History of the Harpsden Valley

The Earth is more than 4 billion years old (i.e.4,000,000,000 years) and there has been life on the planet for at least 500 million years. Mankind has been on the planet for approximately 2 million years. The oldest rocks in the Chilterns and surrounding areas were deposited some 100 million years ago, while the youngest about 2 million years ago.

In as far as it can be discerned following the geological traumas that created the Chiltern Hills and subsequently the Harpsden Valley peace and tranquillity descended on this lovely valley and it has remained largely undisturbed ever since.

A brutal "executive summary" of the history of the Harpsden Valley would be: the Romans came about 2000 years ago and built at least 2 villas. Approximately 1000 years later Christianity was established with the building of St Margaret's. 900 years later the golf club arrived. And that, apart from my winning the Floate Cup in 2009, not a lot of historical importance has happened.

A few notable people have come and gone but no great armies have trodden over it, no great personages have lived their lives here, no significant conferences have taken place and no treaties signed. History has largely passed it by. Yet there is plenty to be told as Kester George in his valuable and informative "The Millennium History of Harpsden"[1] published in 2000 amply demonstrates. What follows is a potted history of Harpsden in a rough chronological order.

From the earliest times man has shown an interest in the Harpsden Valley and its surrounds. Neighbouring areas show signs of considerable Stone Age and Bronze Age activity, and a number of Mesolithic flints have been found in Harpsden High Wood.

By far the most significant historical remains on the Henley Golf Course are the Roman Villa. The site overlays part of the 13th hole and the adjoining Harpsden Wood House; there is a map in the clubhouse.

The Roman Villa was excavated in 1909 and again 1951 when a bath block and hypocausts (under floor heating) were discovered. Note there have also been 1 or 2 other unofficial and less systematic excavations by amateur golfers over the years particularly in the bunkers that surround the 13th green, but I digress. It is thought that there may have been 2 periods of occupation the firstly in the 1st century and then again in the late 3rd-4th century AD. The villa, although large, is not thought to have been particularly prosperous; there is an absence of mosaic flooring.

There is also another Roman Villa that was partly excavated in High Wood between 1977and 1981. High Wood is the wood off to the left as you look down the new practice ground.

Some mystery surrounds these Roman Villas particularly regarding their location. Why would anyone wish to build there? It is up on the hill some way from the nearest source of water and with no known Roman roads anywhere near. Kester George has uncovered a source[2] that postulates that there was a Roman road that ran from Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) a Roman town about 10 miles south west of Reading to St Albans (Verulamium). It is thought that it might have been an uncovered road that joined the towns. To support the hypothesis there is a line of Roman Villas stretching through the Chilterns between the 2 Roman towns. Furthermore Verulamium was known to have had a Calleva Gate. However Boon[3] in his book "Silchester: The Roman Town of Calleva" makes no reference to a Verulamium Gate at Silchester. The road to Verulamium is shown as striking almost due East on the same route as Londinium (London) along what is known today as The Devil's Highway.

Skipping on a 1000 years or so the village of Harpsden is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, when the estimated population was between 150 - 170 souls, it is referred to as Harpendene. It has also had the alternative name of Harding on the county maps of Oxfordshire. Horfpenden also appears as an alternative name in a map of 1607.

The population of Harpsden has remained fairly constant over the last millennium as the following table illustrates.

The earliest authenticated evidence of Christianity reaching Harpsden is around 1100 from masonry in St Margaret's Church (originally St Peter's). Sherwood & Pevsner[5] record at least 2 Norman features. It is possible that Christianity arrived earlier but there is no known surviving evidence.

In 1643 Harpsden had a narrow brush with history when the Royalist forces of King Charles I marched across the head of the valley retreating to Nettlebed having lost the battle of Reading in the Civil War - it wasn't a great army and it didn't trample over the Harpsden Valley. However there is some evidence of residents of Harpsden having been involved in skirmishes associated with the Civil War though not in Harpsden itself.

There is already reference on this website to Henley Golf Club's connections to the literary figures of George Orwell and Ian Fleming, Harpsden boasts another link to an illustrious author. Jane Austen visited what is now the Old Rectory in Harpsden to see her cousin Edward Cooper, who was the curate, in 1799. Jane's mother Cassandra was christened by her father in St Margaret's church in Harpsden.

The Old Rectory which can be seen from the 5th green (see picture) is a testament to how valuable the living was to the rectors of Harpsden and Bolney. A fuller version of this piece would include some reference to at least two other fine houses in Harpsden. Firstly Harpsden Court, next to the church, is the nearest thing Harpsden has to a manor house. It has been a human dwelling for over 900 years; the essence of the present layout was in existence in the 14th and 15th centuries although later generations have made extensive alterations most notably the Victorians. Secondly Bellehatch Park, which was the home of the Lord & Lady Rathcreedan, early supporters of Henley Golf Club, is also a notable house of some antiquity. For further information refer to Kester George's excellent little book[1].

Moving on in our historical sequence brings us to the Henley Golf Club, which opened in Harpsden in 1907-8. Initially it attracted a few local members (notably the Rathcreedans), but most players came from outside the parish, often on the train from London. For the centenary history of Henley Golf Club see [6].

The First World War (1914-18) affected almost all communities in Britain. There was a terrible loss of life and those that fell from Harpsden are respectfully remembered below.

Albert Sydney Christian
Edgar J. E. Cripps
Stephen Milsom
John Piggott
Edward W. G. Robbins
Frank Henry Talbot
Walter George Thatcher

Their names are commemorated on plaques in the churchyard (next to the golf clubhouse) and also in St Margaret's Church. We should remember too the sacrifice made by Henley Golf Club members in the First World War. Valentine Fleming, the club's first president was killed in action in 1917 and posthumously awarded the DSO. Winston Churchill penned his obituary. He was 35. He was the father of Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels. Valentine Fleming donated the Fleming Challenge Cup one of the most coveted trophies in the club which is contested annually.

Very unusually even more men died in the Second World War (1939-45) from Harpsden than in the First World War. For most communities in Britain the reverse is true.

These men are commemorated by the plaque inside of St Margaret's.

Dennis Goffe
Arthur Edward Harding
Arthur Henry Howard
Walter Knox
John Esmond Moore
Campbell Edward Pedler
Charles Thatcher
Leonard Whitlock
John Somerton Wraith

Again we should pay tribute to Henley Golf Club members perhaps most notably G.A. Gray who was killed in action on August 12th 1940. In 1946 his 4 sons presented a cup, the Gray Cup, which again is contested annually at the club.

From the Second World War Kester George [1] has a wonderful little anecdote relating to Cyril Moss who still lives in Little Perseverance Cottage, the house next to the 10th tee. I can do no better than to quote his words directly.

Towards the end of the war he (Cyril) was captured by Germans and his interrogator, noticing Cyril's home address, remarked that he knew Henley well from having played golf on several courses thereabouts, including one in Harpsden where he remembered getting lemonade from a boy and a girl near a house at the top of the course. With perfect truthfulness Cyril was able to reply, "That boy was me".

And that dear reader brings us to the present day where peace and tranquillity still abound in this beautiful valley, and long may it continue.

[1] "The Millennium History of Harpsden" by Kester George published by the Harpsden Hall Trust for Harpsden Parish Council 2000 available from the Bell Street Bookshop in Henley and from the author
[2] "The Archaeology of Verulamium and the Roman Chilterns" by Keith Branigan published by Spurbooks Ltd Bourne End 1973
[3] "Silchester: The Roman Town of Calleva" by George C. Boon published by David & Charles Newton Abbot 1974
[4] Henley Golf Club The First 80 Years by L. Williamson (1986)
[5] The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire Jennifer Sherwood & Nikolaus Pevsner Penquin Books 1974
[6] Henley Golf Club A Centenary History 1907-2007 Brian Law & Michael Herriot published by Henley Golf Club 2007 and available from the office