Located on Caldecott road in glorious Abingdon-on-Thames, I thought it might be of interest to give some back ground to the local area...what is "this old house" just here....what are those old stone walls all about!? Well, you are standing at was once the entrance to a large English country house! In more recent times, Caldecott House was opened in 1945 as a Dr Barnardo's Home with Mr. Walter Brampton as superintendent. In March of 1952 Caldecott House became a mixed home. The final curtain was drawn on the 31st August 1971. This was after the last open day which took place on 26th June 1971 commencing at at 2:30 pm which finished with a dinner dance on the lawn. Caldecott House had hosted many flower shows and fetes. Many people in Abingdon would have known Dr Barnardo’s children as classmates and friends. (see http://www.goldonian.org/ for details on Dr Barnardo). The summer fete held at Caldecott House was one of the highlights of Abingdon's year. Many celebrities officiated including Princess Margaret, Jack Hawkins, Bert Weedon and Sir Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Mt. Everest. Caldecott House was still in vast grounds and had every kind of sports field, kitchen gardens, horse riding and even a boathouse. A plaque was placed on the lodge giving the dates from 1948 to 1971. Some History: Going back to the beginning...Caldecott House was built in 1738 and demolished in 1972. The original Manor goes back to Saxon and Norman Times. First mention is made of land being held by Lewin a Goldsmith and Alwead a priest at the time of Edward the Confessor,,,,,,,,,,,. A William Birch and his wife lived in the house for 2-3 years around 1757. Mrs Birch looked after 16 orphans from Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital in London, and found them wet nurses in the area. Then we jump to the 1880's when General (then Colonel) Bailie came to Abingdon from Oxford, first renting and afterwards purchasing the Caldecott House estate, on which he had carried out extensive improvements, the gardens and grounds being among the most picturesque in the neighbourhood. Then in 1918 Major-General Douglas Bailie, died. In 1934 the Bailies inherited an even bigger estate, and sold Caldecott House. However the General's widow Amy Bailie moved to Wharf House with her daughter Hope, a spinster who will be remembered by many older residents. She died in 1969. Caldecott House was then was purchased by a Mrs Boyd and became the short lived Caldecott Hotel because in 1940 it was requisitioned by Bomber Command. At wars end in 1945 Caldecott House became a Dr Barnardos Home. In 1972 Caldecott House was demolished and replaced by today's housing estate. With good parking this cache is fairly easy to locate - but much harder to retrieve. If someone else needs to get it for you, fair enough...but you should at least have it in hand to sign the log! If you have done my previous caches...you'll have an idea of where to look for this one....
Although residential here, it is a good place to park up and grab a number of nearby caches...as well as take a very picturesque stroll in to Abingdon Town and enjoy the independent shops and cafes....or just to enjoy the view of the River Thames.
I like all my caches to be big enough to hold some sort of trinket or souvenir - this one too. Please, take and enjoy whatever you find...but please replace what you take with something else!
This cache is not too far from a road - so please be careful with young children. Also, please use care when attempting cache retrieval.