Patrick Comerford
During my visits to Buckingham during these weeks, I have been noticing the way the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott has left a deep impression on the town, including his restoration of the parish church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the early workhouse that was eventually replaced by the hospital designed by his son, the architect John Oldrid Scott (1841-1913), and Scott’s advice that helped save Castle House in the 1830s.
Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) was a prolific Gothic Revival architect who worked mainly in the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses.
Scott designed or altered over 800 buildings, including the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, the Albert Memorial and the Foreign Office, Whitehall, in London; Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, and Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh; the Martyrs’ Memorial in Oxford; the workhouse in Lichfield, now the Samuel Johnson Community Hospital, and the restoration of Lichfield Cathedral (1855-1861 and 1877-1881).
Scott was born in Gawcott, about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) south-west of Buckingham, where his father, the Revd Thomas Scott (1780-1835), was the perpetual curate or vicar. Scott’s first work, built in 1833, was a vicarage for his father in Wappenham, Northamptonshire, and he went on to design several other buildings in the village.
Scott’s works can be seen throughout Britain, and so one morning this week I decided to walk out from Buckingham to Gawcott to see the village where he was born.
Gawcott is a small compact, rural village with a population of about 500 people in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) south-west of Buckingham. It stands on elevated ground south of the Great Ouse and west of Claydon Brook, and is surrounded by beautiful countryside, making it a popular destination for walkers and cyclists.
The name of Gawcott comes from the Old English for ‘cottage for which rent is payable’. The Domesday Book in 1086 records the village as Chauescote or Gaukote. Other sources say the name comes from the old Norse word for the cuckoo, Gaukr (Gawk) and ‘cott’ for house, home or cottage.
The village was originally a farming community and remained so until the 19th century. The oldest parts of the village, which have remained largely unchanged over the years, extend principally along Main Street, Church Street and Back Street. Newer developments run off from Main Street and along the roads from Preston Bissett, Radclive, Hillesden and Buckingham.
Uncharacteristically for the area, the parish church, Holy Trinity Church, does not stand on a prominent site within the street scene, but is screened from view by surrounding buildings and a high hedgerow along the south side of Main Street.
Despite the small size of Gawcott, the almost continuous line of brick and stone buildings along Main Street gives Gawcott what some see as an urban character, distinguishing it from the rural feel of the surrounding villages, matched locally only by Great Horwood, five miles to the east.
The estate known as Prebend End Manor or Buckingham with Gawcott Manor, formed part of the endowment of Buckingham Church at the time of the Domesday Book. It remained largely unchanged until the Enclosure Acts when blocks of land were allocated to the Marquis of Buckingham and several farmers, including William Eagles. Old Eagles farmhouse remains today in Main Street.
The centre of the village consists of mainly two-storey terraced houses and cottages fronting directly onto the footpaths that run the length of Main Street. The majority of these buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries in origin, and they are built mostly of brick, with some of roughcast and colour-washed. The few older 16th and 17th century properties are of rubble stone, some with newer brick facings.
The oldest parts of the village have remained largely unaltered, and extend mainly along Main Street, Church Street and Back Street. Post-war developments have taken place in Buckingham Road, Radclive Road, Old Barn Close and Hillside, in the north part of the village and also off New Inn Lane, Cow Lane and The Rise, at the west end of the village.
There is a collection of listed buildings close to the junction of Main Street and Radclive Road, particularly Red Lion House, Westcott House and Old Eagles Farmhouse. In all, Gawcott has 17 Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II buildings.
Charlotte Cottage, beside the churchyard, dates from the mid or late 17th century. Inside, this thatched cottage has spine beams and an open fireplace with a bressumer.
The White House, another thatched cottage that dates from the 17th century, with chamfered spine beams inside, and an open fireplace with and unusual bressumer, moulded and cambered with an incised head at the centre and other incised ornamentation.
Honeysuckle Cottage and Ediecote Cottage form a pair of cottages that date from the 18th century.
The Crown public house is a former inn that dates from the mid or late 17th century. It was re-fronted and extended ca 1800, altered and extended in the 20th century.
From the 1700s, as many as a quarter of the women in the village were involved in lacemaking, and Gawcott became known for its black lace. Lacemaking continued as a cottage industry throughout the 19th and into the 20th century.
The Gawcott Labourers’ Movement became national news in 1867 when they went on strike for higher pay. Subsequently, the Gawcott Sick and Benefit Club was formed and remnants of the club’s banner still exist.
The administrative Parish of Gawcott with Lenborough was established as a separate entity from Buckingham in 1982. The parish council owns the playing field at Lenborough Road, donated to the village by Richard Roper, with the extension later donated by the Faccenda family.
Today, Gawcott is a thriving community with a range of amenities including the village hall built in 1924, a primary school, a pub and a post office. The centre of the village and its buildings are protected by Conservation Area status established in 1990. Gawcott hosts several local events during the year, including a summer fete, a fireworks display and a Christmas market, and the local clubs and societies include a cricket club and a football club.
As for Sir George Gilbert Scott, his works in Buckinghamshire and neighbouring Northamptonshire include the extension and alterations at Buckingham Gaol; churches in Ashley, Buckingham, Flaunden, Hillesden, Northampton and Spratton; vicarages and rectories in Blakesley, Dinton, Wappenham and Weston Turville; and workhouses in Amersham, Buckingham, Hillesden, Kettering, Northampton, Oundle, Towcester and Winslow.
But more about Holy Trinity Church, built in 1827 by Scott’s father, the Revd Thomas Scott, tomorrow, hopefully.
