This newspaper article from the Independent Press & Chronicle was published in September 1961. Harold McMillan was Prime Minister, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became first human in space during a single-orbit flight, and "Barbie" met her new boyfriend "Ken".
Today Dullingham has an even longer history although not quite as peaceful due to volume of traffic. The advert on this page was selling 12v car batteries from 139'6 which is (if I recall correctly) £6 19s 6d. £7 in 1961 is, in 2022, is equivalent to £144.36. With car batteries starting today at under £100 some things are cheaper these days!
Rather than strain your eyes the article has been scanned and included at the bottom of the page. No expense spared for you dear reader.
DULLINGHAM, a large village with a comparatively small population, has little to raise it into a position of particular eminence in Cambridgeshire, and yet it is a village of considerable scenic attraction and one which is thought highly of by its inhabitants.
One well-known writer on county villages, Mr. Arthur Mee, somewhat surprisingly makes no mention of many of the interesting features of the village which would occur to the visitor and resident alike, but instead he dwells on the merits of the very fine sycamore tree in the churchyard. True, this is of an attractive shape and stature, even though it hides most of the church from view, but one wonders that he found so little else to occupy his brief description of Dullingham.
With such a spread out contingent of shops and houses-the postman’s round is some eight miles in length-the number of people living in the village is by no means large, and in fact is not much more than double what it was in the days of the Domesday Book. In the year 1085 the population stood at 275; at the time of the Poll Tax in 1377 it had dropped to 153, and at the time of the Hearth Tax in 1664, when 13 of the 61 house in Dullingham only had one hearth, it had risen slightly to-305. At the 1881 census the people numbered 838 and in 1951, 523, a figure which is at present just a little higher.
To serve this population there are the three public houses, the Boot, the King's Head and the Royal Oak, a post 0ffice-cum-general store, a commercial store and another small food store. There is a garage and, of course, plenty of delivery vans to augment the basic requirements.
Bridge Was Bombed
As far as communications are concerned, Dullingham is adequately served by the railway, which runs through it, the bridge over which was bombed during the last war. Its bus service, however, is rather poor; on Tuesdays and Saturdays there are plenty of buses into Cambridge and Newmarket, but for the rest of the week, these are very sparse.
Electricity and water are available to the residents and in the near future they are also to be provided with main sewerage. There is, however, no street lighting, an amenity which one feels should be installed as Dullingham is cut by two fairly busy roads.
The school is of the primary county type and caters for children under the age of 11, after which they go to Bottisham Village College. In days gone by there was a Charity school in Dullingham, and as long ago as 1579 a school which evidently had a very irreverent school master.
The story goes that this man, one Thomas Marriot by name, hid the bread at morning communion and in the afternoon contemptuously administered it to the parish youths. Today most of the villagers leave home to work in Cambridge or Newmarket. If they desire employment on the spot they can really only work on the land as there are no local industries, hurdle making having died out some time ago, and the premises where malt used to be made, having been taken over since 1956, for the purpose of grain storage.
Memorial Hall
Social activities include meetings of the Women's Institute and of a flourishing sports club. There is also a youth club and an occasional dance held in the Sidney Augustus Taylor Memorial Hall which was erected in 1945 by his six sons and four daughters. Football is played on a special field near the station, ‘leaving village green for a somewhat ) inadequate recreation ground.
Building development in Dullingham is not particularly marked, although there are two Council estates, and a few new private dwellings. Bungalows at present in the course people of construction for elderly are, in the opinion Of the Vicar - (the Rev. H. Lloyd Jukes) too far away from the Post Office, where the inhabitants will have to draw their pensions. The distance they will have walk must be nearly a mile.
As Dullingham is primarily a farming village—there is also one stud—it is unlikely that there will ever be any extensive development. It is a village in which residents take considerable pride and to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Il, two chestnut trees were planted on the village green. Similar, to commemorate the Festival of Britain, wooden seats were placed at several convenient points.
In 1957, Dullingham was the venue for the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Agricultural Show, this being held on land farmed by the late Mr. F. B. Taylor, of Dullingham House.
17th Century House
Mr. Taylor's widow still lives in the house, an attractive 17th century building which was altered by Humphrey Repton, who also designed the garden in 1800. Since then, Georgian parts of the house have been removed, although it still has 11 bedrooms. Mr, and Mrs. Fred Taylor bought it several years after the war from a Mrs. Harvey Leader, who was the niece of a previous owner, Mrs. C.W. Robinson. During the war troops were accommodated on the estate and it was prior to this that Mrs.Robinson, the lady of the manor lived in it. She was a descendant by marriage of the Jeaffreson family, had held Dullingham estate since the 17th century.
Today Dullingham Estate Farms, Ltd., comprises some 1,000 acres.
Mrs. Taylor's brother-in-law, Mr.W. J. Taylor, also lives in the village and is, known as the “father" of the Cambridgeshire County Council.
For religious worship there are two chapels in 4 Dullingham and the fine early English church of St.Mary. The oldest part of this edifice is its chancel with its priests' door and early English piscina. Some of it is in the Perpendicular style of architecture and on the south side of the south aisle is a chapel (now used as a vestry) with the remains of a reredos on its east wall.
Ancient Church
While this church dates back to the 13th century it is probable that an even older one, stood on the same site. In any case Dullingham Church once belonged to the Abbey of St.Wendrill's in Normandy, It was restored in 1884-90 at a cost of £680 and 1899 its oak roof was repaired for a further £800. In the present day, the Vicar hopes to raise £1,000 for further repairs that are needed
within the next five years. He is aiming at collecting £300 a year and is so far succeeding. The War Memorial in the churchyard is a copy of St.Martin's Cross, Iona.
Going right back into the history of Dullingham, there is evidence of its existence as "Dullingham" in the days of Domesday, when it meant "the place of the people of Dulla”. It was almost certainly inhabited long before this in Roman and Saxon days.
It was in the hundred of Radfield and was held by the Abbot of Wandregisilius, having at that time wood for 100 hogs and pasture for cattle. With monetary figures provided in the records it appears that the price of land decreased slightly with the arrival of William the Conqueror on these shores, two of his own knights into Dullingham, while another landowner in the village, Countess Judith is reputed to have been a relative of his.
The Manor was held by the Abbott of Wendrill in Normandy and in the reign of Henry Ill, two of Dullingham's large halls, those of Poins—which was at one time inhabited by John Duke of Bedford— and Beechams, were described as "moieties of the manor of Dullingham in the Abbey of St. Wendrill.”
Later history saw John Earl of Oxford having his Dullingham Manor taken away from him when he was attainted for high treason in the reign of Edward IV. Some years later, however, it was restored to him.
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasant's Revolt of 1381 seems to have had some effect on Dullingham, the three days of terror being recorded as June 15th, 16th and 17th. Information handed down, points out that on the "Sunday after Corpus Christi, Jomp Kempe, of Dullingham insurrected, and as a captain with others unknown, rode armed with banners displayed to Burwell, where they destroyed the house of Dullingham 's Long History Thomas de Swaffham- there, and seized 40s, worth of goods.
Neither did Dullingham escape the iconoclast Dowsing, in the. 17th century. He visited the church, broke a number of "superstitious pictures," and had the steps of the altar levelled.
In the early days of Dullingham, an interesting fact is that the Lords of the Manor claimed the right to a very large jurisdiction over local crime, extending even to capital cases. One, Robertus de Bello Campo, claimed by inheritance, the right to "a gallows, pillory and ducking-stool, also infang-thief and the goods of felons and fugitives." (By right of infang-thief the local authorities could deal summarily with any robbers caught in their bounds.)
Between 1595 and 1656, Dullingham was mostly in the hands of the Wingfields of Newmarket who, like the Beechams, originated from Somerset Col. John Jeaffreson bought the estate in 1666 and subsequently added to it.
In 1808 Earl Grosenor took land in Hare Park but his house there is no longer in existence. Enclosure came two years earlier.
Oaks for Shipbuilding
A moated site in a clump of elms half way between the Church and Stetchworth has attracted some interest but no one knows a lot about it. The woods at Dullingham were once noted for their oak trees, which were cut down and used in shipbuilding.
Of the buildings in Dullingham only the Church, Dullingham House, and the Guildhouse are really of any significance. The latter, now two cottages, stands at the crossroads by the village green, and is almost in the same condition as it was in the reign of Henry VIII.
The Guild of St John was revived by the Vicar, Master Bretton, in 1517 and in many ways: was a forerunner of the modern friendly societies. Membership was 6d. a head and meals were provided for the poor, thus indicating a sense of welfare for the community even in those days. These Guilds undoubtedly did much good.
The modern Dullingham, in some of its villagers' estimations, is losing its old character: Inevitably cottages are being demolished and road names such as "crescent" and "close," have appeared. But in spite of this there is something about the village which will always retain its associations with the -years gone by whatever happens in the future. It is a village of peace and calm and yet it is also a village of individualism and progression.
Sources
- Kevin McDonnell Collection
- Independent Press & Chronicle
The same view in 1971 shows some big changes, more so those at the front. Gone are the wings and the size of the windows in now what forms to new wings have been resized and aligned with those in the centre section of the building. The viewed is now of bowling green.
The Rose Garden was created when the west wing was taken down, essentially relocated from the rear.
The Walled Garden in 1971. Looking north from the Coachman's Cottage.
Behind the walled gardens of Dullingham House looking east from the gates of the bowling green in 1971. The patch to the left leads to some woods where the Taylor family buried their dog and put up headstones.
