Olney Market Place
At Point of Interest Number 1 you should be on the Market Place near the War Memorial. Please face south towards Orchard House, now the Cowper and Newton Museum (see above image).Continental lace makers came to this area of North Buckinghamshire from the late 1500s, through to the late 1600s, as a result of religious persecution in their own countries. The lace makers, particularly those from Lille and Mechlin, settled here in the small market town of Olney. They taught the local women to make bobbin lace and thus began a cottage industry which lasted for over 300 years.The equipment for lace making could be made locally – the straw stuffed pillow, the wooden ‘horse’ to support the pillow, the parchment patterns, and the wooden and bone bobbins. See image of bobbins above. Examples can be seen in the Cowper and Newton Museum.The lace makers lived in small cottages in the many ‘courts’, situated off the High Street and the Market Place; also in Silver End - the street to the left of the Museum building. See image above for a photograph of Silver End taken around 1880The one lace making commodity which could not be produced locally was the thread, linen originally and later cotton. This was supplied by the shopkeepers of the town, often the grocers and bakers, many of whom were in premises around this Market Place. Those tradesmen then bought the finished lace from the lace makers and sold it on at greatly increased prices, usually at special Lace Markets in London, and made a handsome profit for themselves. This dealing became so profitable that they set up as full time lace dealers and spent substantial money on renovating their houses.Many of the larger houses in Olney were either rebuilt or re-faced in the 18th century for lace dealers. One example is the large building on the south-west corner of the Market Place and the main road (now Numbers 37 and 38). It was originally the Catherine Wheel Inn, but was virtually rebuilt for John Rickards in 1722 and remained a lace dealer’s premises for the next 150 years. A photograph of this building taken in the 1900s is shown above. A weekly market has been held on this Market Place since at least 1206. Special bobbins could be obtained at the three fairs held annually: on Easter Monday, Cherry Fair in June and Statute Fair in October.When the poet, William Cowper, lived at Orchard Side from 1768 to 1786, there were around 1,200 lace makers in the town within a total population of around 2,500 in those days; consequently half of the inhabitants were lace makers. The poet was sympathetic to the lace makers and their hardworking life of long hours. He sought, with the Reverand John Newton (through the charity of a generous London benefactor), to relieve any distress with practical gifts particularly during the winter months. Cowper also signed a petition on their behalf, which went before Parliament when the lace makers were threatened with a tax which would have ruined their livelihood.Incidentally, Cowper’s own home (Number 30) was later used as a Lace School in the mid 1800s.A photograph taken in the 1920s of a typical Olney lace maker is included in the above images. Now make your way across the Zebra Crossing and then turn right and carefully cross Spring Lane and walk some 250 metres until you arrive at Evelyn House, Number 15A High Street, where Point of Interest Number 2 is visible.
The Old Penny House
Point of Interest Number 2. Having stopped at Evelyn House next to Olney House, look across the street at the Old Penny House (Number 22 High Street) to the left of the archway. See recent photograph above.The Old Penny House was a school for girls run by Sarah Duxbury in the 1850s. She also taught them lace making for a few pence a week. Teachers in lace schools were also supposed to teach the girls to read and write, but usually most of the effort was put into lace making, as writing would have taken their hands off their lace pillows! The children would be gathered in a room usually with no heating, other than ‘dicky pots’ at their feet, as smoke and dust from a fire would soil their lace. Their necks and arms were kept bare so the teacher could slap them if the lace was worked incorrectly. An extreme punishment for bad work was to have their head thrust forward onto the pillow and their nose rubbed on the pin heads!Next door to the left (Number 24 High Street) is the Honey House, see recent photograph above. The Honey House is so called because the Cobb family, who lived there in late Victorian times, were bee-keepers and had a licence to make a mead-like drink called Metheglin on St. Andrew’s Day. This day, on 30th November, was the lace makers’ holiday. The name was corrupted to ‘Tanders’ Day.As well as the drink, yeast cakes flavoured with caraway seeds, were eaten and games played like ‘Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick’. Following this holiday, the lace makers were allowed to light the candle on the stool surrounded by glass globes, to reflect the light for them to see to make lace during the dark winter. months.Next, walk another 200 metres further along the High Street until you reach Number 51 where Point of Interest 3 is visible.
John Millward's House
Point of Interest Number 3. Having stopped at Number 51 High Street opposite the United Reformed Church, look across the street at the small house (Number 44) between the United Reform Church and the Hairdressing Salon. See image above.Number 44 was the home of John Millward, a famous lace designer, who specialised in designs for the crowns of babies’ caps, during the first quarter of the 1800s. Around this time the local lace makers were feeling the effects of the competition from the machine made lace in Nottingham. However at first, the machines couldn’t copy anything with a round shape such as babies’ caps. So lots of these babies’ caps were hand made and many exported to America.John Millward also gave evidence to Parliament of the piracy of lace pattern designs. He was still winning awards for his designs at the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851. An image of John Millward and his friends is shown above. This image shows John, the tall gentleman, wearing a high ‘stove-pipe’ hat, and the cut-away tailed coat of the day. He had some sort of foot disability and was nicknamed ‘Dabfoot’ in the town!The entry alongside his house, which goes through to East Street, is still known as ‘Mill’ards Entry’. Over the years Olneyites have dropped the ‘w’ in ‘Millward’.Next, walk another 75 metres further along the High Street until you reach to No. 55, where The Lace Factory (Point of Interest Number 4) is clearly visible across the Street.
Harry Armstrong's 'Lace Factory'
At Point of Interest Number 4 you should be standing just beyond the former Butcher’s shop (Number 55 High Street) and be situated opposite ‘The Lace Factory’ on the other side of the street.The site in the High Street was available as the buildings had been destroyed by fire in 1924, so Harry Armstrong, a local lace dealer, employed in 1928 local builder George Knight to erect the Lace Factory, as it became known. Harry wanted a building ‘the like of which Olney has not seen before’. Builder George had to talk him out of Corinthian columns and other fanciful designs. A recent photograph of the building is shown above. Being the time of the Great Depression, it was constructed mostly with second hand materials. The only work with new materials was the carving on the façade, which originally included three huge carvings over the front door of a bobbin winder, candle-stool and a bobbin stand. A photograph of the 'topping out' ceremony on the factory building is included above. Lace was never made in the Lace Factory. It was used as offices and as a warehouse, where lace was sewn onto garments or any article that Harry thought could be adorned with lace! It was then packed into parcels which were sent out worldwide. A photograph of the finished building is shown above complete with the the carving on the façade. Another photograph taken in July 1931 shows the girls employed at the lace factory. The lace was made by women in their homes and brought into the Lace Factory for sale or collected by agents in local villages. Out of their earnings the lace makers had to buy the thread for the next week’s work!Harry advertised his business in women’s magazines and by sending out postcards touting for business from individual women or women’s groups. A response would result in the dispatch of a parcel of lace ‘on approval'. Prospective purchasers were given a month to pay up or return the goods. The late Cis Elderton who worked in the office for him said they lost very few parcels. "People were honest in those days" she said.See Cis Elderton's article and video on the ODHS website. Harry was quite a character as he traded as ‘Mrs Armstrong’, believing women were more likely to buy lace from another woman! Sadly, he died at the early age of 56 while on a business trip to Scotland in 1943.Thereafter lace making in Olney, as a business, was only carried on by a few older women who made lace for gifts.See two images above of an example of a lace pattern together with the finished lace item produced in Olney. The item is a lace collar with a nine-pin edging, square 'leaves' and a 'plait and picot' ground. Lace making enjoyed a revival in Olney in the 1970s, following a national resurgence of the craft in the 1950s and 60s through the efforts of the Women’s Institute and local adult education classes. By this time the once traditional cottage industry had become a leisure-time craft. The ‘Olney Lace Circle’ was formed in the 1970s and continues lace making today, still as a leisure-time activity.Link to the Olney Lace CircleNext, turn around, and with extra care, cross the road using the uncontrolled crossing. Then, walk back towards the Market Place, a distance of some 200 metres, and pause at Number 24 The Honey House, Point of Interest Number 5.
The Honey House
So we have arrived back at the Honey House, Point of Interest Number 5.This position in the High Street is possibly a good position from which to let your eyes run along the roofline all the way down the High Street (on either side).The fact that there are few adjacent houses at precisely the same height is most noticeable, and today this certainly adds to the considerable charm of the town. Also, no major houses are exactly alike, and what could be described as, almost a mansion, can stand ‘cheek by jowl’ with a small cottage! Or, put another way, lace dealers, brewery owners and shoe manufacturers could literally live next door to their workers!Continue walking back to the Market Place and pause again at Berrill's Court (Point of Interest Number 6), where many of the lace makers lived in small thatched cottages. (The entrance to Berrill’s Court is next to the Chemist’s shop at Number 14 Market Place.)
Berrill's Court
Point of Interest Number 6 - which is merely a pause.Glance down the entrance to Berrill’s Court (which is next to the Chemist’s shop at Number 14 Market Place) where many of the lace makers lived in small thatched cottages. It is difficult to be precise about the number of cottages that were situated in this small court, but it is estimated that there were in excess of 20 dwellings housing shoeworkers, farmworkers, lace makers and their large families. Continue to walk along the east side of the Market Place until you are opposite the Cowper and Newton Museum (Point of Interest Number 7 and the final stop on this trail).
The Cowper and Newton Museum
Point of Interest 7 - the final point of interest on this trail.If you have not already done so recently, why not visit the Cowper and Newton Museum to view the many lace making artefacts it displays, along with an excellent collection of local lace.The Cowper and Newton Museum is usually open Tuesday to Saturday, March to December, between 10.30am and 4.30pm, but please check with The Cowper and Newton Museum website.SO WE ARE BACK ALMOST WHERE WE STARTED.Further information on the Points of Interest visited on this trail, and on many other aspects of Olney's history, can be found on the Olney and District Historical Society's extensive website. On behalf of the Olney and District Historical Society and the Cowper and Newton Museum , we trust that you have enjoyed your self-guided trail around Olney. And finally, you will have noticed that this trail has conveniently ended within a few steps of a dozen or more restaurants and coffee shops. So before leaving for home, why not make your selection and enjoy?!
