Hillock Cottages no 4

Number 4 Hillock Cottages was one of a terrace of 4. For the history of all four cottages up to 1927 click Hillock Cottages 1-4

Census 1901 and 1911 George & Maria Rixon at Hillock Cottages no 4, Parslows Hillock.

The following extract is taken from an article titled "A Home in the Chilterns", published in the magazine 'This England' in 1988, in which Raymond Lea described living at No 4 Hillock Cottages in the mid 1950s.

For a spell in the mid 1950s my parents and I lived at Parslows Hillock Cottages no 4, high up in the Chilterns. Our bread was delivered several times a week by pony and trap.    Even then, in the mid-fifties, it seemed a little strange, since by then the motor van had firmly taken over.   But it was charming to see the trap turn down our lane and to deal with the rather silent but polite baker, whose wares were kept under cover beside him.   Sometimes we cycled to Lacey Green where his bakery operated, by an old cottage click The Bakehouse. It was a place of heat and delicious aromas, with patterns of crusty loaves and rolls laid out on the shelves.

The hamlet in which we lived consisted of just a few cottages, a small holding, a few larger houses and The Pink and Lily pub click It was a quaint old house which lacked a bar, so all the drinks had to come up from the cellar

Our cottage, number 4 was at the end of a terrace of four.   Although there was mains water, none had drainage, so every drop of tap water disgorged into an iron pail that had to be emptied frequently in the garden    The toilet was in a shed attached to the cottage, that was certainly a freezing cold place to visit in winter.

The other end cottage, no 1 had a smallholding, with a farmyard at its side and small acreage beyond.   It was a simple family operation, with a father and son rearing turkeys, a few cows for milk and some hay and cereals.   Chickens scratched about outside and we enjoyed their big brown eggs. click Hillock Cottages no 1

The other occupants of the cottages were 2 ladies, one worked in a nearby town, the other, very French, was a school teacher.   They travelled to work each day on early examples of the motor-scooter.

I recall the farmer’s astonished reaction when we painted our cottage door bright yellow, instead of the usual drab green or brown.   He seemed really worried that it would affect his cows when they passed and would turn their milk sour.   I think he was also worried that it would give his friendly, industrious wife ‘ideas’.  He was a thin wiry man of few words, rooted firmly in the past, but very pleasant to us ‘outsiders’. click Reg & Lucy Tilbury for more about the farmer

The buses were much used by country folk, children going to school and weekend walkers.   Our hamlet was linked to High Wycombe and Princes Risborough by “Route 88”.   Each bus had a driver and ‘clippie’ who worked as a team, so you were always meeting the same two.   Car ownership was rare and you could cycle for an hour and not encounter a single car.

The local hunt came past sometimes.   Shining horses and riders in full hunting kit, with hounds panting about them.   But hunting, or indeed any other ‘field sport’ was not to our liking and we were glad when they had passed.

There was one feature of Lacey Green that was very sad in the fifties, but whose story has had a happy ending. As we approached the village we often commented on the dilapidated state of the smock windmill that stood in a field behind the 'Whip' pub. The Windmill was originally built in 1650 at Chesham, but the Duke of Buckingham had it rebuilt at Lacey Green in 1821. When its working life was over it was left to rot and by the time we knew it , it looked ready to collapse. In those days there did not seem to be an awareness of how important such relics of a past way of life are, and that they should be preserved.

Happily, during the 1970s the Chiltern Society acquired the mill, and many of its members, under the guidance of Christopher Wallis (son of Sir Barnes Wallis of 'Dam Busters' fame) set to on a complete restoration. They received a great deal of help from local firms with lifting gear and so on and after many years' hard work the mill looks as good as new, complete with sails and working machinery.