King Charles III and Box Alan Payne September 2022
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We were all shocked and saddened by the sudden news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The sense of change and impending uncertainty were softened by the immediate accession of our new king, Charles III. His personal grief matched our own collective feelings and the speed at which he stepped up to take on responsibilities reassured us. But it was still a very disconcerting moment.
The words King Charles III seemed so strange and, indeed, they are a very unusual choice for a British monarch bearing in mind his ancestors. King Charles I was the only king to have been executed in 1649 and his eldest son Charles II was renowned for the number of his illegitimate children from numerous mistresses including Nell Gwyn. Thereafter the name Charles was scrupulously avoided by royalty until now. |
Royal Proclamation being read (courtesy Varian Tye)
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What do we make of all this in Box? There are both historic and modern connections between these Charleses and our village. When the English Civil War broke out between Charles I and the Parliament, Charles’ wife Henrietta Maria fled the country for exile in France. Reputedly, she left Oxford in 1644 and stayed the night at Cheney Court, Ditteridge, on route to Exeter. There is no proof of this stay but it is possible because the Speke family, owners of Cheney Court, were allegedly Royalist supporters and historian John Aubrey recorded in about 1680 that: There is a tradition that the Court, which is large and surrounded by a high wall, was used for some military purpose in the Civil War.
Cheney Court around the turn of the 1900s (courtesy Box Parish Council)
Box Village Connections
The second King Charles was very popular in his lifetime after years of Puritan repression and sometimes called The Merry Monarch. However, it wasn’t really a jolly period with the return of The Plague in 1665 and the following year The Great Fire of London. Amazingly, we have our own village tribute to the fire at the foot of the Devizes Road. The cottages there are called Pye Corner, where the old blacksmith’s shop existed. The area was so named because it once stood outside the main area of residential buildings, recalling the place where the fire in London burned out as the density of London houses diminished.
There is another curious coincidence between Charles II and the Ditteridge area of Box near the property called The Bungalow, which was built by the lord of Box Manor, George Edward Northey from Cheney Court. The birthday of Charles II was celebrated for centuries as “Oak Apple Day”, a reminder of the tree in which Charles hid to avoid capture by Oliver Cromwell. George Northey was acutely conscious of the history of the area and planted an oak tree opposite The Bungalow to commemorate his Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1910.
The second King Charles was very popular in his lifetime after years of Puritan repression and sometimes called The Merry Monarch. However, it wasn’t really a jolly period with the return of The Plague in 1665 and the following year The Great Fire of London. Amazingly, we have our own village tribute to the fire at the foot of the Devizes Road. The cottages there are called Pye Corner, where the old blacksmith’s shop existed. The area was so named because it once stood outside the main area of residential buildings, recalling the place where the fire in London burned out as the density of London houses diminished.
There is another curious coincidence between Charles II and the Ditteridge area of Box near the property called The Bungalow, which was built by the lord of Box Manor, George Edward Northey from Cheney Court. The birthday of Charles II was celebrated for centuries as “Oak Apple Day”, a reminder of the tree in which Charles hid to avoid capture by Oliver Cromwell. George Northey was acutely conscious of the history of the area and planted an oak tree opposite The Bungalow to commemorate his Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1910.
George Edward Northey and his wife planting the oak tree outside The Bungalow, Ditteridge in 1910 (courtesy Ainslie and Shirley Goulstone)
The village also has modern connections with the royal family as Princess Margaret was a frequent visitor to Middlehill. There are more direct connections too. Camilla, our new Queen, accepted an invitation to open the new Box Bowling Club and Sports Pavilion built on The Rec in May 2009. It was a considerable honour for the village and a great tribute to the generosity of the Queen Consort.
Like the rest of the nation, the village of Box offered King Charles III and his Queen Consort our loyalty and best wishes for the future. Who knows if one day they might both visit us?