In the Nostalgia page of January 17 we published an article about the new project entitled Chalk, Cherries and Chairs which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This encourages local people to get involved with the history, the environment and the wildlife of the Central Chilterns. Teams of volunteers will be engaging in 18 inter-relating projects over the next five years, to build up a legacy of community engagement with the landscape and heritage of our area.

One of these projects is Woodlanders Lives and Landscapes, which is being undertaken by a partnership between the Chilterns Conservation Board and Bucks New University.

In the article we showed a picture of a lace-school in Stokenchurch which was dated c.1890.

Reader Janet Smith from the Marlow Society has pointed out that this date is incorrect. Janet writes: “These ladies, with their centre partings, neat collars and full skirts, were photographed in about 1860. The biggest give-away is the child third from the right, with what appears to be a rose on her chest. Her dress has the straight-across neckline which was very fashionable in the mid-Victorian period, especially for ladies evening dresses. By the end of the century it had disappeared. Furthermore, I doubt if, by 1890, there were any lace schools left in operation. In the 1881 census most of the lacemakers left in West Wycombe were at least middle aged. Most were like my great great grandmother Frances Avery; still making lace at 80, because they had no other skill.”

Janet also made the point that: “Henry Fox-Talbot had perfected the ‘modern’ photography technique in the village of Lacock in Wiltshire in 1849. Photography seems to have taken the Victorian middle and upper classes by storm, rather like the smart phone has taken us, so the photograph could easily be that early. By 1853 a member of the Mealing family who was working as a cabinet-maker in Marlow High Street is recorded repairing a wooden box camera and its case for a local doctor.”

So it is known that at least one person would have been taking photographs locally at that time.

Lace schools were common in Britain from the 17th to 19th century to teach lace-making. They were often in the living rooms of small cottages and were known for being overcrowded, badly lit and often unsanitary.

Girls and some boys were put to work at the age of six or seven and spent long hours bent over their pillows, learning the craft, until they could produce a marketable product. Some of the children were also taught elementary reading, but there was little other general education.

Most villages would have at least one lace school. It is known that Stokenchurch had two schools, one in The Street and the other was situated on The Common.

One was Mrs Dobbin’s lace school, where “a little academic learning was obtained by passing a bible for reading along the row of pupils”.

The picture shows the house called Lace Cottage in Cadmore End, now a lovely country cottage it was formerly a lace school.

A child could be introduced to the craft as young as three years old by her mother, and then, when she had learnt how to handle her bobbins, she was sent off to the lace school, where she would stay until she either went into service or married.

At the school the teacher would take the lace to a buyer every Saturday, and then give the girls the exact amount they have earned, deducting only the 3d. or 4d. a week for the use of the room and lights.

If their work was sold to a private customer, they were allowed to charge 1d. an hour more.