And we hike on – Bisham Abbey and onwards

We left Hurley in a grey drizzle, draped in rain capes. Boy have they proved their worth, those rain capes! Today, the Thames Path diverged from the Thames—at least initially—due to a closed footbridge. But by the time we reached Bisham Abbey, the river was a mere stone’s throw away.

Bisham Abbey—the name itself is a HUGE hint that this little village has its origins in a religious foundation. Except it wasn’t an Abbey—bar a very short time in Henry VII’s reign—it was a Priory. But long before it was a priory, it was a thriving Anglo Saxon manor called Bustleham. One Henry de Ferrers, responsible for conducting the Domesday survey in Berkshire saw the manor and wanted it.
“Go at it,” William said—he was a big believer in rewarding his loyal knights. And so Bustleham became the property of a Norman lord, but some decades later, Henry’s son, Robert, Earl of Derby, granted the use of the manor to the Knights Templars.

Allow me to deviate somewhat from Bisham Abbey by suggesting you read my post about this Robert’s future (and rather catastrophically inept) descendant, yet another Robert de Ferrers. Who also happened to be the brother of poor Elizabeth de Ferrers, wed by the king’s orders to Dafydd ap Gruffudd, widowed in 1283 (when Dafydd was executed in Shrewsbury), forcibly separated from her children and then… well, she just fades away.

Right: back to Bisham Abbey. The Knights Templars were formed to protect Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. As many of you already know, over the years the Templars became rich and powerful—so powerful Philippe IV of France decided they needed to be eradicated. In 1307, the king arrested all the French Templars and strong-armed the pope into dissolving the order.

Edward II was no fan of persecuting the Templars, but the pope was the pope, so ultimately he confiscated all Templar lands and passed them on to the Knights Hospitallers, except for Bisham Abbey which he kept for himself. Over the coming decade, Bisham was to host various high-born hostages, such as  Robert Bruce’s  wife and sister. For a brief while, the manor belonged to Hugh Despenser, but in 1330 Edward III granted it to Eubulus LeStrange—likely a sign of his appreciation for Eubulus’ help in planning Edward’s coup against his persistent regents, Roger Mortimer and Queen Mother Isabella.

Some years later, it passed to William Montague, Earl of Salisbury and Edward III’s boon companion. (And you can read my take on Edward II, Despenser, Mortimer, Isabella, Edward III, Eubulus and William in my series, The King’s Greatest Enemy) William decided to establish an Augustine Priory, and over the coming years a series of Montagues/Montacutes were buried in the priory church—William himself, his wife, his son, his grandson all the way to Thomas Montacute 4^th Earl of Salisbury who died without a son. But he did have a daughter, Alice Montacute, and this great heiress was married to Richard Neville who became the 5^th Earl of Salisbury.

Both Alice and Richard were also buried at Bisham. Richard, who was John of Gaunt’s grandson through his mother, Joan Beaufort, was a major mover and shaker during the tumultuous years known as the War of the Roses. He died far from home, having been executed after the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. A double burial, as Richard’s second son, Thomas, died on the battlefield. But Richard and Alice has another son: Richard Neville Jr, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, a.k.a. “Warwick the Kingmaker”. He too was buried at Bisham, after having been killed at Barnet, where he rode with the Lancastrians against Edward IV, the young king he’d first helped to win the throne, then effectively forced into exile.

In 1499, all the Montacutes and Nevilles were joined by Edward Plantagenet, the last surviving male member of the Plantagenet dynasty. An utterly tragic life, Edward spent most of his life as a prisoner, this due to being the only son of George, Duke of Clarence and Isabelle Neville (The Kingmaker’s eldest daughter) and therefore a legitimate heir to the crown. In fact, his claim was stronger than that of Richard III, but as his father had been attainted, he was not considered a serious risk by his uncle. Henry Tudor, however, was suspicious of this young Plantagenet male and transferred the ten-year-old to the Tower, where he was to remain his entire (short) life until his execution for purportedly aiding Perkin Warbeck’s attempt to escape. There is speculation his execution was actually a prerequisite for Prince Arthur’s betrothal to Catherine of Aragon. Her parents insisted on the claimant being “handled”. (Not entirely out of character, if you ask me…)

With Richard Neville dead, with George of Clarence and Isabel dead, with poor Edward dead, Bisham passed to  Edward Plantagenet’s sister, Margaret, now Countess of Salisbury in her own right. Margaret was close to Katherine of Aragon, remained loyal to her queen even after Henry VIII decided he needed a new wife, which didn’t endear her to the king. Plus, of course, there was the fact that she was a Plantagenet—and that her sons, through her, were potential claimants to the English Crown. One of her sons, Reginald Pole also had the effrontery to refuse to accept the king’s divorce—or his supremacy of the English Church (Reginald was the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury). Her eldest son, Henry, was executed for treason and Margaret was accused of being involved and ultimately beheaded in 1541.

By then, Bisham Priory was no longer. The church was destroyed, and I can’t help but wonder just what happened to all those buried there. According to one text I found, some of those buried in the priory church were transferred to Bisham Abbey’s present church, All Saints (which is also very, very old, from the 1100s) Others were simply reburied on land that had once belonged to the priory with no markers. Sort of sad, isn’t it?

After the attainder of Margaret, Bisham Priory reverted to the crown. Henry VIII passed it to Anne of Cleves as part of their divorce settlement, but she apparently, wasn’t too taken with it, as she swapped it with the Hoby family for land in Suffolk. The Hoby family thrived at Bisham. The first Hoby lord of Bisham was Sir Philip Hoby who had the dubious pleasure of acting the gaoler to future Elizabeth I during Mary’s reign. The young princess was held at Bisham for three years, but to judge from future relations with the Hobys, she was well-treated.

The most famous Hoby is another Elizabeth, wife to Sir Philip’s son, Thomas. Elizabeth still haunts her old home, apparently incapable of overcoming her guilty grief for one of her sons by her second marriage. Lady Hoby was extremely well-read and insisted her sons be thoroughly educated, but one of the boys was not as quick-witted as his mother and purportedly Lady Hoby flew into a rage, tied the boy to a chair and beat him with a heavy book. She was then called away on an errand, was further distracted by a message from Queen Bess, requiring her presence, and by the time she returned home, poor William had died. (Lady Hoby was a recognised scholar in her won time, usually referred to as Lady Russell. She was the sister-in-law of William Cecil, a skilled linguist, a patron of musicians like John Dowland and, not least, the aunt of Sir Francis Bacon)

Right: time to move on. From Bisham Abbey we walked to Marlow. It was very, very wet by then, and there was also a lot of traffic, so our overall impressions were a bit… beige. Soon enough, we were back to walking along the Thames, saying “good morning” to all the enthusiastic dog walkers, stopping now and then to watch the rowers—so many rowers on the river today.

We passed through Bourne’s End, evidently something of a marine mecca, walked across the railway bridge and took a sharp left, making for Cookham. Along the way, we stopped to look at where the Wye joined the Thames, and we then spent some time discussing if this Wye is the same Wye as in Hay-on-Wye. It isn’t. The Hay-on-Wye Wye empties into the Severn. This Wye is its baby cousin, the Buckinghamshire Wye, much smaller but a significant contributor to the industrialisation of the area, water mills having been a recurring feature from High Wycombe all the way down to Wooburn Green. Corn mills, fulling mills, paper mills—the Wye has powered all of these, having 18 mills already back in the 11^th century.

Cookham we breezed through. We were both feeling the effect of so many days on our feet, and for a while there, I was rather grumpy—and tired. I perked up a bit as we walked by Cliveden House, regaling hubby with the story of George Villiers, second duke of Buckingham. But that deserves a separate post, I think, so for now we’ll skip it.

By the time we reached Maidenhead, we were yet again enveloped in drizzle. Taplow House Hotel and Spa beckoned, and as we’re the intrepid type, we decided to diverge from the map and cut across Ray Mill Island. Lovely place, this island—and I remain astounded at all the islands that dot the Thames. Best thing with our visit to Ray Mill Island was the signboard explaining the history of the weirs.

The weirs are a recurring feature of the Thames, and I suppose that many of  today’s weirs are situated where there used to be natural waterfalls, foaming white water indicating this was where one could ford the river. Several centuries ago, our forefathers would reinforce these areas of shallow waters by driving stakes into the bottom, weave branches through the stakes to create a sort of wall which was then reinforced with stones, thereby damming the water. Benefits: mills created a steady supply of water, fishermen could sieve out the fish trapped by the weir, and the weir led to deeper waters to the side, making it easier to navigate the river. In some weits, central sections could be opened to allow boats to shoot off downstream in deeper water. Boats going the other way were sometimes winched up through these central sections. Fascinating, isn’t it? Or maybe that’s just me…

Right: time to rest up before our final hiking day. I must say I am looking forward to putting my feet up and allowing my blisters to heal—but that will have to wait a further day or so!