A Nibble Becomes A Bite (3 June 1977)

I sometimes wonder whether Milton Keynes Development Corporation or Milton Keynes Borough Council know of decisions taken by the former Bletchley Urban Council anent development in the area, or whether they have decided to take no notice of them even if they do know.

I am thinking of the county council’s plan to pull down The Elmers, the large house opposite the Bletchley Rectory gates and to erect 43 homes there and on the adjoining open land.

I distinctly remember how, in about 1957, the urban council was considering the prospect of new development around that area.

Cllr Miss Mary Gillett asked for an assurance that any plans should provide for as wide a field of vision as possible from all sides of St. Mary’s Church because it was the one ornament which Bletchley possessed and could be proud of.  She was given that assurance and the subsequent policy was in line with that assurance.  Had it not been so, I am sure the land would have been built up long ago as the start of development in that area and not as its continuation, or as an afterthought.

Miss Gillett was one of a number of tutors at the Bletchley Park Women Teachers’ Training College who lived at The Elmers.

She could not have foreseen the present ruinous state of the house, but my feeling is that if the current situation had arisen at that time the council would have regarded it as a heaven-sent opportunity to clear this obstruction to the view of the church and develop the whole site as an open space, matching that of the ex-Rectory garden across the way.

I believe that that should be done now.  The county council’s idea ought to be a non-starter.  The other authorities’ notions of a low density development should also be out.  We all know how a nibble becomes a bite and finally an engulfment.

The Elmers is a gaunt, dark, Victorian building of little architectural merit.  It was put up in around 1870 by Richard Selby-Lowndes on the site of an older building – possibly the Eight Bells or the Old Bells public house which used to be beside the green before the business was transferred to the bottom of Church Green Road.

Richard had a large family of daughters.  This gave rise to a popular idea that the Eight Belles – as it was spelled in old documents – was named after them.  But I am afraid I must question this.  Quarter Sessions rolls mention “expenses at eight bells” in 1783, which was long before the Lowndes “belles” were born.  The late Mr Harry Dimmock told me he could not remember there ever having been more than five.  And the Rev F.W. Bennitt, in his 1931 History of Bletchley mentions the inn and also Selby-Lowndes, but does not connect them in any way, as he assuredly would have done had there been such a remarkable happening practically on his doorstep.

Early this century there was in Queensway a private school for boys and girls called St Martin’s Grammar School.  I believe the premises are now the Conservative Club.  The proprietors were Mr and Mrs S H Still.  In due course the school was transferred to The Elmers, maybe on account of the larger playing area.  It continued up to the beginning of the second world war and I know businessmen living in the town who attended it.

For the duration of the war the premises were taken over by the Ministry of Works in connection with the activities at Bletchley Park.  After the war the premises were returned to Mr Still, who began advertising for pupils once more.

I don’t know what progress he made, if any.  I do know that other people now had their eyes on the property for different purposes.  They included Bletchley Council.  They put it forward as a suitable building for a much-needed maternity home, but the health authority turned it down as entirely unsuitable.  Incidentally, Holne Chase was also suggested in that era(sic) and was also rejected.

Finally, the fate of The Elmers was settled for years to come when teacher training began at Bletchley Park and it became a home for principals and tutors. . .

I see that a woman has been appointed minister of the Drayton Parslow Baptist Church and I wish her a happy and fruitful ministry.  Some notes of mine, made in September, 1948, give the following interesting item anent the origin of the chapel:

“Mrs Mellowes has died in Middlesex, aged 90.  She was the eldest daughter of Joseph Coleman, of Chestnut Farm, Drayton Parslow, and Cow Common Farm, Water Eaton.

“Her grandfather, Thomas Coleman, founded the Baptist cause in Drayton Parslow.  He first held services in his cottage and suffered a good deal of persecution.  Once a crowd gathered outside his cottage while a service was taking place.  They tried to push in the old walls of wattle and mud.  The worshippers, however, pushed back on the insides and successfully resisted the pressure.

“Thomas owned a seed drill and earned a living by drilling corn.  He set aside a portion of his earnings to build a chapel and this was accomplished in 1830.”