From willow to wicket

          – a forgotten cricket bat willow plantation

Gloucestershire has long been steeped in commerce and the manufacture of all sorts of things, and tucked away to the east of the parish are the long forgotten remains of one of them. Remarkably, this was the growing of willow trees, specifically for the manufacture of that epitome of English sporting prowess, the cricket bat.

The cricket bat is produced from a specific type of willow tree (English Willow - Salix alba var. caerulea), one that was originally introduced from Asia. Ironically, it actually produces wood more suited to bat manufacture when grown under UK conditions.

There are many species of willow but, over the years, because of its light weight, toughness and resilience, this proved to be the most suitable type for crafting cricket bats.

The tree appears to have been introduced at some point during the first half of the 18 th century, a time when the game was evolving into a more ‘organised’ form. The first written rules reputedly appeared in 1744. However, other sources suggest that the cricket bat was in fact, around by the 1620s. Whatever the truth, it has been with us for many years, and during this time, there have been specialists who have grown suitable trees and subsequently turned them into bats.

Part of the willow plantation during the 1920s or 30s, showing rows of young sets.

The figure is Percy Lea, the plantation’s long term guardian

The walkers amongst us will doubtless be familiar with the site and have probably walked past it on countless occasions. It nestles close to the massive railway viaduct at Beards Mill, down behind Stonehouse Court.

Immediately after passing under the viaduct (from the Eastington direction) on the right hand side is a very overgrown strip of land with a number of mature willow trees. This is flanked by the River Frome on two sides. It was here that for possibly a couple of decades, this unusual trade was carried out.

Growing willow needs a lot of regular watering and the outcome was that the land was reworked so that a network of small water channels, in the form of grid pattern, was created. Water was admitted to these via a small sluice gate fed from the Frome. The channels were made of concrete and varied between 15 and 18 inches in width and over a foot in depth. Water flow through this quite sophisticated system was controlled by small secondary sluices (probably no more than simple stop boards) that allowed water to flow into the required areas of the beds. Boards were simply slotted into grooves located at the beginning of each channel.

The business was set up by a wealthy local businessman, Arthur Strachan Winterbotham, born in Dursley in 1864 and who was, from 1907, owner of Stonehouse Court. He clearly had a love of cricket, having played (as a right- hand batsman and right-arm slow bowler) for several teams that included Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Colts, Rugby School and Marylebone Cricket Club. He played in a number of county matches, including several at Lord's cricket ground. Most of these were in the 1880s. The growing of willows for cricket bats was probably no more than an interesting sideline, but given Winterbotham’s love of cricket, it’s easy to see why he developed the business.

As far as can be ascertained, the business operated in the 1920s and 30s and apart from Winterbotham, there were two men who seem to have been the mainstay of the operation.

The first was Percy William Lea, born in 1885.  He lived and worked at Stonehouse Court for more than half a century. As head gardener, he maintained 6 acres of gardens and greenhouses, as well as the willow beds. It was reported that bats made from his trees were exported all over the world. He died in 1969. The second individual was the man who became the foreman, Edgar Watts. In June 1936, Arthur Winterbotham died and this probably signaled the end of the willow business. It seems likely that the plantation was abandoned at this time. Watts subsequently moved to Bungay in Suffolk and carried on in the same line. Remarkably, the business he created there is still thriving today.

Willows at Stonehouse Court being cut in readiness for cricket bat production.

It appears that the plantation has not been used for any productive purpose for many years, possibly even since its abandonment in the 1930s. So does anything remain of this interesting business? As noted, it was formerly watered via a network of concrete channels. Remarkably, many of these still survive, buried deep in the undergrowth (and very tall dense stinging nettles, as I can testify!) Alongside the channels, also lost in the undergrowth, there are also the remains of several larger concrete structures that may have been water tanks or reservoirs. The inlet sluice that fed water from the Frome was still visible during the early part of the 1990s, but now cannot be traced, although it is doubtless still there.

It’s remarkable what’s tucked away in such quiet forgotten backwaters in and around the village!

Stephen Mills

Published in ECN 128 Jun/Jul 2011