Chapter 2

THE VISION

As hills go, there is nothing very special about Kingham Hill. But for thousands of men throughout the world, for well over a century, there has been only one hill: the Hill . Part of the hummocky uplands that form the north-eastern fringe of the Cotswolds, it rises to only 197 metres. Strictly speaking, there are two hills - Whitequar (Whitequarry) Hill and Redquar (Redquarry) Hill - separated by a saddle that forms the most easterly tip of Gloucestershire and was marked by an ancient cairn that may well have dated from the New Stone Age. The Old Way that crosses the saddle - now a minor road - leads from Chastleton, past an Iron Age hill-fort, to the River Evenlode at Kingham, and is possibly a branch from the old green road from Stow-on-the-Wold. A settlement of the Dobuni tribe existed on the western slope of the Hill from before the Roman occupation until the end of the third century - more than four hundred years. The Saxons arrived, and their headman gave his name - Cga - to the place: the ham or homestead of Cga . Much of the hill was open moorland, carpeted with furze and scrub, until it was gradually converted into the Upper Common, and meticulously managed by the four Fieldsmen of Kingham until the Enclosure Award of 1850. By that time, much of the lower slopes of the hill had long been cultivated in the traditional arable strips or ridges of open field farming, but the crest of the hill, consisting of heavy clay, was not suitable for cultivation, and had therefore been enclosed into several small fields of rough pasture. The names of these closes have survived: the Chapel and classroom block are built on the Hill Pieces, Durham and the Administration block on the Folly, and Bradford House on Thistly Close, although there is no precise correlation with the old place-names.

We do not know how Charles Edward Baring Young came to be aware of the Daylesford Estate and of Kingham Hill. The most probable suggestion is that he chose Kingham as the location for one of the day trips to the countryside that were a regular feature of the 'Homes for Working Boys in London` of which he had been a committee member since 1876. With his own family association with the East India Company, he may also well have been attracted by the possibility of acquiring the old home of Warren Hastings. There was a frequent and reliable train service from Paddington to Chipping Norton Junction (Kingham), but not yet a connection to Sarsden Halt (opened 1906) where there were only sidings. Kingham Hill in 1880 was much as it had been since the Enclosure Award of 1850 - a patchwork of arable and pasture fields - with a cow hovel at the summit, and a small group of farm buildings in Phillips Field on the south-facing slope. It was not a big hill, but there were splendid views from the summit which was mostly open pasture ground with a fair covering of furze surviving from the days when this had been the Upper Common. Probably he had asked permission to visit from the landowner, R. Nicholl Byass, and from the occupant of Kingham Hill Farmhouse, although, since Richard Rainbow had relinquished his lease there, the land had been farmed directly from the Daylesford Estate. Standing on the crest of the Hill, we are told, and looking west across the broad valley of the Evenlode to the ridge of hills from Idbury to Westcote, he had a vision of this splendid location for a group of homes to provide for the many deprived boys that he had encountered during his work in London. This vision was recorded, allegedly having been confided to a close friend, in his obituary in 'The Sunday News`.

I stood on the hill at my home and surveyed the valley in the sunshine of a waning summer's day. Here, I said to myself, I will build homes to shelter the poor boys and I will see to it myself that they are fed and clothed and given a start in life.

Apart from the rather obvious fact that no part of Kingham Hill is visible from Daylesford House, this declaration (probably recounted by the Revd W Mitchell Carruthers) well represents the Founder's intention in 1883. The vision was quite specific: in his mind he could see the disposition of each House, and a magnificent group of central buildings crowning the crest of the Hill. If this story is correct - and we have only the oral testimony of the confidential friend and of Arthur Young for it - it probably occurred in the spring of 1883. On 10 th December 1882, his father, Charles Baring Young, died, leaving his son a considerable fortune mostly invested in Baring Brothers Bank. The exact amount of this inheritance is not known, and Baring Brothers still will not reveal it ("our clients' accounts are confidential, even one hundred years after their death"), but it must have been considerable - certainly enough for C.E.B.Young to fulfil his dream, to maintain his Homes for fifty years, and to enable him to live in the isolation and comparative luxury of Warren Hastings's mansion at Daylesford.

We can no longer see the view that so captivated the Founder. As he stood on the crest of the Hill where the Chapel would later be built, he was surrounded by small fields (closes) of rough grazing, divided by hawthorn hedges. The soil on the top of the Hill is very heavy clay, and was unsuitable then for arable farming. On his right was Whitequar Hill and on his left Redquar Hill, but between them stretched westwards the long dry valley traditionally known as the Henslade. Half a mile away, nestling in the shelter of the hills and surrounded by its orchard, was Slade Farm, built in 1851. But otherwise the view was unobstructed by any trees apart from the young elms that lined the approach road to Hill Farm. The vision that he had was of a staggered line of Homes - Durham, Clyde, Sheffield, Swansea - all facing westwards and looking down the valley towards the ridge of hills that stretches from Upper Rissington to Stow-on-the-Wold. If, as we are told, he first saw this view in the golden light of a setting sun, the view was spectacular - and still is, although today the many trees that were planted in the 1880s and later prevent it from being fully appreciated.

The houses were therefore built facing west. All the main rooms in each Home, including the dormitories, had their large windows giving on to the view down the Henslade. The original front door of Durham House faced westwards, too, and was approached by a wide flight of ornamental stone steps, still in existence, but little used today, which led to a small lawn and a sheltered terrace in front of the house. Almost certainly, Clyde [Norwich] and Sheffield were oriented in a similar way. This orientation has been concealed, partly by the long line of tall mature trees that the Founder planted as a decorative windbreak on the side of the Old Way road, and partly by the later construction of a service road linking the eastern side of the houses. The land on that side was more level and suitable for wheeled traffic and gave access to the 'business` side of the houses - the coal cellars and the kitchens. In front of the houses, the land fell away steeply towards the Old Way. The Founder, approaching his Homes from Daylesford House along the Daylesford Carriage-way, would have seen the faces of the Homes in front of him along the crest of the Hill.

The Daylesford Estate was owned by the sherry merchant, Robert Nicholl Byass (1834-1928), who had purchased it shortly before 1873. Perhaps he had become disillusioned with country life after October 1874, when (according to a headline in the Oxford Times) "Squire of Daylesford shot instead of rabbit". This unfortunate accident, which occurred in Perthshire, was not as hilarious as it sounds: Nicholl Byass received extensive injuries from nearly fifty shotgun pellets to his face, neck, arm and side. Daylesford itself was a miniature principality on the Indian style ever since Warren Hastings had purchased the freehold of every property in the parish, but Nicholl Byass had been extending his fiefdom by purchasing land in Kingham. In 1853, he acquired Slade Farm and the crest of Kingham Hill from the cash-strapped new Rector of Kingham, whose ancestral inheritance had been concentrated there by the 1850 Enclosure Award. He had followed this by purchasing property in Kingham Village, including the site of the medieval Manor House, Manor Farm, the Fox Inn and numerous cottages. All this, 1,547 acres 3 roods and 5 perches, was put up for sale in 1883, and was purchased on 29 th September by C.E.B.Young for £115,000.

For those who like to know the old names, the 1840 Tithe Award shows that the furlongs on Kingham Hill Farm had been called before 1850: Allen's Close Furlong, Batstead, Burn Butt, Burnt Close, Cock Crow, Common Patch Furlong, 'The Commoners`, Ditch Furlong, Firm Stretch, Folly, Hassicksmoor, Hawkins Furze, Hill Pieces, Lang Meadow, Long Ends Furlong, Long Ends Greensward, Long Small Furlong, Lot Meadow, Lower Folly, Lower Furze, Madam's Piece, New Fox Cover (upper part), Oddsworth, Old Way Brake, Rawns Furze, Rough Hades, Setts Furlong, Small Brook Close, Small Brook Furlong, Small Brook Plat, Smiths Leys, Three Corner Close, Thistly Close, Upper Folly, Upper Furze or Old Fox Cover, and Whetstone Furlong. These names dated from at least the seventeenth century, and may have been much older; several of the names had become corrupted out of recognition. They had been given as the village of Kingham gradually extended its arable and pastoral land by encroaching into the extensive 'Kingham Waste` - the setting for the fictional 'Parliament of Beggars` created by John Buchan in 'The Blanket of the Dark`.

Apart from the buildings and the essential network of small roads that linked them, there are two further ways in which the Founder transformed the visual impact of Kingham Hill. Because it is a hill, there was by definition no level field on which to play organised games. The football field was completed first and then the cricket field was undertaken - a much longer job not finished until 1905. The creation of these fields involved cutting deep into the heavy clay and, in the case of the cricket field, building it up on the south side to make a level full-sized cricket pitch. The football field - 'Durham Field` as Alf Jarvis calls it - necessitated the removal of several tons of topsoil from the eastern side. Swansea Field may have come next. Alf Jarvis then records a conversation between the Founder and his friend and colleague, Claude Birch.

One day Charles Young took Mr Claude Birch to the place chosen for the cricket ground and while on the site they discussed the methods of levelling the field. Mr Claude Birch affirmed that it would be a big job requiring more than a hundred men for six months. 'Stuff and nonsense!` retorted Charles Young, 'I shall put our own estate men on it.`

Some twelve months later when together they revisited the place Mr Claude Birch chuckled to see a large gang of men still toiling on the excavations. (op. cit.: C. B. Y. of D. pp 39 - 40)

Shifting the clay proved a more daunting task than the Founder had foreseen. His response to the problem was to abandon the labour-intensive spade and wheelbarrow and instead to construct a narrow-gauge railway alongside the cricket field to enable the soil to be moved more easily. The trucks were horse-drawn, and most of the work involved carrying the clay from the deep excavations at the top of the hill in order to build up the field at the bottom. But the line was extended further in order to remove unwanted soil. When the railway was discontinued and the rails lifted, the line created a footpath used by generations of 'Plyms` as they walked or ran from their home in Plymouth House (now Kingham Hill House) up to the Top School for the rest of the day.

The other way in which the Founder changed the visual landscape on Kingham Hill was by planting trees. Before he had acquired the Hill, there were very few trees growing there. Planting trees was regarded as good practice in estate management since they would provide a source of timber and income for future generations. No doubt these considerations influenced Baring Young, but there were also other motives behind his tree planting. The plantation behind Greenwich and Severn Houses, perhaps not made until after 1908, was a sensible use of the very poor heavy clay soil between the Homes and the Cornwell boundary, and provided both a windbreak and a pleasing backdrop for that side of the Hill. But these reasons did not apply to the other plantation on the road between Topschool and Kingham Field Farm. This plantation that, perhaps unwittingly, coincided almost precisely with the pre-enclosure field known as Batstead, and was to become known as 'The Planny`, was on good arable soil that had been cultivated for generations. The Founder's motive here may have been primarily aesthetic. However, we have good reason to believe that, behind these practical concerns, he wanted to provide future generations of urban boys with an opportunity to experience the delights of playing in the woods. The plantations were a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees, with a preponderance of deciduous, and offered ample scope in days to come for the construction of 'camps` and fires, playing wide games, and of course having the occasional crafty cigarette. The same motives will have influenced the planting of the old parish quarry on Whitequar Hill, when it was no longer required for stone. Further away, beyond the Henslade, Upper and Lower Trenchards Woods (named for Mrs Sarah Baker Ashfordby Trenchard who was assigned this property in 1850) may also have been planted by Charles Baring Young for the more practical purpose of replacing some of the timber that had been felled on the Daylesford Estate when the Homes were being built.

The Early Years main page | Previous chapter | Next chapter