SWANBOURNE & THE TRAFALGAR CONNECTION
Swanbourne: A Village in Bernwood
“In a thousand years of hopes and fears
Has the village played its part,
And has held to its ways in the changing days
With a steadfast English heart.”
Extract from poem by the 3rd Lord Cottesloe
Swanbourne has still ‘held to its ways’ - now near the fringe of Milton Keynes, but for all that maintaining its village identity. There are new houses, but there have been ‘new houses’ in every century since Anglo-Saxon times, and there is a mix of brick and timber cottages, thatched roofs, fine stone manor houses, stone built farmhouses, 1950s semis, bungalows, a Victorian vicarage, modern detached, barn conversions and down Smithfield End you will find a row of 15thC houses, once a hall house, reputed to have housed Cromwell’s men in 1643.
St Swithun's Church is Grade II Listed. The nave, chancel and tower date from early 13th C. The north aisle was added in late 15th C and the tower was rebuilt half a century later. There are also medieval carvings and murals.
Swanbourne Church of England School was established in 1705, one of the first village schools in the Country. Now it is merged with the neighbouring villages of Mursley and Drayton Parslow, and ‘The Three Schools’ is a unique initiative providing schooling for 2 to 11 year olds at the heart of their village communities.
There is a Village Shop and Post Office, one of the few remaining!
Swanbourne House was built in the 1860s by the 1st Baron Cottesloe and became a preparatory school for Eton and Stowe in 1919. It teaches children aged from three to 13. The site covers 55 acres, and takes in the Manor next door, and a newly developed Nursery close by.
Despite being able to count seven closed inns and public houses, Tom Fremantle, a descendant of Betsey Wynne and of the Fremantle family who own the Swanbourne Estate, thought, on walking back from Winslow one evening: “It’s just too far to walk after a few pints, we need a village pub….” and opened a new one in 2006, named for the wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle.
The Old House on Mursley Road was built in the 17th C, became home to Betsey Wynne, wife of Sir Thomas Fremantle, whose descendants live there still. This is our Trafalgar connection!
There is a web site, if you wish to delve further: www.swanbournevillage.org.
The walk these caches will take you on is partly public footpath, and partly a Conservation Walk, by permission of the Swanbourne Estate. The path is a gentle walk, slightly uphill, and the views are lovely. There will be no need to stray off the path, and please keep dogs on leads during the pheasant breeding season.
VICTORY
HMS Victory was officially placed in service in 1778 and still serves as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord and Commander in Chief Naval Home Command, making her the oldest warship still in service today. She saw action during the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution. In 1805, HMS Victory achieved lasting fame as Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar. As a First Rate Ship of the Line she was required to carry 100 guns. At the Battle of Trafalgar she actually carried 104 guns.
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet GCB (1769 –1839) first became associated with Nelson in 1796 aboard the HMS Minerve and moved with Nelson via various ships until he finally transferred to the Victory 1803. Hardy not only served as Nelson's flag captain, but also unofficially as his captain of the fleet. He survived The Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s kiss to pursue a stellar career and died in Greenwich in 1839.
Although Lord Nelson was fatally wounded during the battle, his leadership and the actions of the British Navy ensured that French and Spanish naval forces would be unable to threaten Britain's shores for the remainder of the century.