Harston
Encyclopedia
Harston is a village to the south of Cambridge
, England
.
Although the main building is seventeenth century parts of its structure date back to at least 1480 Roman
tiles have been found in the grounds and in the foundations of Harston House, supporting a tradition that a property has stood on this land ever since Roman times. The house is noteworthy for its distinctive features of English architecture, including its original Tudor
fireplace, original fine wooden panelling from the seventeenth century and its rare pilasters made of clunch
.
This is not to be confused with Harston House student accommodation at Addenbrooke's hospital.
Harston Hall was owned in the seventeenth century by the Wale family whose descendants included Thomas Wale
, whose life and eighteenth century personal papers constituted the book My Grandfather's Pocket Book. The Wale family were subsequently Lords of the Manor of the Tiptofts close by.
The Long family
1836-1869harstonhallcambridge.jpg)
During the second half of the Nineteenth century the house was owned by William Long (died 1883), whose wife was Henrietta Bridge. Henrietta was the granddaughter of John Littel-Bridge and Margaret Hurrell. She was a direct descendant of Gregory Wale
. One account of the Long family describes them thus:
The Graham Greenes
In 1893 the house was bought by Sir William Graham Greene who helped to establish the Naval Intelligence Department prior to the Second World War The author Graham Greene
used to come to Harston House to spend his summers with Sir William (his uncle). The garden at Harston House provided the setting for his novel Under the Garden. According to Graham Greene's description of his childhood:
The Wilsons
and the M11 motorway
to the north, and Royston
, Hertford
and London
to the south. The village was also once served by a railway station
on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line. However, the station closed in 1963 under the Beeching Axe
. Foxton railway station
, on the same line as the former Harston station, is located south of the village.
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Harston House
Harston House is a historic private house in Harston. It was formerly known as Harston Hall.Although the main building is seventeenth century parts of its structure date back to at least 1480 Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
tiles have been found in the grounds and in the foundations of Harston House, supporting a tradition that a property has stood on this land ever since Roman times. The house is noteworthy for its distinctive features of English architecture, including its original Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
fireplace, original fine wooden panelling from the seventeenth century and its rare pilasters made of clunch
Clunch
Clunch is a term for traditional building material used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable....
.
This is not to be confused with Harston House student accommodation at Addenbrooke's hospital.
Notable residents of Harston House
The Wale familyHarston Hall was owned in the seventeenth century by the Wale family whose descendants included Thomas Wale
Thomas Wale
Thomas Wale was a Cambridgeshire gentleman born at Risby, Suffolk on the 7 September 1701 and died in 1796. He is notable for having left a significant quantity of documents collated throughout his life which constituted the book My Grandfather's Pocket Book. His documents provide a unique insight...
, whose life and eighteenth century personal papers constituted the book My Grandfather's Pocket Book. The Wale family were subsequently Lords of the Manor of the Tiptofts close by.
The Long family
Gregory Wale
Gregory Wale was a Cambridgeshire gentleman, a Justice of the Peace for Cambridgeshire and Conservator of the River Cam.-Parents:Gregory Wale was the son of Thomas Wale of Lackfort and Penelope Wood...
. One account of the Long family describes them thus:
"Sir. W. Graham Greene's mother came to the house in 1891 and soon afterwards (1893) she bought it from the Longs after the death of Mrs. Long. It had been in the hands of the Long family for some time and was known in those days as the Long House of the Longs. Mr. Long was a very tall man and had sons who were all over six feet in height. He was a great character and many stories are told about him. He used to add to his already great height by walking around his garden on stilts and this enabled him to see what was going on over the garden wall. Some legends belonging to the time of the Civil War have been told of Harston House but they carry no conviction Formerly a large brick dove cote stood at the end of the orchard but was unfortunately pulled down by Mr. Long. Its huge foundations still trouble the gardener in his digging operations and it was this Dove Cote which was large enough to seat fifty men when the Horkey feasts were held there. Tradition has it that the Dove Cote was built on the site of a Roman villa".
The Graham Greenes
In 1893 the house was bought by Sir William Graham Greene who helped to establish the Naval Intelligence Department prior to the Second World War The author Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
used to come to Harston House to spend his summers with Sir William (his uncle). The garden at Harston House provided the setting for his novel Under the Garden. According to Graham Greene's description of his childhood:
"It was at Harston I found quite suddenly I could read — the book was Dixon Brett, Detective. I didn't want anyone to know of my discovery, so I read only in secret, in a remote attic, but my mother must have spotted what I was at all the same, for she gave me Ballantyne's The Coral IslandThe Coral IslandThe Coral Island is a novel written by Scottish juvenile fiction author R. M. Ballantyne during the peak of the British Empire. It was voted as one of the top twenty Scottish novels in the 2006 15th International World Wide Web Conference....
for the train journey home — always an interminable journey with the long wait between trains at BletchleyBletchley railway stationBletchley is a railway station that serves the southern districts of Milton Keynes , and the north-eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale....
…"
The Wilsons
Transport
The village is located on the A10 road, which provides links to CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and the M11 motorway
M11 motorway
The M11 motorway in England is a major road running approximately north from the North Circular Road in South Woodford in north-east London to the A14, north-west of Cambridge.-Route:...
to the north, and Royston
Royston, Hertfordshire
Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the towns western boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude of towns such as Milton Keynes and...
, Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to the south. The village was also once served by a railway station
Harston railway station
Harston was a railway station on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line, which served the village of Harston in Cambridgeshire. The station opened on 1 April 1852, and closed on 17 June 1963. A small part of the former northbound platform remains in situ but otherwise all remains of the station have gone...
on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line. However, the station closed in 1963 under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
. Foxton railway station
Foxton railway station
Foxton railway station serves the village of Foxton in Cambridgeshire, England. The station is operated by First Capital Connect....
, on the same line as the former Harston station, is located south of the village.
Notable people
- Thomas WaleThomas WaleThomas Wale was a Cambridgeshire gentleman born at Risby, Suffolk on the 7 September 1701 and died in 1796. He is notable for having left a significant quantity of documents collated throughout his life which constituted the book My Grandfather's Pocket Book. His documents provide a unique insight...