Nettlebed lies in the Ewelme Hundred in the Chiltern Hills c.8-km North-west of Henley-on-Thames. The Village developed along the Main Oxford-Henley Road (Turnpiked in 1736) & besides the Church includes several former Inns which Served the Coaching Trade. Houses & Farms elsewhere in the Parish are more scattered, producing the dispersed Settlement characteristic of the Chiltern Uplands, but with loose Clusters at Huntercombe End, Crocker End & Soundess. During the 20thC the Parish’s convenient Location & attractive surroundings encouraged Residential Development, more than doubling the number of households to almost 300.
Nettlebed’s Lords were mostly non-Resident, but Manor Farm may mark a Medieval Manorial Site & other Landowners Established Mansion Houses at Soundess & Joyce Grove probably in the 17thC. The Latter was re-Built in Jacobean Style in 1904/5.
Local tradition has it that Joyce Grove, next door to Red Lion House, was where Cornet Joyce, Apprehender of Charles I, met & had an affair with Nell Gwynne. The Red Lion Inn was the 1st House on the left as one entered the Village from the Henley direction – the Building lately occupied by Harvey Ferry Antique Dealer
From the Middle-Ages to the early-20thC Nettlebed was also an important centre of Brick, Tile & Pottery Manufacture, providing alternative Employment in what was otherwise (save for its Inns & Services) a predominantly Agricultural Parish.
Parish Boundaries: Until 1952 the Ancient Parish covered 1,172-acres. Its Horthern & Eastern Boundaries (with Bix & Rotherfield Greys) followed those of the Hundred, mostly along Woodland & Field Divisions, while other stretches followed the Iron-Age Earthwork known as Grim’s Ditch & at Catslip the former Roman Road from Dorchester to Henley. The Northern Boundary with Swyncombe followed Digberry Lane, while that to the West (with Nuffield) ran along Huntercombe End Lane & Bushes Lane, crossing the Henley Road at Port Hill and following Field Divisions to Deadman’s Lane.
Some of those Boundaries were defined before 1086 by the creation of neighbouring Estates at Bix, Rotherfield Greys & Swyncombe, which probably accounts for a tongue-like Incursion from Bix in the South-east, allocating valuable Woodland to Bix’s 11thC Manors. A similar Partition of resources on the West may explain a comparable Incursion from Nuffield. Otherwise, Nettlebed seems to have emerged relatively Late as a Distinct Territorial Unit. A separate Nettlebed Manor was carved from the Benson Royal Estate only in the mid-to-late-13thC, and though a Church existed probably by the mid-12thC, its Status was long in doubt and its Ecclesiastical Boundaries may not have been fully determined. The extent of Nettlebed’s early Open Fields, if any, is also unknown.
Nettlebed Tithe Award Map of 1842
In 1952 the Parish gained 349-a (mostly Woodland South-east of the Village) from Bix, bringing its area to 1,521-a (616-ha). Around 7½-a (3-ha) in the North-East was transferred to Bix in the early-21stC.
Red Lion House is believed to date back to the 1400s, so it comes as no surprise to find it listed (Grade II) with exposed Beams, Wooden Shutters & Fireplaces. The name comes from its former identity as a Coaching Inn (it formed one along with the Barn & Red Lion Cottage next door), although it’s had many uses during its 700-yrs, including a Bailiff’s House, a Tea house, a Picture Gallery, a B & B and an Antiques Showroom. The original barrel drop runs down into the cellar and the Inglenook Fireplace has a Bread Oven. A Beam exposed around 40-yrs ago revealed a hand-painted Illustration believed to date back to Tudor times when Travelling Artists would visit Local Inns & Paint the Beams as a form of decoration, like early Wallpaper. The accommodation runs over 4-Floors, including a Cellar, a 1st-Floor with a large Sitting Room, 2-Double Bedrooms & Bathroom; a 2nd-Floor with 3-Double Bedrooms & bathroom; and the all-important Ground Floor has a Drawing Room, (Large Inglenook Fireplace) and a Dining Room which opens through to the Kitchen. Red Lion House is thought to be one of the most Historically important Houses in Nettlebed. Outside, the Garden is South-facing and backs on to Woodland. It was once a gathering place for Highwaymen including Curly Bill, who was apprehended for Robbery in 1835 & Transported for life to the Penal Colonies. In 1782 Goethe’s Protégé C P Moritz, Touring England on Horseback, came to Nettlebed where “the Red Lion, brightly lit, took him in & gave him a Carpeted Room with a very good Bed. Pleased with his Reception & Surroundings, he prolonged his stay, seeming to be enchanted & unable to leave the Village”. It is also said King George III & Queen Charlotte stayed there on their way to Oxford in 1785.
Watlington Windmill – a Smock Mill which was moved to Nettlebed (above) in 1826 and was Burnt Down in this Location in 1912. This Type of Windmill got its name from its resemblance to Linen Smocks worn by Farmers in an earlier Period.
Landscape: Nettlebed is a Hilltop Village towards the South-western end of the Chiltern Hills. The Parish’s highest point, at Windmill Hill, reaches 211M & was the Site of a Warning Beacon in the 16thC. A Bonfire on the Malvern Hills, 73-miles to the North-west, was reportedly seen from its Summit in the 1850s. The Relief is uneven, especially on the Parish’s Eastern side, where the Ground falls steeply down a Dry Valley to c.115M at Wellgrove Wood. The Village lies at c.180M on the edge of the Chilterns Dip Slope, which Shelves South-eastwards to flatter Ground by the Thames.
The underlying Geology is Chalk, but much of the Parish, including the Village and its associated Settlements of Crocker End & Soundess, lies on an extensive Mantle of Clay-with-Flints. The higher Ground of Windmill Hill is Capped by the older Sandy Clays of the Reading Beds & London Clay, providing the essential raw materials for the Parish’s long-standing Brickmaking & Pottery Industries, while rare Interglacial Deposits at nearby Priest’s Hill have led to its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
A particularly important part of the Sail Frame, the Windshaft is the Cylindrical Axle Piece (lying in the Ruins) that translates the movement of the Sail into the Machinery within the Smock Windmill. It had a Brick Roundhouse hiding the 6-Quarter-bar Trestle Support Base
The Recreation Ground was Laid out by Robert Fleming c.1904/5 in a heavily Quarried area.
As elsewhere in the Oxon Chilterns the Parish is extensively Wooded & Marked (particularly around the Common) by numerous former Chalk & Clay Pits dug for both Agricultural & Industrial purposes.
Wells, Clay-lined Ponds & Rain-water Cisterns remained the main source of Water until the 20thC, reputedly supplemented by an unidentified Spring which never ran Dry. As at Nuffield, Water may sometimes have had to be Carted in.
The View from Windmill Hill was much admired in the late-19thC, overlooking distinctive features of the Parish’s Chiltern Landscape: Woodland, Heath, Common, Anciently inclosed Arable Fields, Deep Dry Valleys, Isolated Farms, Brick & Tile Kilns & Narrow, Winding Lanes. 2-Medieval Deer Parks extended into the Parish, and the Dissected & Wooded Hills continued to provide good Hunting Country, enjoyed by at least 1 of Nettlebed’s 18thC Clergymen. Its Remote & Secluded Character also Sheltered Highwaymen & Thieves. The present-day Parish remains relatively unspoiled despite extensive House-Building, with Trees & Undergrowth spreading across the Commons former Clay Workings & screening a Water Reservoir & Pumping Station at the former Windmill Site. The Common itself now forms part of the Nettlebed & District Commons, protected by Act of Parliament and totalling 560-a in Nettlebed & neighbouring Parishes.
Roads: The Village developed along the Oxford-Henley Road near its intersection with Roads to Watlington & Reading. The Henley Road’s Roman predecessor took a rather different course, running probably along a surviving Lane at Catslip, although much of its Route through the Parish remains uncertain. From the Middle-Ages the Henley Road formed part of a major Route to London & was Turnpiked in 1736, improvements c.1826/27 including a minor Diversion on the Parish’s Western edge at Port Hill. The Route was Dis-Turnpiked in 1873. The Watlington road, crossing Nettlebed Common West of Windmill Hill, may have formed part of a Prehistoric or Anglo-Saxon Ridgeway & in the 13thC was apparently called Reading Way.
Other probably Medieval Routes include Lanes from Crocker End Eastwards to Bix Brand Church & to the former Roman Road at Catslip, while a Lane from Nettlebed Village leads North-eastwards past Soundess to Maidensgrove (in Pishill). One of those was perhaps the Medieval Cobbe Lane, rendered almost Impassable in the late-14thC by the collapse of its Banks. Several Roads in the Parish’s north-western part formed stretches of Parish Boundary, amongst them Huntercombe End Lane, which Links the Henley & Watlington Roads and may have been a Focus of early-Medieval Settlement. The main Henley, Watlington & Reading Roads were improved during the 20thC & access Roads to Crocker & Huntercombe Ends were maintained. Several Lesser Routes survived as Footpaths or Bridleways, some leading Southwards to Highmoor, or Northwards to Russell’s Water & Cookley Green.
Coaching, Carriers & Post: From the mid-17thC Nettlebed’s Location on a main Oxford-London Road & Postal Route ensured that it was well Served by Coaches & Carriers. A Post-chaise Operating between London & Faringdon was owned by a Nettlebed Innkeeper in the 1750s, when Long-distance Travellers frequently Broke journeys at Nettlebed & by 1830 Coaches to Gloucester, Stroud & Holyhead passed through regularly. Parish-based Carriers serving Henley & Reading operated by the mid-1870s until c.1935, when they were superseded by Motorised Buses to Henley, Wallingford, Reading & Watlington, Established from the 1920s. Local Bus Services continued in 2011.
In the 1660s Post sent from Oxford reached Nettlebed 12-hrs Later. A Nettlebed Innkeeper served as Postmaster by the 1670s & the Village remained a significant ‘Post Town‘ throughout the 18thC. By 1830 the Post Office (Owned & Run by William Rhodes) adjoined the Bull Inn on High Street & Distributed Mail to surrounding Parishes; thereafter it remained the Area’s Main Office save for that at Henley, doubling from the 1870s as a Money Order office & Savings Bank, and from the 1890s as a Telegraph Office. By the 1870s it had moved to Watlington Street, where it remained (except for a brief return to High Street in the early-20thC) until 2010. Thereafter it moved to the old School Building on High Street. Crocker End had a Wall Letter Box by 1899.
Settlement & Population – Prehistoric to Anglo-Saxon Settlement: Mesolithic Flint-working Sites found on Nettlebed Common were probably seasonally occupied by Groups of Hunter-gatherers & undated enclosures near Digberry Lane are of possibly Neolithic or Bronze-Age date, although their significance is unclear. An Earthwork on the Parish Boundary along Deadman’s Lane is most likely an Eastwards continuation of the Iron-Age Grim’s Ditch, suggesting Seasonal Settlement in an area of upland grazing. Roman activity is poorly Attested except by the Road and a 1stC Coin found in Nettlebed Village, although evidence of Settlement & Industry has been found nearby. A massive Earthwork enclosure Straddling the Parish Boundary at Digberry Farm (and enclosing c.10-a) adjoins the probable Roman Road, but is undated. By the 13thC it was apparently known as Aldbury (‘old Burh or Fortified Enclosure’). Nettlebed’s Anglo-Saxon place name means a place overgrown with Nettles, suggesting clearance of former Waste. Early activity may be indicated by a 5th to 6thC Pottery fragment found at Windmill Hill, with later Colonisation perhaps associated with development of the Benson Royal Estate, to which Nettlebed belonged throughout the late-Anglo-Saxon Period.
Population from 1086: Domesday Book & the Hundred Roll Survey of 1279 both subsumed Nettlebed under descriptions of Benson Manor, an unknown number of whose Tenants may have lived in Nettlebed Parish. Only 7-Nettlebed Landholders were Taxed in 1306, suggesting either a relatively small Community or one in which most Inhabitants were too poor to be assessed & mid-14thC Plague apparently reduced the Population further: Ruined Houses were Demolished in the 1360s & in 1377 Nettlebed was again joined with Benson for collection of Poll Tax. Consolidation of Tenants’ Landholdings in the late-15thC suggests that Population remained at Low Levels & in the early-16thC Nettlebed’s Taxes were assessed with those for other places: 39-Heads of Household contributed in 1524 & 19 (in Nettlebed alone) in 1543, while 14-Tenants held Land at Soundess in 1537-38. 63-People were recorded in the Parish in 1548 & 12-Inhabitants paid Tax in 1581, one of the highest figures in the Hundred. From the 1650s Baptisms consistently outnumbered Burials, with 32-Households assessed for Hearth Tax in 1665 & 152-Adults noted in 1676. Around 60-Houses & a Population of 200 were reported in 1718, & after a sharp fall in the 1740s average numbers of Baptisms & Burials both rose over the Period 1750-99. By 1801 there were 99-Houses & a Population of 501, reaching a peak of 754 (in 145-Houses) in 1851. Thereafter numbers fell to 657 (in 151-Houses) in 1881 & to 544 (133-Houses) in 1901, partly reflecting Agricultural Depression. After a period of stability the Population rose to 688 in 184-Houses) by 1951, following which Boundary changes added 367-people from Bix. Nevertheless in 1961 there were only 758 people in 225-Houses, falling to 677 (in 272-Houses) by 1991. In 2011 the Parish’s Population was 727, a total of 296-Households.
Medieval & Later Settlement: Medieval Settlement remained dispersed, with at least 4-Distinct areas inhabited in the Middle-Ages: Nettlebed Village, Huntercombe End (which Lay mostly in Nuffield), Crocker End & Soundess. The Last was named after its Medieval Owners (the Soundy Family), while the name Crocker End (recorded from 1416/17) suggests early Association with Nettlebed’s Pottery & Tile Industry. All 4-Places were shown on 18thC Maps, when the small Greens around which Crocker End & Huntercombe End developed remained clearly visible (see Parish Map 1840 above). In the early-14thC there was also Habitation near the Digberry Lane Earthwork, possibly over the Swyncombe Boundary around Digberry Farm.
Nettlebed Village itself Developed along the Henley-Oxford Road, Plots at its Western end containing the Church (Established apparently by the late-12thC) and the adjoining Manor Farm (almost certainly on the Site of Medieval Manorial Buildings). Probably it remained the most heavily Populated area from the Middle-Ages, and in 1840 contained 75-Houses compared with Crocker Ends 25. Soundess seems to have remained a sizeable Settlement in the 1530s, when Tenants’ Rents comprised the considerable sum of £5-16s-11d. a year. It was most likely cleared in the late-16th or early-17thC when the Taverner Family Built a Mansion House there, and thenceforth Soundess formed a single Estate or Farm. By the 17thC Houses were also being Built along the former Roman Road at Catslip & Beechwood, on the Roadside at Port Hill, & on Nettlebed Common by Windmill Hill; Colonisation of the Common was almost certainly promoted by the expansion of Brickmaking, and the number of Houses there subsequently increased from 12 in 1840 to around 20 by 1901. Housing quality among the Poor remained generally low & Sanitary provision Inadequate. In the 20thC New Private & Local-Authority Housing was developed between Bushes Lane & Watlington Street, and on formerly Open Ground North of High Street. Smaller areas of Infill included the former Pottery Works (closed in 1938), contributing to an over-all increase of c.75 Households between 1961 & 2001. Some older Properties were simultaneously Restored & Improved, many by Affluent Incomers.
Town House. Late 18thC. Grey Brick with Red Brick Dressing; Slate Roof; Brick Stacks. Double Depth Plan. 2-storey 3 window range. Central 6-panel part glazed Door with Flat Hood. 16-pane Sashes to all openings. Bracketed Eaves. Hipped Roof with Valley to Rear. Brick Ridge Stacks to left & right returns.
Interior: contemporary Staircase, Dog-leg with Landing.
Nettlebed’s Buildings display little Uniformity beyond that fashioned by individual Builders & Landowners. Brick, much of it from Local Kilns, is by far the Commonest material, particularly along Nettlebed High Street where Smart Frontages featuring Sash windows, symmetrical Façades, and decorative use of Red & Grey Brick reflect re-uilding during Nettlebed’s prosperous Coaching Period. Examples include Nettlebed House, Small House, 7 High Street & the Rectory, as well as the Extended 18thC Frontage of the Bull Inn (see above), with a Central Pediment over the Carriage Entry, and a Roof constructed of imported Baltic Pine. Flint with Brick Dressings was also used to striking effect, as at Manor (formerly Nettlebed) Farm & the White Hart Hotel. Surviving internal decoration includes an interlaced Design enclosing a Floral pattern in a 1st-Floor Chamber at the Bull, of a type common in 16thC Inns, while Plaster Heraldic Panels survive in the Cottage adjoining the White Hart, also in an Upper-floor Chamber.
There is reference to Crocker-end, Nettlebed in 3-Issues of the Jackson’s Oxford Journal in 1854. Carpenters Arms a Brakspears Pub was already in existence at that time. Malthouse Cottage, Nettlebed, on the Road from Nettlebed to Crocker End, and often nipping into the Carpenters Arms, just across from that Granary for a quick pint. Carpenters, Crocker End, Nettlebed, Henley-on-thames, RG9 5BJ
Town House. Probably Mid-18thC. Grey Brick with Red Brick Dressings; plain Tile Roof; Brick Stack. 2-Unit Plan. 2-Storey, 5-window Range. Central 6-panel part glazed Door with moulded Wood Architrave & Flat Hood supported on Carved Brackets. 12-pane Sashes to all openings. Parapet to Roof. End Stack to left.
Interior: not inspected.
Cottage. 17thC with 20thC Extension to left & rear. Painted Brick Ground-Floor to Centre; irregular Timber-framing to 1st-Floor with rendered infill; rendered Rubble Stone Wall to right; Painted 20thC Brick to left; plain Tile Roof; Brick Stacks. Former 2-Unit plan. 1-Storey & Attic; 3-window Range. 20thC Door to right of Centre & 20thC Door to left under Lean-to Roof. 3-Casements to Ground floor. 2-Gabled half-Dormers to original Cottage, Casement to 1st-Floor of Extension. Brick Stack to right & left end of Original Cottage with Bread Oven to Base of left Stack. Interior not inspected.
Earlier, Timber-framing was also Common. A small Cruck-framed Cottage at Crocker End, dendro-dated to c.1415, acquired a Box-framed Cross Wing in 1441, while 16th or 17thC Timber-framing survives elsewhere at Crocker End, on Watlington Street & at 15 & 17 High Street, sometimes associated (as at 7/8 Watlington Street) with up-to-date Lobby Entry Plans. Most such Framing was subsequently infilled with Brick, or (as at 6 & 7/8 Watlington Street) Rendered & Whitewashed. Rubble Walls are rarer, exceptions including Bees Cottage in Crocker End & 25 High Street. Tiles on Abandoned Houses were mentioned in 1363 & were presumably locally made, although Thatch was probably also common, and continued on some Agricultural Buildings into the early-19thC. Dome-shaped & Brick-lined Water-Storage Cisterns survive at Several Cottages & Farmhouses, many of them carefully Constructed.
From the 17thC modernisation & rebuilding seems to have followed the usual pattern, including insertion of Floors & Chimneys and refronting in Brick. Nevertheless 75% of Houses assessed for Hearth Tax in 1665 remained small, assessed on only 1 or 2-Hearths, while most larger Houses (assessed on 3/12-Hearths) included Inns, Farmhouses, and the outlying Gentry Residences at Joyce Grove & Soundess. Both those Houses were rebuilt on a grand scale in the early-20thC, new buildings in the village including the Gothic-style Flint-built school of 1846, and a distinctive Arts-and-Crafts Working Men’s Club designed by C E Mallows in 1912. Most other 20thC Building was unexceptional.
Peter Fleming, the brother of Ian Fleming of James Bond Fame, was married to the Actress Celia Johnson. Peter Fleming’s writing was very Lucrative, and, he was Wealthy enough to have Designed for him & built a Large house on his 1000-acres estate near Nettlebed, that was named “Merrimoles” after an old Barn in the next field that belonged to Miss Mary Moles. Described as a mixture of neo-Georgian & Lutyens, it stood in a commanding position, but had but a little Garden. Peter & Celia moved in with 2-Maids, a Cook & a Nanny. At 1st Celia Jonson didn’t like it, preferring the idea of a Georgian Rectory with a Garden, but she came to love it, and in old age could not be persuaded to leave. It had 10-Bedrooms, all facing South, Servants’ Quarters, a Kitchen far from the Dining Room, and in years to come it would gain a Billiard Table& Swimming Pool. One Room, in which Celia played Cards a lot, became known as “The Casino.”
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 