RSS
|
|
|
The village name Eaton is a common one in England, coming from the old English eitone, meaning "farm by a river". It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Eitone. The suffix Bray refers to Sir Reginald Bray and the family that once owned the manor in this village, which was located at present-day Park Farm. Eaton Bray once had a moated castle at Park Farm. Today all that remains is the moat, which is open to the public for fishing. In Victorian times Arthur Macnamara (the "Mad Squire" of Billington) planned to build a mansion on the site of the castle, but ran out of money after completing the lodge at the entrance to Park Farm. One of the more distinctive Victorian buildings near the church, is the Coffee Tavern built by a teetotal vicar of the parish to encourage the villagers out of the local public houses. This building was financed by the Wallace family who owned much of the land in the area as well as the famous Wallace Nurseries known for their carnations. The drawings and construction were carried out by some local builders, the Sharratts, who omitted to put a staircase in the original plans! Today the site of Wallace Nurseries is a housing estate and most of the roads take their name from this and some of the plant varieties they created, for example Saffron Rise and Coral Close. |
