Exhibition: The History of Walton Hall

Owners of Walton Hall: The Harleys

Dr Vaughan Harley suffered with heart disease towards the end of his life and underwent an operation at Christmas 1922 from which he seemed to recover well. However five months later, on 21 May 1923, he died suddenly at Walton Hall at the age of 59. During the morning he had been out shooting rooks on the estate accompanied by Sir John MacFadyen, President of the Royal Veterinary College. After lunch he was taken ill and collapsed and reportedly died in his wife’s arms.

 

Vaughan Harley's funeral was held at St Michael’s Church on Friday 25 May 1923. The coffin was carried from Walton Hall to St Michael's church on a farm wagon drawn by four Shire horses that he had bred on the estate. His wife Mary and daughters Diana and Primrose walked behind. Farm employees carried the coffin from the church gates into the church where the service was conducted by the rector of Walton, Reverend William Seys Eaton supported by Vaughan Harley’s brothers-in-law Reverend Neville Blagden and A. K. Hobart-Hampden. Many members of staff attended the funeral along with family and friends.

 

The funeral was described in local newspapers including the 'Bedfordshire Times & independent' a few days later: "With a quiet dignity and orderliness, and with a fitting tribute to his life service, the remains of Dr. Vaughan Harley were laid to rest on Friday in the churchyard of St Michael's, the historic old Church, standing isolated on the bank of the Ouzel. The coffin was borne from the Hall on one of the farm waggons, drawn by a handsome team of four Shire horses, which were bred by the deceased gentleman. It was a sight which will not easily be forgotten as they wended their way from the Hall, through the Park, and along the road by the side of the river."

 

An article about Dr Vaughan Harley and Walton Hall by Local Historian John Taylor for the 'Milton Keynes Gazette' in 1992 also described the event: “Long before the service began many people associated with the doctor in both his farming and medicine careers had assembled in the church to pay their last respects. The doctor was laid to rest in a plain earth grave at the eastern end of the church, lined with ivy, evergreens, white lilac and other ‘simple flowers.” There is no recognisable headstone to Dr Vaughan Harley standing in the churchyard at Walton. 

 

A photograph of the funeral procession walking from Walton Hall to the church can be seen on this page. The photograph was donated to the Archive by a former Walton estate employee, Bill Hill. He is leading the front horse furthest from the camera while his brother Harry leads the front horse closest to the camera. In 1985 Bill was interviewed for an article in the OU staff magazine ‘Open House’. He worked on the Walton Estate as a plough boy at the age of 13 in 1923 and remembered, “Dr Harley spending at least a couple of days each week on the estate farm, striding around, and digging at clods of earth with the shooting stick he would sit on to survey the work.” After Dr Harley’s death, Bill went to work for Hugh Brock who subsequently bought Walton Manor Farm.

 

Dr Vaughan Harley left an estate worth approximately £57,000 which is almost £4 million today. Following his death, his family sold 58 acres of the Walton estate land in the area of Simpson. The farm stock and machinery that he had owned was dispersed in various sales and auctions during August and September 1923. On this page there is an image of an advert for a sale that was held at Walton Manor Farm on 27 September 1923.

 

In the same month a sale by auction was held at Walton Hall attended by buyers from a wide area. Dr. Harley’s herd of 70 pedigree Scottish Shorthorn cattle – his ‘Notlaw herd’ – was dispersed, selling for almost £5,000 in total. Walton Manor Farm with the Manor House and bailiff’s Cottage were sold privately to Hugh Bulkeley Price Brock (1871-1928), who was Justice of the Peace for Buckinghamshire. He and subsequent owners ran it as a stud farm. The sale of Manor Farm in 1923 indicates that Vaughan Harley must have re-purchased the property which had been sold in 1903 by Mary Seagrave after she inherited the Walton estate from Fanny Maria Pinfold.