Timeline of the History of Tring and District Villages

THE AGE OF EMPIRES (1815 – 1914)

What happened in this country?
  • Continued economic growth post industrial revolution
  • Britain’s golden age as world super-power
  • Abolition of slavery
  • Development of free, international trade
  • Growth in inequality between rich and poor
  • Industrial and political unrest with initial resistance to reform
  • Eventual limited parliamentary and industrial reform
  • Canal network largely replaced by railways
  • First government interventions in education
  • Introduction of police forces
  • Heyday of literature and poetry
  • Development of organised sport and leisure
  • Submissive role of women begins to be challenged by feminists
  • Education made compulsory for children 5-10

What Happened in our villages?

1819
Baptist Chapel in Long Marston

Licence granted for Baptist Chapel in Long Marston

1829
Wesleyan Chapel

Licence granted for Wesleyan Chapel in Long Marston

1832
First burial

First burial in the grounds of All Saints Church Long Marston

1837
Baptist Chapel in Wilstone

Baptist Chapel erected in Wilstone

1839
Wilstone reservoir

Completion of Wilstone reservoir to present size

1841
Population of Wilstone

First modern census, population of Wilstone 407 (Long Marston quoted as a population of 12 but much of present area assumed to be included in Marsworth which showed population of 472)

1843
Baker’s Shop

Baker’s Shop in Long Marston advertised in Aylesbury News for sale by auction

1848
Wilstone School

Wilstone School opened as Church of England school

1851
Puttenham Church

Rebuilding of chancel of Puttenham Church

1853
New pastor

After a dispute over the appointment of a new pastor, there was an attempt to take over Marsworth Chapel by two residents of Wilstone and Long Marston, who appeared before magistrates for behaving in a riotous and disorderly manner.

1860s
Methodist Chapel

New Methodist Chapel erected in Long Marston

1861
Census

Population of Wilstone recorded as 455 in census of that year

1860
Marston Gate

Long Marston Gate railway station opened

1867
Ecclesiastical parish

Long Marston formed into an ecclesiastical parish, from portions of Marsworth, Drayton Beauchamp and Tring. Long Marston Cricket Club formed

1871
Foot and mouth disease

Outbreak of foot and mouth disease results in widespread distress, unemployment and moves of residents to towns, recurrence in 1879

1872
Wilstone Manor

Wilstone Manor sold to the Rothschild family

1875
Long Marston School

Opening of Long Marston Village Schoo. Wilstone Parish Room built, to be used for the benefit of the inhabitants; Working Men’s club started

1876
St Cross Church

St Cross Church in Wilstone started construction, licenced and opened the following year

1881
Allotment Act

Allotment Act passed requiring publicly owned land to be let to labourers

1883
Church Rectory

New Long Marston Church Rectory completed. Original Long Marston Church pulled down due to its dangerous state

1884
Separate parish

Long Marston’s application to Whitehall become a separate parish, no longer connected to Wilstone, is rejected by 10 votes to 9

1888
New Church

New Long Marston Church building completed. First person to be buried in Wilstone Cemetery

1889
Puttenham Church

Partial restoration of Puttenham Church; rebuilding of upper tower and porch. Plans submitted by Rural Council for sewage systems in Long Marston and Wilstone

1890s
LMFC

Long Marston Football Club formed

1891
Wilstone allotments

Cottage allotments laid down in Wilstone

1894
Puttenham Rectory

Puttenham Rectory enlarged, grounds covering 194 acres. First elections of local councils; Wilstone joined with Long Marston to form the civil parish of Tring Rural. First meeting of Tring Rural Parish Council in 1895

1895
Lord Rothschild

Lord Rothschild offers a field in Wilstone for football and cricket teams

1896
First signpost

First signpost erected in Gubblecote to aid travellers, another one followed in Long Marston two years later

1898
Wilstone Village Shop

Lord Rothschild donates area for cemetery by Long Marston Church. Wilstone Village Shop, known to be run as a Bakery and Post Office, owned by George Hanwell

1906
Church roof

Long Marston Church closed due to problems in roof and foundations, repairs completed in 1908

1907
Wilstone Scout Troop

1st Wilstone Scout Troop formed

1909
Churches combined

Puttenham and Long Marston churches combined into one Rectory. Census shows that a fifth of the houses in Wilstone were uninhabited, 261 residents compared to 468 in 1851 and 400 in 1891

1910
Church organ

Organ installed in St Cross Church Wilstone

1914
Wilstone Church consecrated

St Cross Church Wilstone consecrated by the Bishop of St Albans

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