Your House and Mine |
Moor Gate House |
|
Introduction
Map of Frieth Moor End Bramblings Astrea Merrydown Cottage Corner Cottage Moor's End Cottages Moor Gate House Underwood The Copse Fingest Road The Forge Folly Cottages The Willows Perrin Springs Lane Perrin Springs West's Cottages Ellery Rise Hilliers Lynden Cottage Frieth Hill Hillside Cottage Rowleys Pear Tree Cottage Hillside View The Platt Little Barlows Cutlers Cottage Yew Tree Cottage Little Cottage Barlows Birch Cottage Tedders / Rose Cottage The Old Stores The Yew Tree Inn Fairfield House Flint Cottage 1 Flint Cottage 2 Inglenook Middle Cottage Sunny Corner The Gables The Orchards Hilltop Cattons Mallards Hillswood The Old Parsonage White Gates The Laurels The Cottage The Firm Marlstone Westwood Bradstone Haylescroft The Niche Rivendell Summerhill Ashcroft Selborne The Ranch House Sara's Cottage The Cherries The Old School House Innings Road Collier's Farm Innings Gate Down the Lane Sunset Cottage Fermain Chilterns Rowan Cottage Creighton Cottage Apple Tree Old Well Cottage The Cottage Flat Roof Whitsun Backlins Red Kites Maidenscraft Spurgrove Lane Maidencraft Cottage September Cottage Spurgrove Cottage Gable End Willems Elder Barn Sunnydale |
This house [now known as Moorgate Cottage ?] on the opposite side of the road from Corner Cottage is aptly named as, well into the 19th C, a gate stood across the road at this point marking the end of Hambleden Parish in Bucks and the beginning of Ackhampstead in the Parish of Lewknor - a detached part of Oxfordshire. Subsequently Ackhampstead was taken into, and still remains in, the Ecclesiastical Parish of Hambleden. (At the latter end of the 19th C Ackhampstead was split between the Civil Parishes of Lane End and Marlow) During the 19th C when the old chapel at Ackhampstead was still in use a road/track led off the Frieth - Marlow road at this point and up to the chapel. [ Click on 'A History of Frieth' in the menu bar above for a full description of Ackhampstead ] Whether Moor Gate House was originally two cottages is not clear, but certainly by 1890 two families lived in it and the present house, now beautifully restored still retains two old bread ovens. Mrs Hanson (nee Ansell) tells me that the Ansell family had lived at Moor's End since 1742, her mother was living in Moor Gate House c1965 and showed me round the property as it was before its restoration. She told me that a quantity of earthenware flagons were found in the garden. So was this house once a tavern of some kind or perhaps the owners were enthusiastic wine or metheglin makers ? Mrs Ansell also showed me a depression in the floor of the 'backhouse' in which rested a circular earthenware pot (about 8" - 10" deep) with a lid. So far I do not know what this pot was used for, but I have seen two similar ones in wine/beer cellars - one at Colliers Farm and one at Chisbridge farm. Were they storage crocks for something to do with wine or beer making ? |
