Cockayne Hatley shown within Bedfordshire
| Cockayne Hatley | |
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Cockayne Hatley shown within Bedfordshire |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Shire county | Bedfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire | |
Cockayne Hatley is a small village in Bedfordshire (population 2007 about 75 with 33 houses), bordering on Cambridgeshire, 3 miles (5 km) east of Potton, 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Biggleswade and 9 miles (15 km) south-east from St. Neots. The village's population in 1891 was 104.
The soil is strong clay with clay subsoil. The chief crops are wheat, oil seed rape, beans and peas. The farm surrounding the village belongs to Cooperative Wholesale Society and covers an area of 587 hectares.
Cockayne Hatley House ("The Hall"), was formerly the residence of the Marquess of Granby, is a mansion of brick, standing in a small park. The village once contained the largest apple orchard in England, with over 1 million Cox's Orange Pippins.[citation needed] Created by Mr Whitehead, the orchard was an early form of network selling with owners from all over the country. Whitehead had witnessed the scientific growing of apple trees in Canada. The trees were dug up and burned as uneconomic in 1974.
The Church of St John the Baptist is situated at the gates of an ancient hall and dates to the thirteenth century. It contains numerous high quality carved woodwork, carvings and stained glass, mostly from the abbey of Alne near Charleroi and dating from 1689, 'liberated' from Flanders following the Napoleonic wars by the Rev. Henry Cockayne Cust, parish rector from 1806-61. [1]
The churchyard contains a handsome monument over the grave of the poet W. E. Henley, who was Robert Louis Stephenson's model for Long John Silver. Henley was also a friend of J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. Henley used to address Barrie as 'friend', which Henley's only daughter, Margaret, mispronounced as 'fwend' and changed in a childish way to 'fwendy-wendy'. The latter part of this familiar name gave the name of 'Wendy darling' which later became the Wendy of Peter Pan.
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