Chalk, Chalk, Chalk and more Chalk - The geology of the area around the orchard

Setting the scene

There are photographs of the cottages in Donkey Lane from the pre and post WW1 period showing that this was and still is an idyllic setting. It sits at the base of the chalky Chiltern Hills on one of the historic routes in and out of Chinnor. 

Photographic evidence shows that the middle cottage was the only one remaining around 1920 although the top one which was parallel to the lane was still present on a postcard picture, dated, according to the postmark around 1902. The third pair of cottages which were mentioned in the census and depicted on maps disappeared soon after the coming of the railway. They were last mentioned as inhabited on the 1881 census. They are still depicted on the 1880’s map now showing the railway. There is no sign of them on the turn of the century photographs. 

The families posing in the above photograph from about the turn of 20th century are wearing their Sunday best and standing close to the railway fence. By this time the bottom pair of cottages had gone, the ladies with the baby would have been standing roughly where they had originally been situated. Today that is near where the new gate into the orchard is situated.

Since the cottages became uninhabited the plot has had several uses. The fruit continued to grow and was harvested every year in the autumn by the locals until present day. It was recollected by some locals that there were berries as well as plums and apples. There are currently plenty of wild blackberry bushes growing but it was mentioned anecdotally that there were still blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries still there in the 50’s. These were possibly left over from the kitchen gardens of the cottages or even dumped afterwards by locals as garden waste and rooted.

In the 40’s and 50’s the area was used by the farm workers in the cottages on the village side of the railway to keep their chickens. It has however, largely remained uninhabited and undeveloped now for about a hundred years. It is thought that the last cottage was demolished in the 1920’s. Many people who have recollected about this area describe walking past the orchard up the lane to the hills as a family, often on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes to the pub on the top of the hill or along to the pubs on the Ridgeway. They all remembered picking fruit on the way back.

Since the 1960s the plot has mostly been used as an informal adventure playground and sadly a place where some locals dumped garden rubbish and building materials. The well was made safe in the 60’s to prevent anyone falling in but it was still obviously a well in the 1980’s but underwent a number of changes in the ensuing years. The youngsters of the area have used the orchard as a place to have adventures since the demolition of the houses and possibly before! When the clearing began in 2019 the well was found to be caving in from ‘den works’ a huge chalk cavern had been carved out, by this time it was unclear where the actual well shaft was so it needed to be temporarily filled in until it can be made safe. This was done during some of the earlier working parties. This photograph taken in 2019 of the excavations shows the extent of the chalk below the ground in the area. The den in the photograph was cut into the chalk which must have been quite hard work.  Read more...