Fletchers House - Oxfordshire Museum, Oxfordshire, England

Fletcher's House

In 1279 Adam Bennet held a house, oven, 2 selds, and a forge at the corner of Park Street and Brown's Lane. (fn. 27a) In 1468-9 Thomas Fletcher was paying 6d. for a large vacant plot there which extended north to Harrison's Lane. (fn. 28a) In 1526 a house there belonged to another Thomas Fletcher, and in 1581 was quitclaimed by Joan, relict of John Fletcher, to her son Henry (d. by 1598). (fn. 29a) Before 1609 Alderman Thomas Browne acquired the house, which was occupied by Margaret Fletcher. (fn. 30a) In 1614 he bought two ajacent houses on the west, called Munday's and Maynard's from their 15th-century owners (fn. 31a) and together paying 4s. 10d. rent formerly owed to the chantry of St. Mary. (fn. 32a) Browne built a 'great house' called Fletcher's on the enlarged site; the earlier Fletcher's house seems to have been let until the mid 17th century (fn. 33a) but by the 1680s its 6d. quitrent was attached to a brewhouse presumably built on the site. (fn. 34a) Thomas Browne (d. 1621) was succeeded by his wife Joan and son Thomas, rector of Bladon (both d. 1625). (fn. 35a) John Vernon, heir perhaps by marriage, let the house; the occupant in 1654 was Dr. Francis Gregory, master of the grammar school, and it was probably the 12-hearth house which Gregory was renting in 1662. (fn. 36a) It was later owned by the lawyer and M.P. Sir Littleton Osbaldeston (d. 1692) and for much of the 18th century by the Grove family, which included the maltster James Grove (d. 1714) and his son Joshua (d. 1740). (fn. 37a) It was bought c. 1782 by the duke of Marlborough, who sold or gave it in 1787 to his auditor, Thomas Walker, town clerk (d. 1804). (fn. 38a)

He let the house as a girls' boarding school from 1787 (fn. 39a) and rebuilt and enlarged it from 1795; the first tenant was Henry Jeffery, Viscount Ashbrook, husband of Walker's granddaughter. (fn. 40a) Richard Taylor, esquire, tenant from 1810 and later owner until c. 1842, was succeeded by Alderman William Margetts (d. 1869) and Alderman R. B. B. Hawkins (d. 1894). The name Fletcher's House seems to have been revived in the early 20th century. In 1925 tge house was bought from the Hawkins family by Capt. E. C. W. Thring and in 1949 compulsorily purchased by the council for use as the County Fire Brigade headquarters; in 1965 it became the County Museum. (fn. 41a)

The remains of the new house of c. 1614 occupy the centre and west end of the building and include part of an original staircase with heavy turned balusters and newel posts with large ball finials. The house was refronted and the east block built under a contract of 1795. (fn. 42a) James Grove's 'Marlborough gardens' bequeathed in 1714 may have been the large highwalled grounds of Fletcher's House, (fn. 43a) of which most surviving features are c. 1800 and later.

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The following is more in depth but has errors in text (work in progress):

The town of New Woodstock dates to the latter half of the 12th century. In 1279, 12
prominent local men stated that the town had been founded by Henry II to provide
accommodation for the king's retinue while the king was hunting at the Royal Park or visiting his mistress, Rosamond. ...However, there had been a royal hunting lodge at Woodstock at least since the reign of Ethelred II (978·10 16), and it remained in use as such until the 17th century. Although Roman coins were found near the church and an urn near Oxford Street in 1810. the carlie.:;t e,iclence of settlement on the site of Fletcher's House \,asa pit containing sherds of mid to late 12th·cemury potter> found beneath room G3.9 No structure.:; "cre associated with this pit, but the pouery recovered consisted mainly of cooking wares. One fragment was pan of a yellow glazed pilcher, a high stallls vessel thal may have been imported from the continent. This could suggest that the sile was high ill status from the lime of its foundation, a status it maintained in subsequent centuries. Due to the rarit) of modern building de\elopment in \VoodsLOck, and the consequent lack of archaeological investigation, very lillie stratified ceramic evidence has been recovered fi·om the town. The pottery assemblage from Fletcher's House j, therefore significant, but it represents onl)· a small part of the wider context of New \Voodstock, which still remains relati\eh unknown.1The new town was incorporated inLO lhe demesne town of Bladon, and the Crown reserved the right to collect rent from the new properties. BllI'gage plots were laid out in New Woodstock by 1279, on average with a width of about 3 perches (c. 50 fl.). These long narrO\-v land divisions are still clearly visible in some pans of New Woodstock. There were approximately seven of Lh ese plots on the block formed by Park StreeL (S.), Brown's Lane (E.), I larrison's Lane (N.) and Cha ucer's Lane (W,).II Any attempt to relate specific buildings to the origina l plOlS presents problems, but in some cases is possible by u'acing the quilrenls for each property, which remained unchanged ul1tilthe 20th century. 1n the Hundred Roll, Brown's Lane, which borders part of Fletcher's House to the E., was identified as the lane 'again sl the meatlTIarkct'.12 Throughout the Middle Ages the meat market was situated on the N. side of Market Place, on the E. side of Brown's Lane. 13 From this it is possible to judge thar (lUr of the messuages at (he E. end of the block belonged to Adam Beneyth. Two of these, nearest the lane, had a bakehouse, garden, t.wo stalls (seld), and worksh op adjoining, and a sma ll piece or ground by lhe workshop. I ! How these were laid out in relation to the burgage plots is unclear. The presence of stalls indicates that the market would origi nall y have stretched right up LO the park gate. h is not. until 1468/9 that a rent roll gives rurther insight into lhe use and ownership of this land. I:; A vacant plot and a garden alongside Brown's Lane - then \I\fappenham's Lane - were held by Thomas Fletcher, the first Fletcher knmvn 1.0 occupy the site. To the W. of this

land. a William Faulkener held an 81,;!d. tcnemem oppo~ite the church, and it is stated that the tcnalll before him had been a Richard Slcvence and ~ man called \\'afTer hefore him . • \bo opposite the church was a tcnemcm "ith a quitrent of 11 / 1d .• held b\' Henn Bennen, pre\iousl) by John Monci\, and another tencmenl held In John Gowles of London, which had been held recenth bv Margaret ~Ionch and before that I" Roben !'.Iond\ (possibh her late husband). These probably co\'er the area of what is now largely Fletcher's House land, but lillie more inf<umation can be gained with any certainn. In 1526 one of the houses belonged to anOlher Thomas Fletcher and passed down through hi\ family. IIi It was then acquired at some time prior to 1608/9 by an alderman and \cveral times mayor of New Woodstock, Thomas Browne, though the precise date is unkmm n. This was the first step in Thomas Browllc's gradual acquisition of the land on which Fletcher's llouse now stands. A widow, Margaret Fletcher, continued to live in the house, which was probably situated bencath the prcsent Visitor Information Centre at thc E. end of Fletcher':;, House, one plot ~wa) from Brown's Lane to the E.li It is likely that it \ .... as traces of this house that were found during two archaeological watching briefs carried out on the site in 1996 and 1998.u~ By the cally 17th cemur), the Metcalfc famil) owned the plot on the corner of Brown's Lane. In r. 1600 William ~Ietcalfe senior (d. 1608) had built a ne" house at the southern, Park Street end of the plot. encroaching substantially onto \\ hat was then called Park Gatc Sllcet as he did so. lie or his son and namesake sold the ~. half of their plOl (right down to the back lane. no\\ Harrison's Lane) to Thomas Browne by 1609, for at that date the ~letcl.lllc property is described as bordering Thomas Browne's garden to the :\1. 19 Browne nm\ held two adjacent plots, which he may \\e11 h.we amalgamated. Howe\,er, the property he held was still not suflicient, so he bided his time. rrh Ihe \\" of the hOllse which Thomas Brm .... nc 'mblet to widow Fletcher were two tenements belonging to a \-\'Dolman by the name of Francis Collingwood. These tenements wcre known as 'Mund)'es' and 'Ma)narde:;,' after their medieval occupiers, and Collin~r.vood owed ~I quitrent of 3.L 4d. for one and 1&1. for the other, LOtalling~. IOd.:!O Like Thomas Browne, Collingwood was an alderman of the borough, and he and Browne would have known each other lor years before Collingwood died in 1613.1 1 That summer, an invel1lol') was taken of his goods and chattels, ~nd Thomas Browne actcd as one of the appraisers.

Fml1c1\ Co/llYIgU'ood's ttne11letll.~ I nformation about Collingwood's house relies entirel) upon the inventor, of 1613.22 Like any 17th-century in\'enlOry it lists the contents of rooms, but not necess~rily all the rooms, which rna) not all, according to the assessors, have held contents worthy of description. It ma) be relevant that Thomas Browne ' .... as going round Collingwood's properties as a prospccti\'c buyer. \\'hether or not he already planncd to demolish the existing buildings is of (ourse unknown, bUl he did haye morc than a ca~u"ll inlerest in them. Ho\\cver. IOgt'ther "Ith lhe Jimited physical evidence of the basement rooms. the inventory is all that survives of the llIedie\al building and its ground plan, and is therefore worth a closer look. Onh one cellar is mentioned in Collingwood's in\eOlor), and that would appear to have been situated beneath the shop and wool hou se. "hough Ihe invenlory lists the conteOlS of ,> hop , \\'001 house and cellar in one entry. it would seem logical that the drink barrels, stills and lumber were kept in the cellar. the wool, wheels (probabl) spinning wheels) and flaskeu (<I small flask or sh<lllow basket) in the wool house and Ihe rorm, table, iron beam and s(-ales 111 the shop. I h(;' hall, hrass house next to the hall. bUllery .1 11d boulting (sieving) house, mill house. kiu hen and forward coun all seem to describe the ground floor elements of the main dwelling house and separate oulilOuses. 'J he stable and lean·lO would certainl), appeal 10 he outbuildings at the back. accessed either Irom Park Streel through the con:rcd entry between the two houses, or rrom the ba("k lane, Ilere Collingwood kept three gelding na~s (castraled horses-'nag' implies that the} we re not particularly good animals). Ihe kitchen may also ha\'e been detached , perhaps in the same building as the mill hOllse. Frolll the COlllcnts of these it is clear (hal Collingwood tarried out some malting on Ihe prelllises, -I 'he contents or the butter~ and boulting 110use confirm this and suggest bre\\ ingas well. all hough there is no mention of a separatc blc\\ house or a Illalt house. The SOUffe o f water needed for both these protes'ies seem., 10 han' been I 'great stone sesterne' (c:is(c ln 01 well) in the forward court b~ the "itchen. I'his liMY be the \\'ell 01- cislenl disco\'l'lt'd \)c"l led beneath lhe IHlh- or 19th-centur~ Oagslonc flool of the corner store 3lthe ~, end 01 the I Hth-cCnlllr) sen·ice wing (see below, .\rchaeological Description; Fig. 4).:!J Collingwood. like other aldermen of \\'oochtock. hcld sc\eral mher properties, ~ well as the 1\\'0 adjoining properties on Par" Strect. he was tenanl of two adjoining properties on Oxford Street 'otherwise called Sheepemarkclt 'i11"e('te', Itn \\ hich he paid ~k in rent.:.!1 I 'hese he rented out, but it was to the northern of Ihese Iwo propenies that his \\ idm\ Joan movcd when '\ 'homas Brmvne acquired both the P~lIk Street properties in 1613. The spet'd with which he acquired the property suggests tlial it l'Ila) have been an arrangement (lniH:d at prior to Collingwood's death .:.!'; rl101flm Brownp and 111.\ new howe J'homCis Browne was not a nati\ c of \\'oo(btock. lie came from Chipping ~onon, but in 159~l he attested at the Oxford Church Court thai he had been a resident of \\'oodstock fcu' 27 ycars, which puts his alTi\·al in Ihe town .11 (. \566.2h By 158 I he was a member or \\'OOd5Iock's Common Council, attaining by 15HH the position of chamberlain (one of two) lI1d alderman (one of fi,e , including the mayor). I Ie W(l5 elected mayor in 159 1. 1597 (sen ·lIlg two-\'ear terms on both occasions), 1601 and 1608.:.!7 lie was a Justice oflhe Peace from the carl} 17th celllur) until his death in 1621. \\'hen he died he was a man of conSiderable substance in the borough and prcsulllabl} <llso the (OUIll). Browne was a maltster b) trade. In 1609 he rented a 'mawlte house adjo)ning to the ri\'er nccn' 1I1l10 the bayes' for a 5_~. rent from the corporation. and it can be assumed that thi~ was where his malting bu~iness was ba .. ed (no\\ White Ilan I louse, 122 Oxford Street), rhi.., would explain his personal interel,t in keeping the 'baye:; or nead)} sluices in good repair, lie itlso paid £4 rent for the ' uppe,' of [he fOUl di\"isions of' Le Poolc', a large area of rich meadow on the S. bank of the RiYer GI)I11<:, near hi.., malt house (Fig. I) . .!" He also held se\"cral tenemenLS in the town. In 1608/9 he rented out a tenement with a quitrent of6d. in ·Oxon streett' neal the Corne market hill' to the \\idow, ~Iargcry Fletcher.·><l The corll market hill was Imcr Market Place. but this property probabl) refer~ to the hOllse bel\.,,'een the ;\Ietcalfe,' and the Collinw\oods' houses. OLhers of his tenemC!HS "'ere in Oxford Street near Robin I food 's tim and in the 'beafe malken' (w ith an ()\en attached), I he first reference to rhomas Browne's ne\\ house occurs in the chamberlains' accounts, under the section noting quitrents for collection at Mlchaelmas 1614, where Browne is said LO ()\\e 4.L 10d. for 'hb nc\ve built house in lhe Park gate street'. The property is described as 'late Collingwoodes, somet\me, twoe tenementes, the one called Maynardcs, the Olher Atundyes place at 3s.lrl. and 18{/. rent'. ~n rhis strongly indicates that Browne demolished both how'Ies in order to creale his new hOllse rather than conyer! the existing buildings into one .. \t this time there is no mention of the new house being called 'Fletcher's I louse'; the onl\; house that is refelTed to by anything approaching thaI name is the one he owned next door, on which he owed a quitrent of 6d. f()J" 'widdo\\c Fletchers house'. This was lhe easternmost of the three hOllses that Browne had acquired on the sile of the presem Fletcher's I louse, and was still inhabited by !\Jargcr) Fletcher. I here is scam map or pictorial c\'idencc for Fletcher's House as it was in the 17th ccntur~ except for on <ngra\ing bv R. Godfrev. publi;hed by f. llhth in ~la) 1777 (Fig. 3). This shows a \"ie\\ of the house in the ba kground £i'om Market Place and the Iligh Street. As the structure in the foreground had alread) been replaced hr 1766, a certain amount 01 scepticism must accompany the use of the engra\'ing as evidence. Ilowe\,cr, the infOlmalioll that has come lI'om the SUl'Ylving building sllggests that this depiction of the I ith-centur) fromage of Fletcher's Iiouse can be used as a reference point, for there is nothing in the basic structural form of the building to contradict what is shown in the cngra\ing. No sooner was Thomas Browne's house complete than he resumed in his new home the ho\pitalit~ expected of leading dtizens of small market to\\ns, suth as Ihe regula I erHcrtainment of visiting preachers, As alderman, Juslice of the Peace and mayor (which alllomalically included being clerk of the market), Browne was dosel) invoh'ed with the running of the borough and wa .. often witness to the seedier side of Woodstock life. He attended the view of frankpledge and portll1outh courts. The former, known also as the court leet, met biannuall) (II Lady Oa) and Michaelmas and was usually ("(unbincd with sessions of" lhe peace. At the lauer, Browne attended witness examinations in cases of murdel', witchcraft, assault and theft; one defcndalll \."ho disliked hisjudgemc11l as Illa)or wem up to him in the market the follo\\lOg da) and punched him. the pOI tmouth COllrt uSllLlily mCl on aiLernate Moneta) s, to deal with such busines, of thc borough and burgesscs as debt and trespass, Hrowne him\c1fwas not infrequent!} the plaintifTin debt cases.'I1 I homas Browne had on ly six years to el~joy his new house, for he died in 1621 . Ifis will is sadl) not accompanied by an inventory of the housc and iLs olttbuildings,:'l:l 'lonetheless the will does rai~e some important questions to do with the house and propen) a!l well as giving some InsightlTllo Ihe family. 10 his 'nowt" '\Ifc, joan, I homas Browne bequealhed 'my Messuage or lenelllent called Flel(her's wilh Lht, garden Orchard Backside and \1althowse hereLOfore called a SlawghLerhouse \'lith all (lnd singular the Appullenancc) therellnto lx-longing'. This was Lo pass to her and to her assign~ for the rest of her natural life. It is Interesting thoU the name of the propcrl~ had become 'Fletcher's' just .IS Collingv.ood's two hOllses had been known IH the namcs of Iheir medieval (xcupal1ls (Maynards and Munday:;), so Browne's new hous(', buill onl) SIX years earlier, was named ~Ifter the long-lime former owners of the oldest how~e on the propcrL). The lasl refcren("c 10 Thomas Browne pa\-mg 6d. rent for 'widdO\\e Hetchers house' is in 1618, and it is nOl known how long she inhabited the house aftel this dale. Il}' Browne's death in 1621. lhl' name Flt,teher's appears to ha\'c referred to bOlh house), Joan abo received £200, a considerable sum, a, well as the lease for her lifetime of the malt housc down by the Ri,cr Glyme. which wa!<' tilt, bu,incss on which Thomas Browne h"d founded hiS wealth. A se('ond malt house ('hereLOf<ue called a Slawghterhouse') is referrcd to alongside Fletcher's I louse and the gardens and orchards in the back~ide, implring thal it was in (he grounds of Fletcher's House. No physical eviden<:c has sunived of such ;.l building or Of.1 !<,lallghtcrhol1se, but both activities would 11a\'C required water nearby, I hi, raises the possibility that it was on lhe site of the 'lII'yj,ing 1 Hth-remllr~ brewhou,e, wl1l('h had a walel SOlllTC in the fc)rm of the well or {j'tel n immediateh to the '\. of it (see Fig. -I and Arcl1i.teological Summan beJO\\'). The irwenlOry of joan Browne's goods and challel) in 162·1 contains the emr\-'. under lhe heading 'Mauhe and Badey': "taulte readie dried, gr ccn m .. 1tl1t and III B~lrle) one hundred and forlle quallers' .. \ but docs not indicate whether thiS large qUlllllity was produced at the rherside mall house or in the grounds of Fletcher\ Iiouse, joan BnH\ne'S IIwentory of 162·1 is not a complcte IIl\CIllOr) 01 the house and does not mention all the looms. onl\' those in whifh she personally held possessions of value. ('he rooms listed are a hall, parlour, chamber O\'er the parlolll, bUllel~y, kit("hen, and '\\'illii:lm\ {hall1ber'. Llnell, pc\\ter and brass, and apparel wt~re also noted, and the value of the lal(( .. '1 indicates lhat Joan Browne was nOI inexpensivdy dressed. J'hom<ls Browne was (wice married .. Of his three children, the elder daughter Eli7abcth was probably the child nfhis first wife, Elil<lbcth (nee Dubber). The middle child was a son. named Thomas after his father. It j~ not cCllain whether he was the son of Elizabeth Dubbel or the second wife, joan (nee Keene), though he refers to Joan in his will a his mother. lhe dale of the second marriage is not known, but \\a'i around 1600. 1 he} had a daughlel" Joan, named after her mother. as the other two children had heen named after Elitabeth and 1 homa.s. ,\JI three of J"homas Bl'o\\ ne's <:hildren \\cre ll1<1f1"ied b~ the time of his death in 1621. Eli/abeth rn~lITied Ilenry Cornish, one of Chipping 'olton's wealthier citizens. lhomas the younger took 1101) Orders allci in 1621 was appointed rector of Bladon, whilh Included the chapelry of Woodstock. He malTied Sus~\Ilnah Iiolland, daughter of the Reg-ills Profes~or of Divinity at Oxford, ",nd had a son and daughter, named rhomas and SUS.1Il after their parcllls in Ihe family tradition. Joan, the youngest daughter, married John Marriall joan Browne died shortl) after Februar} 162,15. In her , .. ill there was a decided favou!' towards Joan Malliau's bunily and partkularl) her daughter Mary, who was left £100. Thomas' and Susi.lllnah\ children wcre given £10 earh, while Elizabeth Cornish and hel husband <mel children rerci\'ed no rnore than a sih;cr spoon apiece, joan Marriatl was deall~ not satisfied and <:ontinued to pursue a glcmer !<'hare of her father's bequest. Shortly aitel" ~ OxlOl (hhin: \ahi\'es. \IS, Wilb Chon_ J.2 9 <prohatl' dOCUllll'I1I"i 01 .lu.m Brolft ne. 162·1), :\h I \, () (, I·..... (, R l ..... I) 0 " Llu.' dealh of Joan Browne, lhe ,oungel thomas also bc(:anH: \el~ ill and died. In hi" will Ill' spc..'(ifkal" <I"Ikl'd his O\t:'I~CtTS to "I('e lhat 'm\ brother and siSlt,! ~1an~ol doe relinquish and gi\'t' dis(haTW,-> of an~ CIa) me \\hid, Ihc~ ha\c made f(m('(:rninge m) lale f~Hher'.3i 1 he dealh or her hlhhand Idl i.)u"Iannah a., t'x('fulrix of Joan Hrowne\ will. .\IT adllllT1istration nOlt' of Augu"'l 1625 slu)\\ s thai .Joan \I;,u nall assumc"d charge of that ildmimslrauon, and t:lk((l\d~ re\\lotc hel mothel·s "III to benefit lit· I own cblllghicr \laq. doublmg h('l original heque"lt to £200, out 01 Joan BrO\\ lTc's total inH'l1lof) \'aluc or £222 I :h, I I hom.ls lhe \ollngc.', pa..,..,t:d on Flet(he)"\ Hou ... t, to his 'good and Imlllg-e wtlc.' SU.li.tlTllith HI ()\\ Ilt \\lIh ell! tht, howslllge gardelh ilnd bafi.-sl(it: which 111' mother had', \\lIh thc u .. t' of .tll thl' 1"( .... , of his propcny during hCI lilt'linlt' "Iuil thell son lhollTa ... should ("(}flit' of Clg-C.: i
4, Ilm·\"cH·I, she did not liH' 1IIt'rc fo! long. if al aiL Susallnah manied "gain nOI IOllg aftel 'homils' death, to John Vt'l nOI1.'I; lIT 1()27 \ 'cllton bt'(alllt' rt'flO)" of I (dllbun in \\'01"( t"'tlcrshirl' and thl' f~ll1lih mm ed awa~. I hereahl'l \ ·tTllOn dealt with Lhe linan( ial del ai Is of renl ing out (h om~ls Hrownc', pn)pCll), pi.! \ ing I he annual qUllrcnls on FIt:I<:ht'l '.\ Iiouse and Iht' .. mallei house IIC'\I dool. Susannah olllli\·ed her SOil, Ihomas. and .. Iill m\ltt'cJ the properlles at hel death lIT .lui, 1m; I at Iht' age of HO. John "ernoll loll()\\cd 11(.'1 belOIt' Ihe \-eal "as oul, aged H2. In all, SU'ilnllilh had ell'\{'n [hildren. nf"hcull onh fi\(' 'lollnl\ed hel", Of (hest', lhomtls Ihowllc\ dallght(,1 Susan ilnd a half-bro(hel "1('1 lip a mOIlUllll'nlLO .John and SIl~annClh \ 'ernoll, ~I Illan 'dl, ... t'l \cdh lon'd In all good IlWl\' ~ll1d hi.., 'piou"l, plc~l .. alll ,and modest \\ifC' Sadh theH' i.., nT, lillIe infOilTlilUOIl lei,ll lIlg 10 the hOll~(' during thi" pt'llod. In Ill:; I. DL l'rClIl(l'" (~l( .. ·gor~, masll'l or the \\·oo(btO( k (;raUlInal S(hool. rented L1le hOll'oe It om (he \ 'Clllon family. I hc health La'\ refels 10 the '.1111(' [)1 Creg()r~ Icnung'l 12-ht>;tllh hOll"le III 1662, and il is probablc thai this wa ... d ... o liIe hOll ... c built b\ Thomas Bnmne. \ht'l SusalllMh's death the hOllse wa.s sold. alld b) 16H·1 had been boughl b, Sir Linlt-lOll Osbalde· ... on. Ihen '\lew \\'oo(bto(k's \t P IOllhe third lIllle. 1" \1 (hat dale, lilt' (luilll'nh fC)J the Hrowlle house and the slllaller hou..,e \\en: amalgama(ed 101 (he firsl time into onc ,mgltrenl of 5.\, -trl., it.., both houses wcn' III Ihe o(,(,lIpam, of a single ()\\I1Cr. <hbaldcstoll (oll\,erted {he "illlalln hOlI .. t' whelt.' \\,idO\\ "!el(her had originallv lin'd inlO a blt'\\house, although no malt houst, i ... llIentioned ill his \\ill h (onlilllled to be II"eci ;1'" <t bl('"house undel Ihe Crmes, a lillTlih ()I hrt'wl'IS and malt ... leJ"'i'l wll() houghl both IIOll..,C,· .. aht'J Osbalde"iIOI1'S death in IG9L nil' \\ill ofJ<ll1lt'S Gl'()n>, dateu 1711, ITIl'llliollli a lTlalt hou'oe and ~ardens (TT1isrc~ld ill Ihe pa,,1 ii' ' \1arlborollgh Garden .. ').11I Lnlik(' ·1 hOI1l<l"i Brcmn(', lhe, did nOI han' the lI"t' of Iht, nuh hou ... (' d()\\ll In (he ,in'l. "hic.h h~ld I)('l'n (Oll\'t'IICd 10 .. 11 alehou"'t, by the mid I Hlh u'ntuq. I he: (.ron'" rcmained the o\\nel' .... of b()th hou ... t" unlil .. !I)()ut 17HI , "hell lhe la'ol \11,. Grc)\t' (lied, lin c'\eClilOr, e\clTlualh solei lht' pl'Opt'l1\ III 17x:~ 10 (;t'orge. I(h duh of \Lnlborough. J flo let tht, propcrt~ for:\ H'al" 10 il Luh Ir()~It-~. and (hen lO a \Irs, lillhol, who I an a gil 1..,- boarding ... chool in the to" 11, B~ 17X!), he had either giH'n 01 sold thc hOlI"t·, and lalld to hiS agent and auditor. I"homa ... \\'£IH .. t·l. lI \\"alkl'! did \, ell oul 011 h(' dllke, \"10 had hllilt I ht· \'('n line 11('nsingwll lIoll .. C iCu hllll III I i6~-9, Bill this rl· ... ideT1u· pi (,'IIII1.Ih" went wilh the job of auditor and agenl. l -.! As rhomas \\'alkcl was aireach 63 when he acquired till" Flet(her's Hou'te propern, it j" probable that he intended Flctcher's I louse <I'" his retirement home TlwtntL\ ~,,"alkn\ imjJtol'rmt'l1/\ Betwcen 1795 and (. I BOO, \\'<llkeT demolished the older and smaller of the two house" to create more ... pace and racii(all, altered lhc house Ihal Thomas Browne had buill. 10 turn a house that \,as thoroughly model n in the cady 1 ith (cntun into a house thai was fashionable at the end of the 1 Hth was no meall feat and the) 7th-century house wa" ,irtuall) gutted to achie\e that end. Ihomas Walker abo added the linal piece of land 10 the propeny, refleacd in the increased quitrent of 7~, 10d., and endosed the \\ hole with it high wall of stone and brick, wilh a fine hack entrance and stable yard in the J1(.'wl} acquired :\I\\'. cornt'r ... \ nc\\ sen ice range was added along the \\'. edge of the gardens .. \Jlthi ... suggests ,Ill incre l~c in the size or the household, or at least in the sen-ke machine tl1<lt wa~ e'pected to maintain it. The rollowing wriuen ~pecification rol' thc proposed building work sun-i\cs in tht.' Blenheim \1uniments along with a design drcl\\"ing lor the ground plan. H Agreement 11.12. 179.i I \\-alker F.~q. J Chapman tillpellt!:l <lnd buddel Ric Wellel \1<lUCI Cost £2,257 10). IOrl_ Good undel (dlar~, dinIng room. dra\\lIlg mom. thambt."'" and dr(;\sing roollls over Ihe '\;tlllt.'.\bo st;'lblc!), toach hou..,(;' ~tnd Ollt how,('" .IS 011 pl.lIl. \iterations and rcpillrs to tht' old hOIl't' . ..\1<.0 a re..,el'\oir 10 hold 180 hOglOhcilds Oh\,ltl'l li;;()O gallonsJ k'ad pipes from Clslelll in Frog LlI1l' (now 11 .\1 .-ilion .... LtneJ Chapman "Igrees [0 supph- Iht, rcscnoil with w~\tcr during [h(' lill1(' he holds the \\·ater t'llgill(' ill Woodstll<.k for £-1k Off. p.<I. Although the design was not carried out lO the leltet, this drawing does giye;:1 good idea of the layout or the main building and its outbuildings. This i~ COil firmed b) ~1I1 auction catalogue of 1836, which, alrhough nOI ilhl.liltrated, giycs the din1ensions or the principal rooms, enabling idcmification of most of tltem.+1 The cawloguc abo dc,cribes the servke buildings cxtanl al the time. rhe arrangement of the gardens and suni\-ing sen-icc range i, depicted in the Ordnance Survey map of 1876, and the change~ are to somc extent visible in lhe sub:-.cquent re\'isions or 1898 and 1922. Another auction catalogue of 1924 describes the house again without illustration.-t'i It is possible to chatt some or the changes that had o("culTed within the house from this document, lOgcther with verbal e\idencc colleued over the }·ears from people visiting the museum who used to kno\\ Flelcher's Iiouse, such ~IS the housekeeper in the ) 930s. \\'hen the count} Fire Sen-itt' lOok Ihe building O\"Cl in 19..J9 the)" drew up conversion plans, whit h show that quite a few of the details such as 18th-century fireplaces were still intan at that date. The\ made man, drastic alterations, ~tS did the museum scniee in Ihe early years following its aC4uisition 01 the properly in the mid 1960s. lhe reCCIll building work (1999-2000) has removed enough of this last phase of the building's lire to unco\'er substantial plnsiGl1 cyiden(c of the architectural deyelopmellt of the house, which remains the beM sour("c or all.