PLEASE NOTE - Occasionally the gardens are locked for private events - in such cases a photo by the gates is accepted.
The Joy Mead was bequeathed by the Agnew family to the village in 1922. Philip and Georgette Agnew had moved to Littlecourt, Farthingstone from London in 1910 however, their story is tragic as they had three children who all died before them.
Christine Elaine died as a baby in 1896 before the family moved to Farthingstone.
Enid Jocelyn (Joy) married Roger Evans a Captain with the 7th Hussars on 2nd November and, their son Michael was born in 1920. Joy sadly died of T.B. within a year of Michael being being born at the age of 22.
In 1921, the year of Joy's death, the Joy Mead Garden and small temple was planned as a memorial to Joy and Mr Agnew purchased an area of ground which was to be used as an open public area for the resort and recreation of adults and as a playground for children and youths. It was also intended that the Garden should be used for lectures, bands, musical and dramatic entertainments, dances and other social amenities.
The Joy Mead was designed by the Architect, P. P. Panter, and the temple was built by Henry Martin of Northampton, (who also built St. Matthew’s Church in Northampton.) The walls and paving were laid by Mr Pollard of Farthingstone and, on August 3rd 1922, Joy Mead was opened to the parishioners. Ewan, on behalf of his parents, made a speech in which he stressed that the Garden should be a place of happiness he then formally presented the Garden to the parishioners.
Following Ewans death, in 1930, the cloister was built as a memorial to him and the many others who died in the war. Joys son, Michael, married but died within a short time of his marriage and the sundial, designed by P. P. Panter and made by Ivens and Son, was erected as a memorial to him.
Philip Agnew died after many months of ill-health, in Torquay, in March 1938. Georgette however, lived on until 1957. Littlecourt was demolished in the early 1960s. It is said that the Agnews considered the house to be a sad home and they did not wish their misfortune to be inherited by anyone else.
Roadside parking is available and entry to the Joy Mead Gardens is through the wrought iron gate.
To log the cache simple take and upload a picture of you in the gardens or, if you prefer you can answer one or all of the following questions.
1. What letters are engraved on the side of the small temple?
2. There is an arched engraving in memory of Joy in the small temple, what is the temple refered to in the engraving?
3. On the memorial to Ewan there are two white crosses, how many red?
4. Within the garden there is a memorial to Michael Agnew, what does the memorial show as Michael's full name?
We hope you enjoy your visit to Farthingstone.
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.