Monthly Archives: June 2017
How Cippenham Court Farm became The Slough Dump
Prior to the 20th century, Cippenham was a quiet country village consisting of humble terraced cottages surrounded by some large farms. East of the centre was Cippenham Court Farm which is the only one from which buildings survive to the
The Mystery of the Cippenham Duck
In the late 1960s when I was a small boy, I was playing one day on Cippenham village green with two other local boys when they announced that they were going to play on the “duck”. I didn’t know what
The Cippenham V1
In World War 2, Cippenham escaped relatively lightly from German bombing. At around 8:40 AM on 23 August 1944, however, a V1 flying bomb (doodlebug) fell from the sky and exploded near to the boundary of the village green. A
Disastrous Fire at Cippenham Green, 1908
A century ago, house fires were much more common than they are today. Open hearths and naked-flame lighting created opportunity for accidental fires to start and the higher flammability of furnishings meant that they could take hold with rapidity. The
Cippenham Royal Palace
There is a tradition that in Cippenham there was once an Anglo-Saxon palace which was home to the Kings of Mercia. In A Topographical Dictionary of England published in 1848 [1], the entry on Burnham says “It appears to have
Fire at Cippenham Court Farm in 1919
This article from The Evening Telegraph, Thursday, June 5, 1919 DISASTROUS FIRE NEAR MOTOR TRANSPORT DEPOT Cippenham Court Farm, which adjoins the Government motor transport depot at Slough, was the scene of a disastrous fire this morning. Seven oat ricks,
Western House
This is a detail from a photograph in Slough Museum’s collection. It shows Western House, a large farmhouse on the east side of Brook path which was homestead to the farmer Josiah Gregory in the early 20th Century. Josiah Gregory
John Rocque’s Berkshire Map, 1761
John Rocque’s ‘A topographical map of the county of Berkshire’ was first published in 1761. It could well be the earliest map in existence that shows Cippenham, which Rocque spelt ‘Sypingham’. The map was produced in 18 plates and unfortunately
Shocking practices of Cippenham villagers
This image shows Cippenham villagers indulging in the long-forgotten practice of “shocking up”. Corn stalks were gathered into bundles, placed upright and bound up, so that they would dry out. The image is one from a delightful photograph album currently
The Haymill Water Wheel?
Many people who lived in Cippenham Green will remember the sight of an abandoned water-wheel lying in a field. Past the north side of the village green was a large field known as Greg’s farm. The Gregory family had certainly