Famous Residents
The Fairlawn Estate, which stretches into neighbouring Plaxtol was, in Stuart times, owned by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, Secretary of State to Charles I: his son became Governor of Massachusetts in 1635. One of the Vane family employee's sons wrote a 700 blank verse poem about hop-growing. Sir Henry Vane the Younger, who was a Royalist and then became a Roundhead, before again switching back to being a Royalist under Charles I, was executed in London after being reported to be too dangerous to live. His body lies in the Vane family vault area of the crypt of Shipbourne church in an anthropoid (body shaped) lead shell coffin with many members of his family. His ghost is said to wander the village.
The Vane family were followed by the Cazalets. In 1880, Edward Cazalet built the church, dedicated to St Giles, a public house named The Chaser, and several of the cottages which surround The Common. Major Peter Cazalet was the trainer of horses owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Many members of the Cazalet family are commemorated in the church.
Interestingly, St. Giles Church, besides continuing to serve as a place of worship, nowadays also doubles up as a Farmers' Market every Thursday morning.
The poet Christopher Smart was born in 1722 at Fairlawn, where his father was steward.
Read more about this topic: Shipbourne
Famous quotes containing the words famous and/or residents:
“The humanity of famous intellectuals lies in being wrong with gracious courtesy when dealing with those who are not famous.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Most of the folktales dealing with the Indians are lurid and romantic. The story of the Indian lovers who were refused permission to wed and committed suicide is common to many places. Local residents point out cliffs where Indian maidens leaped to their death until it would seem that the first duty of all Indian girls was to jump off cliffs.”
—For the State of Iowa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)