Molesey, Surrey Beggars Bush 1781

The location appears to be on the south bank of the Thames between East and West Molesey. Baker wrote: “To the west of the cricket field the land opens out, and we now have the choice of continuing along the gravelled towpath close to the river or treading the soft, green, meadow turf. This long, narrow field between the towpath and the old racecourse was another of Mr Hurlock’s gifts to the district. It was presented in December 1946, ‘to preserve the picturesque nature of this part of the River Thames and to prevent bungalows and similar structures being built on it’. On a manorial map of Molesey dated 1781 this meadow is called ‘More Hampton Shott’. The other meadows between here and Hurst Road, which were later incorporated into the racecourse, also had interesting names, such as: ‘Beggars Bush’, ‘Broomhill’, ‘Broom Shott’ and ‘Pink Hill’.”

The manorial map must be that produced by Joseph Hodgkinson dated 1781 ‘The manors of Molesey Matham and Molesey Prior’ held by the Surrey History Centre,.

Source

Rowland G. M. Baker, Thameside Molesey, 1989

Posted: October 9th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: Surrey | No Comments »