haunt of Jack the Ripper, through Artillery Station with four beautifully decorated steam Passage to Gun Street – names recalling the beam engines – rare examples of Victorian old Artillery Ground. Here we saw a shop engineering. Yet others spent time in the where the Zionist movement started in Jewry Wall Museum set in the 2000 year old 1907/08. Further on, past a Huguenot house remains of the Roman town’s public baths. still standing, we came to a building which This is a superb museum of archaeology was a soup kitchen for the Jewish poor. following Leicester’s history from prehistory It served five thousand meals a week and to medieval times. The Newarke Houses was operating until the 1970s. Museum, recently reopened, has social Nearby was Christchurch Spitalfields, a history galleries and memorabilia of the grand example of Nicholas ’s Leicestershire Regiment. The first gallery work. The money for its construction was illustrates the multi-ethnic population of raised by a tax on coal. It was an important Leicester today. We were told that in a few Huguenot Church and many are buried years time Leicester will be the first UK town there. to have more immigrants than people who We then came to Fournier Street, once having were born in the UK. the homes of affluent Jews and Huguenots. There were several interesting places we The large attic windows were inserted to were unable to visit, such as Abbey Park with ensure the weavers had good light for their the grave of Cardinal Wolsey, and the work. On the corner of Fournier Street and National Space Museum. Leicester is well Brick Lane is Jamme Majid, a mosque for the worth another visit. latest wave of immigrants. The building was built on a chapel for French Protestants in Ethnic London 1742; it was then used by Methodists and with Yasha Beresiner - 11 August later by Jews. Brick Lane, (see Fig. 2) which The Society members (see Fig. 1) commenced owes its name to the fact that bricks and tiles their walk at Bishopsgate, named after the were made there, was at one time a gate to the City. Originally the street was completely Jewish quarter with schools and lined with the houses of rich merchants such shops. In nearby Princelet Street, again as Sir Thomas Gresham. We wandered down houses were occupied by a succession of Catherine Alley to Petticoat Lane/ immigrants – Huguenots, Jews and Irish.

______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 38 Journal 2007 Local History Society A very poor Jewish area was centred around along the north and south walls, which gives Thrawl Street where Nathanial Rothschild an impression of spaciousness. Behind is a provided money for rehousing the small oasis of peace, a small garden. In the population. wall of which is a reconstructed piece of In the 19th Century rich influential people Roman mosaic pavement which was found were really trying to help the poor of London on the site. in various ways. Canon Samuel Barnett St Ann and St Agnes provided education in Toynbee Hall in Like other Churches, this one was also rebuilt Commercial Street. From this beginning by Wren after the Great Fire, and then grew W.E.A. which is still very active today. damaged in 1940. After rebuilding in the The Y.H.A. also started in Toynbee Hall. 1960s, it is now a Lutheran Church providing Our last port of call was the Bevis Marks services in Latvian and Estonian. One notices Synagogue which was unfortunately closed. the absence of stained glass in the windows This is on the site of the town house of the and the old pews of dark wood. Abbott of Bury St Edmunds, and is said to be Gresham Street the oldest, most active synagogue in Europe. Not all Churches were rebuilt after the Great Again and again we saw how new very poor Fire, and this is one example. It is now a immigrants, living in wretched conditions, pleasant garden near Goldsmiths’ Hall. We became more prosperous and moved west. noticed ‘gold’ leopards on pavement posts Their homes and places of worship were then mirroring the leopard hallmark of the taken over by the next wave of immigrants. Goldsmiths’ Company. A most interesting walk in an area few of us St Mary Aldermanbury Street know well. After WWII this Church was demolished, and in 1965-67 was shipped to the USA. City Churches and Gardens It has been re-erected in Westminster College, with John Garrod - 5 October Fulton, Missouri as a tribute to Winston Unfortunately this walk had to be postponed Churchill. It was in this Church that from the 6 September due to a Tube strike, so Churchill delivered his ‘iron curtain’ speech. we were not able to see the gardens in their At this spot the Church has been replaced by full glory as the flower beds had been cleared a lovely, carefully planned garden. Here for spring bulbs. However, we had a most there is a bust of William Shakespeare. interesting tour of City Churches. The base of the monument commemorates St Martin within Ludgate , founded in the 7th two actors, Condell and Heminge, who in Century, was like many City Churches 1623 put the 1st Folio of Shakespeare’s plays destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and together. Both men are buried here. rebuilt by . Gresham Street One immediately notices the beautiful Wren’s Church was reduced to its walls and carving of the dark woodwork, and the tower in 1940, but was rebuilt by Brown in artificial bread on the bread shelves. There is 1954-57. Most of the furniture was donated a double wooden church warden’s seat – a by City Livery Companies because the Lord unique feature according to John G. We were Mayor and Aldermen regularly worship assured that the carvers were paid, as there here. Hence we saw the seats for the Mayor, was a carved open peapod showing the peas his sword bearer and mace bearer, as well as within. for Aldermen. It was interesting to see the St Vedast Foster Lane , named after a Flemish rests for the sword and mace. There are two saint, was rebuilt by Wren in 1670. It was windows of particular note; one of Sir gutted during the Second World War but was Thomas More who was a parishioner here, rebuilt according to Wren’s plans, and is now and the other, inserted in 1957, to a very elegant Church. Much of the furniture commemorate Christopher Wren, Grinling has come from other Wren Churches. The Gibbons and Edward Strong (the most notable feature is that the pews are stonemason). ______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 39 Journal 2007 Local History Society This Church, rebuilt George Peabody Statue Royal Exchange by Wren, was said to be famous all over This statue was erected in 1869 to Europe and to be Wren’s masterpiece. It was commemorate the American philanthropist much praised by Lord Burlington and John who built homes for the worthy poor. Wesley. In spite of bomb damage in 1940 the He was the only American to be buried in rich 17th Century fittings, font, pulpit, Westminster Abbey. However, he did not sounding board, altar piece and communion stay there long, as it was discovered that he rails all survived. The building has the first had expressed a wish to be buried in the dome constructed in the country and USA. The town chosen for his internment is predates that of St Paul’s according to our called Peabody in his honour. guide. Its past minister was Chad Vara who Once again another founded the Samaritans. Church rebuilt by Wren and full of 17th Lombard Street Century woodwork from demolished Wren This Church was founded by a Saxon Prince Churches e.g. the pulpit with its elaborate Wulfnoth in 1273, and was also destroyed in sounding board. It even has a stone font the Great Fire. Unlike other City Churches it carved by Gibbons. Of special mention are was rebuilt by in 1726. the two sword rests – well worth a The interior is superb and is perhaps photograph! Hawksmoor’s finest. It was ‘restored’ by Ironmonger Lane – once the home area of William Butterfield in 1875-76 by removing ironmongers. At the Cheapside corner is the the galleries and then attaching their fronts to house where Thomas Becket was born in the walls. He also cut down the high pews 1119. Nearby is the Hall of the Mercers’ and lowered the pulpit. It lies above six Tube Company, built on the site of a hospital lines and so was in danger of demolition. founded by a sister of Becket. Their father However, it was underpinned and saved. was a member of the Mercers’ Company. Between 1780 and 1807, , St Mary Le Bow Cheapside – famous for its an ex slave-trader and friend of William Bells and 11th Century crypt. This was Wilberforce, was minister here. He composed gutted by incendiaries and rebuilt after several well known hymns, including WWII. It is a light church with stained glass Amazing Grace. As this year celebrates the and a beautiful rood screen donated by abolition of slavery, there was a model of a Oberammergau. There are two pulpits as the memorial to be erected in the near future in Church often hosts debates. In one corner is Hyde Park to the memory of the many slaves the Norwegian Chapel, as the resistance who died or who were transported to members tuned into Bow Bells during the America. It was a boat shaped area of gravel, war. There is a statue in the garden to on which was placed a model of a part of a Captain John Smith, a copy of the statue in slave ship. Jamestown, Virginia, where he became Thomas Guy who founded Guys Hospital Governor. Captain Phillips, who became was a book-seller nearby. Edward Lloyd Governor of Australia, is also associated with who owned the Coffee Shop in which Lloyds this Church. of London began was also a parishioner here. Both men are buried here. We had a most interesting day in the autumn sunshine and are looking forward to a similar walk next year.

______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 40 Journal 2007 Local History Society

Martin Cartwright Fig. 1 – Society members at St Botolph’s Church, Aldgate

Martin Cartwright Fig. 2 – Brick lane

______Ruislip, Northwood & Eastcote 41 Journal 2007 Local History Society