Witham Park
The total estate comprised of two cottages (pre-demolition), as well as all the land that spans from the Public House at the bottom of the high street to the weak white bridge on Maldon Road, using Maldon Road itself and the river as the boundary, the land was all bought bit by bit until 1815.The Pattisons whilst living at
Witham House generously allowed their park and cricket ground to be used for special occasions. For instance, it was there in 1850 that 220 pupils of the nearby Maldon Road School “enjoyed themselves in various rustic games” to celebrate the schools anniversary. Cricket matches were particularly popular here, in the same year Witham teams defeated Maldon twice and also took on and beat “the Gentlemen of Essex”. In 1868 a team of Australian aboriginal cricketers visited England, being the first overseas touring team and won 14 games, lost 14 and drew 19, an Australian source reported that they had won all their matches, and understandably never invited back. They came and played in Witham on Monday 14th September, having defeated Liverpool on Saturday the 12th, Sadly Witham was defeated by an innings and 43 runs.
During the 1840s, William H. Ebenezer Pattison merged some of the fields and planted trees and made the area into parkland, that is until 1859 when William H E Pattison had exceeded his wealth and resources through his over-optimism and decided to vanish, leaving his wife and fourteen children to face the consequences. The lavish contents of Witham House were sold off by the local sheriff to pay off Williams’s debts and the rest of the family were forced to move away to Tonbridge in Kent. William Pattison did eventually return and sold off the entire estate in 1860.
In 1899 Witham’s vicar, Canon David Ingles, received an anonymous donation of £1000 to help enable Witham to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897. In 1930 it was eventually revealed that the donor was Tom Motion of Faulkbourne Hall.
In the same year, Admiral Sir William Luard of Witham Lodge (presided over a ratepayers meeting in the public hall on Collingwood Road, on the subject of procuring the landscaped four acre park nearest to Witham House to be used as a public “Pleasure Ground”, after many an argument and over the subject it was agreed and bought in July of that year. It was administered buy but not owned by the Urban District Council until 1918.
The park was officially opened to the public on 20th June 1900, the sixty-third anniversary of Queen Victoria’s Accession. It became known as the recreational ground or “Rec”. The original idea of naming it after the Queens Diamond Jubilee of 1897 had either been forgotten or abandoned.
Witham park has also had its own share of fame; in 1964 Dennis Mansell’s photo of the park was on the front page of the “Sun” on General Election day to illustrate the importance of our children’s future. It was widely credited for winning Labour the election under Harold Wilson, but sadly Witham was never actually named.
You are looking for a small pot, please replace exactly as you found it.