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WING (or Wenge) is a parish and large village, 3 miles south-west from Leighton Buzzard station on the main line of the London and North Western railway, in the Mid division of the county, hundred of Cottesloe, Linsdale petty sessional division, union and county court district of Leighton Buzzard (Beds), rural deanery of Ivinghoe, archdeaconry of Buckingham and diocese of Oxford. In former days Wing was a place of some importance; in the year 1255 a charter was granted to Peter de Warren by Henry III for a market every Thursday and a fair for three days at Michaelmas.
The church of All Saints is an interesting edifice of stone in mixed styles, consisting of apsidal chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north and south porches, and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 6 bells: the church is reputed to contain Saxon work, a view which has been supported by the late Sir Gilbert Scott kt. R.A. who particularly instanced as examples the semi-circular arcades, or rather arched perforations in the walls and the construction of the chancel arch: the most interesting feature in the church is its apsidal polygonal chancel, which is considerably elevated above the nave, and has beneath it a crypt of rude construction about eight feet in height: an arcade runs round the outside of the apse, considered by some authorities to be also Saxon work, perhaps of the 11th century; the windows are much later; the nave appears to be chiefly of Norman date and has arcades of massive arches dividing it from the aisles; there are some good Early Decorated windows and a north doorway of that period, but the tower, font and south porch are Perpendicular; the base of a Norman font may be seen in the south porch.
There are monuments to the family of Fynes, from 1686 to 1758, including one to Mrs. Margaret Fynes, said to be the work of Roubiliac, and several costly memorials to the Dormers, with others ranging from 1542 to 1729; these include a fine altar tomb of marble, with twelve rhymed couplets and Corinthian columns supporting a cornice with a shield of arms, to Sir Robert Dormer kt. ob. 1552, around which, until 1850, were two large pews with baluster screens; there is another altar tomb with recumbent effigies of marble, partly gilt, under a canopy, supported by columns of Sicilian jasper, with marble caps and adorned with five shields of arms, to Sir William Dormer K.B. ob. 17th May, 1575, and Dorothy (Catesby), his second wife; there are also brasses to Harry Blacknall, 1460, and Agnes, his wife, 1489 and others with effigies to Tankerville Fynes, without date; John Theede, 1622; and Thomas Cotes,”porter at Ascott Hall,” 1648; and in the church are also memorials to the families of Redman, 1699-1722; and Bell, 1721-38; to Mrs. Bridgett Neale, 1677; William Theed, gent. and Stephen Welch, vicar, 1774: in 1850 the church was completely restored by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott R.A. at a cost of £1,476 and again in 1893 at a cost of £1,700, and affords 300 sittings: in the churchyard are remains of a stone cross.
The register dates from the year 1546, and is perfect from that date; there is also an ancient book of churchwardens’ accounts with an inventory of church goods, 1527. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £280, with 220 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Lord Wantage K.C.B., V.C. and held since 1890 by the Rev. Fras. Hy. Tatham M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, who is also rural dean of Ivinghoe, surrogate and rector of Grove. The Wesleyan chapel, built in 1864, will seat 350 persons; the Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1847, has 200 sittings. Dormer’s Hospital, founded in 1562 by Dame Dorothy Pelham, for 8 men and women, is endowed with land, and money invested in Consols now (1899) producing a total gross income of £86 yearly. William Robinson’s charity is a perpetual rent-charge on land at Burcot, of £2 a year for clothing; Lady Carnarvon and William Hoare’s charity, arising from the rent of a field of about six acres at Burcot, now let for £18 a year is for clothing and blankets; William Dent’s of £59 in Consols, is distributed in clothing; Robert Shepherd’s, a rent-charge of £6 6s. 8d. arising from land in the parish of Edlesborough, of which £1 a year is paid to the vicar for catechising the children, and 10s. to the vicar of Leighton Buzzard for a sermon on Ascension day, the surplus, if any, is distributed in penny loaves to twenty children attending the church weekly; there is also the Fuel Allotment Charity, consisting of about £7 a year, arising from £268 9s. 1d. £2 ¾ per Cent. Consols and distributed annually in coals; the Church Land Charity, of about £268 in Consols, derived from the sale of about three acres of land in the parish of Mentmore, which yields over £14 yearly, paid to the churchwardens, and a sum of about £15 arising from Pratt’s charity at Wingrave, which is distributed amongst the poor at the discretion of the trustees.
Wing lodge, the residence of the Earl of Orkney, near the church and erected in 1874, is a mansion of white brick in the French style, with gables and abutments of dark brick and highly finished. Charlotte Cottage, built in 1886 and supported by Leopold de Rothschild esq. is a hospital for the sick poor of the village, and has two beds; Mrs. James, lady superintendent. Lord Wantage K.C.B., V.C. who is lord of the manor, and the Earl of Rosebery K.G., P.C. are the principal landowners of Wing proper. The soil is various, clay, sand, gravel and loam; subsoil, clay. The crops are hay, wheat, beans, barley, oats and roots. The area is 5,310 acres; rateable value, £10,726; the population in 1891 was 1,799.
Burcot is a hamlet one mile north. Lord Wantage, who is lord of the manor, Leopold de Rothschild esq. and Fynes Clinton esq. are the principal landowners.
Crafton is a hamlet, two miles south, and has a Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1893. Lord Wantage K.C.B. who is lord of the manor, and the Earl of Rosebery K.G., K.T., P.C. are the principal landowners. The Earl has a breeding stud here.
Littleworth is a hamlet half a mile north, and has a Congregational Union chapel, built in 1854 and rebuilt in 1871, with 140 sittings. Lord Wantage, who is lord of the manor, and Mr. Philip Hart are the chief landowners.
Ascott is a. hamlet half a mile east. Ascott Park, the winter residence of Leopold de Rothschild esq. D.L., J.P. is a Jacobean structure of brick and timber dating from 1606, and was originally a farm house, but was restored and enlarged about 1874, and again in 1880, 1887 and 1893 and is now a considerable mansion. The kennels of Lord Rothschild’s staghounds, originally at Mentmore, have been transferred to Ascott: these staghounds (numbering 30 couples) meet on Monday and Thursday. Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard are convenient towns for hunting visitors. The old Hall has now wholly disappeared, but some traces of the fish ponds and moat still remain. In the latter part of the 12th century there existed here a cell of Benedictine monks founded by the Empress Maud and attached to the Abbey of St. Nicholas of Angers; it was afterwards granted by Henry V. to the priory of St. Mary de la Pre, near St. Albans.
Parish Clerk, Edward Whitman.
Post, M. & T.0., T.M.O., Express Delivery, Parcel Post, S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office.-Ernest Geo. Thos. Cleaver, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive through Leighton Buzzard at 8 a.m.; dispatched at 6.45 p.m. week days; sundays arrive at 8 a.m.; dispatched 9 a.m
Wall Letter Box, Burcot, cleared at 6.30 p.m. week days &; 9 a.m. sundays
WING RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
Meets at the Leighton Buzzard Workhouse every alternate friday, at 11 a.m.
Clerk, John Newton, High street, Leighton Buzzard
Treasurer, Francis Bassett, The Bank, Leighton Buzzard
Medical Officer of Health, Henry William Adrian Sandell L.R.C.P.Edin., F.S.lnst. Lake st. Leighton Buzzard
Sanitary Inspector &; Surveyor, Thomas Brown, 7 North st. Leighton Buzzard
Parochial School, Wing, erected by the late Lord Overstone in 1850, for 300 children, and enlarged during the period 1885-90, & again at a cost of £860 in 1897; average attendance, 115 boys, 130 girls & 110 infants; Arthur W. Molineux, master; Mrs. Ellen Allder, mist
Carriers-George Page, to Leighton Duzzard, daily; Mrs Lovell, to Leighton Buzzard, tues. thurs. &; sat.; Reuben Syratt, to Aylesbury, wed. & sat. to Leighton Buzzard on tues
Residents
| Biggs William James | Rose cottage |
| Chignell Alfred Leigh | |
| Cole Rev. Alex. Barnet Farquharson M.A. | (curate), Vicarage lane |
| Coles Mrs | |
| Gurney Mrs | |
| Heley James William | Hollybank |
| Heley Thomas Somes | The Chestnuts |
| Orkney Earl of, J.P. | Wing lodge; Glanmore, Templemore, co. Tipperary; Carlton, White’s & Pratt’s (London) & Kildare Street (Dublin) clubs |
| Paske Capt. George F. | Wing lodge |
| Tatham Rev. Fras. Hy. M.A | Vicarage |
Commercial
| Adams Jas | sub-agt. to Lord Wantage |
| Avery Wm. | farm bailiff to Mrs. Fountaine, Lower Wingbury |
| Bandy William | shopkeeper |
| Biggs Edward & William | corn dealers |
| Bone William | licensed hawker |
| Brand Joseph | boot maker |
| Carter John | shopkeeper |
| Carter John | shopkeeper & carter |
| Chappel Jane (Mrs.) | machinist |
| Chignell Alfred Leigh | surgeon |
| Cleaver Ernest George Thomas | grcr. tea dealer, provision merchant & general stores, Post office |
| Claridge Henry | tailor |
| Coleman & Horn | farmers, Cottesloe |
| Crampin George Samuel | The Cock hotel; spacious stabling & loose boxes for hunters; posting in all branches; good accommodation for travellers, &c. &c |
| Denchfield Seth | carpenter, joiner, undertaker, wheelwright, timber dealer, saw mills & general contractor & steam thrashing machine owners |
| Dimmock John | hair dresser |
| Foster Henry (Mrs.) | blacksmith |
| Gates Baron Frederick John | grazier, Wing Park farm |
| Gates Baron Jn. | frmr. Up. Wingbury |
| Gates B.J. | bricklayer, Vicarage lane |
| Ginger Thomas | butcher |
| Hammerton John | builder & decorator |
| Hart Philip | estate agent & auctioneer & land agent to Leopold de Rothschild. esq. J.P. Moor Hills |
| Heady Joseph | house carpenter to Leopold de Rothschild esq |
| Hedges Thomas & Frederick | farmers, Cottesloe |
| Heley Brothers | corn & cake merchants |
| Heley Thomas Somes | corn merchant & miller (steam) |
| Hillman William | Queen’s Head P.H |
| Johnson Joseph | shopkeeper |
| Jordan George | general dealer |
| Jordan Henry | licensed hawker |
| Langley Henry | baker |
| Lovell George | grocer |
| Mallett Thomas | baker |
| Mallett William James | baker |
| Manning Wm. | farmer, West Park frm |
| Oakley John | grocer |
| Page George | carrier & hair dresser |
| Page George, jun. | corn merchant, seedsman & steam miller, flour dlr. & agent for Liptons |
| Page Wm. jun. | butcher & dealer |
| Pitchford Edward | bricklayer |
| Pollard Mrs. Ann Susan | blacksmith |
| Pollard Joseph Andrew | R.S.S. farrier, shoeing & general smith, agricultural implement repairer, fencing, ironwork &c |
| Prentice George | skin dealer |
| Randall Frederick | chimney sweeper |
| Randall George | butcher |
| Randall Henry | shopkeeper |
| Redrup John | wheelwright |
| Reeves John | groom to the Earl of Orkney |
| Rogers Joseph Charles | baker |
| Stevens Charles | Dove Commercial hotel; loose boxes for hunters, stabling &c ; cyclists accommodated |
| Taylor Henry | grocer |
| Tearle Levi | blacksmith |
| Tuffney William | farm bailiff to Mr. F. J. Gates |
| Whitman Edward | grocer |
| Wilson Ted | colt breaker |
| Windmill John | farmer, Old Park frm |
| Wing Village Cricket Club | (Henry Caves, hon. sec) |
| Woolhead Mrs. Naomi | draper |
Ascott
| Rothschild Leopold de D.L., J.P. | Ascott park |
| Boore John | huntsman to Lord Rothschild. The Kennels |
| Gaskin Wm. | 1st whip to Lord Rothschild. The Kennels |
| Jennings John | head gardener to Leopold de Rothschild esq. |
| Mould William | stud groom to Leopold de Rothschild esq. |
| Prentice John | farmer, Waterloo farm |
| Watson William | farm baliff to Leopold de Rothschild esq. Ascott farm |
Burcot
| Adams Herbert Walter | farmer |
| Piggs Edward & William | farmers |
| Cotes Charles J.P. | Burcot cottage |
| Edmonds Charles Claude | land steward to Leopold de Rothschild esq. |
| Faulkner John | baker |
| Heley Arth. Somes, jun. | Burcot Hall fm |
| Syratt Reuben | Six Bells P.H. & carrier |
| Vallentine Bros. | farmers, Burcot lo |
Crafton
| Collins William | dairy farmer |
| Griffith Joseph | master of Earl of Rosebery’s breeding stud establishment |
Littleworth
| Boyland Mary (Miss) | Sportman’s Arms |
| Holbrow William | house steward to Leopold de Rothschild esq |
| Page William | butcher |
| Webster & Cannon | brick makers |