More historical information about Woodside (July 2011)
I recently spent an hour in the Durning Library in Ascot (library contact
details on History page) They have a good collecting of local history reference material and maps going back to 1886 in a
special "map-room". Maybe maps aren't your thing but I love looking at them and discovering new information.
It is free to everyone and the staff were extremely helpful.
Did you know that in the 19th Century the footpath
through the Crown Land directly across the main road (the A332) from Woodside Road, starting at Searchlight Gate*, led to
a large country house called Woodend House. [see new map on the History page of this website] The field is
now completely empty of any evidence of this large house which was owned by the Duffield family, who were subsequently related
by marriage to the Crutchley Family who owned Sunninghill Park by the lake.
It certainly explains why today the
ancient cattle drovers track called Strood Lane seems to stop suddenly in the middle of nowhere. This is because it once continued
into the grounds of the country estate of Woodend House. The map shows tracks leading out the otherside of the estate towards
Ascot and Sunninghill. For those of you unfamiliar with Strood Lane, its now just a popular but overgrown footpath running
North South-ish to Sunninghill Road the B383. The gravel covered horse riding path running down to the corner of the Ascot
racecourse was then called Woodend Ride.
The name - Woodend House - reflects the historic name of the southern
part of what we today call the village of Woodside. The area of Kiln Lane, Woodside Road up to the Duke of Edinburgh is identified
on maps as the hamlet of Woodend right up to the 20th Century. I expect some of the residents of Woodend worked on the Woodend
House estate. Woodend also included the Ascot Brickfield (which is why Kiln Lane is named as such), a sawmill, a smithy (now
the Duke of Edinburgh pub building) and a few small dwellings such as Lovel Cottages and Wells Cottages.
The name
Woodside had been applied only to the Northern end of the village, up Woodside Road to; and beyond, Lovel Lane and alongside
Woodside Lane. There were some very large estates and country houses in this part of the village.
*Searchlight
Gate, so called because during World War II there was a searchlight in the park at the end of the path. Part of a network
of searchlights spotting bombers heading for London.
Useful History Sources
www.1911census.co.uk
Even without paying for access, it is possible to glean a lot from this website about your ancestors.
www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s database of World War casualties.
www.familysearch.org The Church of the Latter Day Saints’ website, especially useful for earlier BMDs
www.heritagegateway.org.uk Great for researching the history of buildings.
www.historicaldirectories.org Trade directories from the early 1800s till 1919. www.old-maps.co.uk Historical maps from across the UK for the 1860s till the 1930s.
tinyurl.com/WW1-Medal-Rolls Find your serviceman ancestor on this First World War medals database
http://www.blha.org.uk/index.html Berkshire Local History Association (BLHA).
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/ This site covers the 'historic county' of Berkshire, that is the original county (including detached
parts of Wiltshire only officially merged into it in 1844
http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/findbykeyword.asp
The Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography,
Times Digital Archive, Who’s Who: All via the one of the Library pages on the RBWM Borough website. You just need your library card number.
www.old-maps.co.uk
www.rootschat.com
www.visionofbritain.co.uk
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150+ years of Kiln Lane
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Who is the Duke in the pub sign?
 The Duke of Edinburgh
has a fine pub sign, but who is portrayed? It certainly isn’t the current Duke of Edinburgh with whom we are familiar.
Luckily one of the locals had some friends visiting from Coburg in Germany who recognised him immediately. It
goes back to the days of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and also Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alfred Ernest Albert (known as Affie to
his family, reflecting his affable nature) lived from 6th August 1844 – 30th July 1900. He was the second son and fourth
child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh in 1866. He succeeded his paternal uncle
Ernst as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire on 23rd August 1893.
Alfred
married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. To commemorate the occasion. The Marie
biscuit was created by English bakery Peek Freans in London in 1874; it featured the Duchess' name on the top. A Marie biscuit is like
a Rich Tea biscuit but with vanilla flavouring. The Marie biscuit became popular throughout Europe, particularly in Spain
where, following the Spanish Civil War, the biscuit became a symbol of Spain's economic recovery after bakeries produced mass quantities
to consume a surplus of wheat.
Alfred had a highly successful career in the Royal Navy. Whilst
still in command of HMS Galatea, the Duke of Edinburgh started from Plymouth on 24 January 1867 for his voyage round
the world. On 7 June 1867, he left Gibraltar, reached the Cape of Good Hope on 24 July and paid a royal visit to Cape Town on 24 August 1867 after landing at Simon's Town a while earlier. He landed at Glenelg, South Australia, on 31 October. Being the first British prince to visit Australia, the Duke was received with great enthusiasm. During
his stay of nearly five months he visited Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Tasmania.
On 12 March 1868, on his second visit to Sydney he was invited by Sir William Manning, President of the Sydney Sailors' Home to picnic at the beachfront suburb of Clontarf to raise funds for the home. At
the function he was wounded in the back by a revolver fired by Henry James O'Farrell. The Prince was shot just to the right of his spine, and was tended for the next two weeks by six nurses, trained by Florence Nightingale and led by Matron Lucy Osburn, who had just arrived in Australia in February, 1868.
It is doubtful if he ever
drank in Woodside, only not least since the Duke was only turned into a pub in the 20th century (having reputedly once been
the local post office and smithy and bakery) but you never can be sure with a sailor.
(Thanks for material Chris
Brown and the Editor)
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