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Chicksands History
Chicksands, on the edge of Shefford,
now a Joint Services base for the United Kingdom,
has a long history of military
involvement stretching back to the Civil War in the 17th Century.
Its history, however, stretches further
back with a mention in the Domesday Survey of
1086 of a manor at Chicksands. Payne de
Beauchamp, Baron of Bedford inherited the
property in the first half of the 12th Century.
In 1147 the manor was given to the
Gilbertine Order - the Gilbertines being the only true
religious order - for the building of a
religious house. the founder himself, Gilbert, died
in 1189. The Priory originally
consisted of a pair of adjacent cloisters - one for men and
one for women - with a dividing wall.
Thomas a Becket, as Archbishop of
Canterbury, took refuge in Chicksands in 1164 in
the disguise of a canon. He later went
into exile in France, after which a Pope's
intervention led to his return to
England and his subsequent murder in Canterbury
Cathedral prior to his canonisation in
1173. A chapel of rest for pilgrims on their way to
Canterbury was built near Meppershall 2
miles from Shefford). The remains are still visible.
There is a legend of a tunnel between
the Priory and what is now Barclays Bank in
North Bridge Street Shefford (possibly
a hostel for the Priory). No evidence has been
found. It may have been a drainage tunnel.
Following the economic depression of
the Black Death in the 14th Century the Priory
was expanded in the 15th Century and
massive oak beams from that time still remain.
In 1531 Henry VIII proclaimed himself
head of the church in England and set about
dissociating all churches from Rome. He
then dissolved all religious houses and their lands
in favour of the Crown. Following a
visit of the King's lawyers and a report that two nuns were
pregnant, the Prior of Chicksands
signed a deed of surrender in 1538, thus bringing the
religious era to an end. There is a
story, dating to the lawyer's report of a walled-up
disgraced nun whose ghost still haunts
the Priory to this day.
Following ownership by the Crown, the
Priory and lands were sold to Richard Snowe
whose son, Daniel, bequeathed it to
Mary Osborne. In 1598 title to the Chicksands estate
passed to the Osbornes who held it
in the family until 1936. Sir Peter Osborne was born in
1585, married Lady Dorothy Danvers
in 1609 and was later appointed Royal Governor of
Guernsey. Of their eight children
one of the five survivors was a daughter called Dorothy after
her mother.
In 1643 with the Civil War raging, Sir
Peter left Chicksands for Guernsey to support his
king, financing the operation
personally. Intrigue from a so-called- family friend , sir
George Carteret, diverted the Crown's
contribution to Jersey. The Roundheads meanwhile
occupied Bedfordshire and Lady
Dorothy was obliged to sell her jewelry to support her
husband - again with the
majority finding its way to Jersey! Sir Peter abandoned Guernsey in
1645 and joined his wife who
had previously moved to France.
It was during a Channel crossing that
William Temple of a prominent Roundhead family
met Dorothy Osborne (Sir Peter's
daughter) and fell in love. Both families disapproved
of the relationship and the couple did
not meet again for two years. After the beheading
of the King and the virtual surrender
of Sir Peter he returned to Chicksands where,
after the death of his wife, he was
nursed by Dorothy until he died in 1653. During this time
Dorothy had established a
clandestine correspondence with William Temple which was to
run to 77 letters and which give a
rare insight into life at that time.
After her father's death Chicksands
became the home of her elder brother John. The
Temple family finally relented and the
pair were married on Christmas Day 1654. Of
nine children of the marriage, seven
died at birth or infancy and one at 14, leaving only
one to survive to maturity, only to
commit suicide at the age of 21 leaving however two
daughters. Lady Dorothy died in 1695
and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Upon the death of his father, Dorothy's
brother John inherited the estate in1654. From
thenceforward the Osbornes continued to
hold Chicksands until 1935 when Sir
Algernon placed it on the market and
the family no longer feature in the Priory's history.
In 1753 with help from his
brother-in-law the Earl of Halifax, Sir Danvers Osborne
became Governor of New York. Following
a hostile reception, Sir Danvers, in a fit of
depression hanged himself. a monument
to the Earl of Halifax is situated on the main
path through Chicksands Wood.
The 4th Baronet, Sir George Osborne
served in the American War of Independence,
following which he served as a member
of Parliament. He carried out many
improvements to the Priory. He died in
1818 and is interred in the family vault at
Campton church.
The 6th Baronet, Sir George Robert,
built the three Chicksands lodges and his initials
"GRO" with family crest can
still be seen on their walls. In 1889 his son Henry was lost
at sea in the collision of the
steamer "Comtesse de Flandres" with the steamer "Princess
Henriette". a monument
commemorating the accident can be seen towards the South East
of Chicksands Wood.
Sir George Robert's grandson Algernon,
saved in the shipwreck became heir and
subsequently 7th Baronet in 1892. He
married Beatrice Greenfield of Haynes Park, who,
as Lady Beatrice was hostess
to wounded soldiers at the Priory during the 1914-1918 war.
In 1936 the estate was bought by the
Crown with the Air Ministry as executive
custodians. After a brief leasing to
private tenants the Air Ministry began developing
Chicksands as a secret service station
and played a large part in the reception of
signals for transfer to Bletchley Park
in the breaking of the German Enigma code.
In 1950 the US Air Force required a
permanent Security Service base in Britain and the
6940th Radio Squadron was formed at RAF
Chicksands. The base continued to be
operated by the US Air Force until 30th
September 1995 when the combination of
modern technology and the lessening of
East-West tension made the function redundant
The circular AN/FLR-9 antenna, known
affectionately locally as the "Elephant Cage",
and providing a landmark of doubtful
aesthetic appeal was dismantled during 1996.
Chicksands has now been acquired by the
Ministry of Defence as a Joint Services Base
with personnel moving in from late 1996.
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