Marlow, Buckinghamshire

This article is about the town in Buckinghamshire, England. For other uses, see Marlow.

Coordinates: 51°34′00″N 0°46′00″W / 51.566667°N 0.766667°W / 51.566667; -0.766667

Marlow
Overlooking the River Thames and Marlow
Marlow  Marlow shown within Buckinghamshire
Population	14,004 [1]
OS grid reference	SU855865
Parish	Marlow
District	Wycombe
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MARLOW
Postcode district	SL7
Dialling code	01628
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wycombe
List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire

Marlow (historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow) is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, 4 miles (6.5 km) south-southwest of High Wycombe, 5 miles (8 km) miles west-northwest of Maidenhead and 33 miles (53 km) west of central London.

Name

The name is recorded in 1015 as Mere lafan, meaning "Land left after the draining of a pond" in Old English.^[2]

From Norman times the manor, parish and later borough was formally known as Great Marlow, distinguishing it from Little Marlow. The ancient parish was large, including rural areas north and west of the town. In 1896 the civil parish of Great Marlow, created in the 19th century from the ancient parish, was divided into Great Marlow Urban District (the town) and Great Marlow civil parish (the rural areas). In 1897 the urban district was renamed Marlow Urban District,^[3] and the town has been known simply as Marlow.

History

Further information: History of Buckinghamshire

A map of Marlow from 1945

Marlow is recorded in the Domesday Book as Merlaue.^[4]

"The manor of Marlow, which had belonged to the Earls of Mercia, was given by William the Conqueror, to his Queen Matilda. Henry the First, bestowed it on his natural son, Robert de Melhent, afterwards Earl of Gloucester, from whom it passed, with that title, to the Clares and Despencers, and from the latter, by female heirs, to the Beauchamps and Nevilles, Earls of Warwick. It continued in the crown from the time of Richard III's marriage with Anne Neville, until Queen Mary granted it to William Lord Paget, in whose family it continued more than a century; after which, it passed, by purchase, to Sir Humphrey Winch, in 1670; to Lord Falkland in 1686; to Sir James Etheridge in 1690; to Sir John Guise in 1718; and to Sir William Clayton in 1736. It is now the property of Sir William Clayton bart. a descendant of the last purchaser".^[5]

Marlow owed its importance to its location on the River Thames, where the road from Reading to High Wycombe crosses the river. It had its own market by 1227 (hence the name Chipping Marlow), although the market lapsed before 1600. From 1301 to 1307 the town had its own Member of Parliament, and it returned two members from 1624 to 1867.^[3]

Geography

Marlow is adjoined by Marlow Bottom, a mile to the north. Little Marlow is nearby to the east along the A4155 Little Marlow Road and Bourne End is further along the same road. To the south across the Thames are Bisham (home of Bisham Abbey) and Cookham Dean, both in Berkshire,

Landmarks

There has been a bridge over the Thames at Marlow since the reign of King Edward III^{[citation needed]} The current bridge is a suspension bridge, designed by William Tierney Clark in 1832, and was a prototype for the nearly identical but larger Széchenyi Chain Bridge across the River Danube in Budapest^{[citation needed]}

The Junior Wing of the Royal Military College, now based at Sandhurst on the border between Berkshire and Surrey, was once based at Remnantz in West Street - it was a mansion built in the early 18th century and served as the junior section of the college from 1801 until 1812.^[6] The weather vane on the building features a man firing a cannon, which possibly dates from that period. The building is now owned by the Bosley family.

Twinning

Marlow is twinned with

• Marly-le-Roi, France, since 1980.^[7]

• In 2008 Marlow was twinned with Budavár, a district of Budapest on the right bank of the River Danube.^[8]

Transport

The A4155 road runs through Marlow town centre, with the A404 lying one mile to the east, the M40 motorway further to the north, and the M4 motorway to the south.

Marlow is served by a railway station which is the terminus of a single-track branch line from Maidenhead. The train service is known as the Marlow Donkey, which was the nickname given to the steam locomotives that once operated on the line. There is also a pub with the same name, located close to the railway station.

Bus services are provided by Arriva and Carousel Buses to neighbouring towns including High Wycombe, Henley-on-Thames and Reading.

Education

All Saints Church from Marlow suspension bridge

Education is provided by several schools, including:

• Great Marlow School (11-18)
• Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (11-18)
• Burford School (4-11)
• Danesfield School (4-11)
• Foxes Piece School (4-11)
• Holy Trinity Church of England School (7-11)
• Marlow Church of England Infant School (4-7)
• Spinfield School (4-11)
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School (4-11)

Sport

Statue of Sir Steve Redgrave in Higginson Park

Marlow Rowing Club, founded in 1871, is one of Britain's premier rowing clubs and has produced many Olympic oarsmen including Sir Steve Redgrave. The club is based by Marlow Bridge and exercises above and below the lock. Olympic lightweight mens double sculls gold-medallist at Beijing 2008 Zac Purchase is a former member of Marlow Rowing Club.

Marlow F.C. is the oldest football club in the town. Another local football club, Marlow United F.C., has been promoted to the Hellenic Football League Premier Division for the 2008/09 season.

Marlow Rugby Club play at Riverwoods Drive. They were founded in 1947 and run a range of senior, youth and mini rugby teams. The England Rugby team had their training base at Marlow RFC until the late nineties before they moved to nearby Bisham Abbey.

Local running club the Marlow Striders run an annual half marathon and duathlon.

There are also a cricket club, hockey club and tennis club in Pound Lane. The cricket club run a variety of sides, with the first team playing in the top division of the Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League.

Regatta

Main article: Marlow Town Regatta and Festival

There are two regattas associated with Marlow; the Marlow Town Regatta and Marlow International Regatta. Earliest records indicate a regatta took place annually on the River Thames in Marlow from 1855 the latter transferred to the purpose built Dorney Lake,owned by Eton College,in 2003. Marlow still hosts its Original River Regatta which takes place annuually in June.

Marlow is the location of Marlow Lock, originating from the 14th century.

Notable people

Notable residents of the town have included Mary Shelley (who wrote Frankenstein), Percy Bysshe Shelley, T. S. Eliot and Jerome K. Jerome.

Mary Shelley's house in Marlow

MARLOW is one of the pleasantest river centres I know of. It is a bustling, lively little town; not very picturesque on the whole, it is true, but there are many quaint nooks and corners to be found in it.

Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men In A Boat

Dr William Battie, an eminent eighteenth century physician specialising in mental illness, built and lived in Court Garden House from 1758 until his death in 1776. Local folk-lore has it that he forgot to include a staircase to the first floor, so it had to be added later.^[9] The expression "batty" is said to originate from his work with the mentally ill.^{[by whom?]} In 1789 his daughter sold the house to Richard Davenport, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, who lived there for 10 years,^[10] during which, Court Garden was described in Boydells ‘History of the River Thames’, published in 1793, as "a fine Georgian house standing on a gentle eminence, a lawn of some extent descending gradually from it to the river". In 1926 the estate was saved for the people of Marlow, largely due to the efforts of local resident and Crimean War veteran General George Higginson, after whom Higginson Park is named.^[11]

Another local tradition has it that Jane Seymour lived at Seymour Court, about a mile north of Marlow, although it has never been proven.^[12] Court Garden (before the house was built) was reputedly where Henry VIII courted her. A conference room at the Court Garden Leisure Complex is named in her honour.

More recently the town (actually Marlow Bottom) has been the home of quintuple Olympic gold medallist rower Steve Redgrave, the greatest Olympian Britain has produced in recent times. After striking gold at Sydney 2000, he became Britain's only athlete ever to have won Gold Medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. The Marlow Town Park, Higginson Park, features a bronze statue of Sir Steven looking across the river towards the location of the finishing line of the Marlow Town Regatta. There is also a road, Redgrave Place, adjoining from Newtown road to commemorate the Olympic medallist.

The pop singer Robbie Williams has recently bought a house on the river in Bisham. The Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire (voted Best Restaurant in the World in 2005) lives in Marlow. Television and radio presenter Paul Ross, brother of Jonathan Ross, also lives in Marlow, having moved there after filming Celebrity Fit Club at nearby Bisham Abbey.^[13]

The former Japanese Formula One racing driver Takuma Sato was a Marlow resident some time ago. However Nelson Piquet Jnr does now reside in Marlow.

Former England goalkeeper David Seaman owns a property in Marlow.

Peter Firth, who plays Sir Harry Pearce in BBC MI5 drama Spooks is a Marlow resident.

Andrew Strauss, the current England cricket captain, moved to Marlow with his family in 2010.

Television presenter and naturalist Steve Backshall also lives in Marlow.

Gallery

• 

  Court Garden House, former home of Dr William Battie

• 

  Rowers on the Thames at Marlow

• 

  Marlow High Street

• 

  Marlow Place

• 

  The Two Brewers, where Jerome K Jerome wrote much of Three Men in a Boat

• 

  The Compleat Angler, Marlow

• 

  Looking towards Marlow from Marlow Lock

• 

  Marlow Lock

• 

  Former Royal Military College, Marlow 1802-1812

• 

  Former Wethered Brewery, Marlow

References

1. ^ neighbourhood Statistics 2001 Census
2. ^ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010), "Marlow", The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Cambridge University Press 
3. ^ ^{a b} William Page (editor) (1925). "Parishes: Great Marlow". A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42531. Retrieved 14 July 2011. 
4. ^ Mills, A D, Dictionary of English Place-Names, Oxford University Press (1991)
5. ^ Great Marlow as described in "Magna Britannia", 1806
6. ^ Town Tour Marlow Society
7. ^ Marlow Town Twinning Association
8. ^ The Marlovian, September 2009
9. ^ The Marlow Society
10. ^ UK & Ireland Genealogy/
11. ^ Wycombe District Council
12. ^ British History Online
13. ^ LBC Radio

External links

• My Marlow: A guide to living in and visiting Marlow
• Marlow: A Buckinghamshire town on the River Thames
• Marlow Methodist Church
• Images of Marlow on Odd-stuff
• Marlow Rowing Club
• Marlow Rugby Club
• Marlow United Football Club
• Marlow Cricket Club
• Marlow Striders running club
• Forty Green Protection Society