Four cows graze on a grass verge beside a small canal, with a man standing nearby and thatched-roof cottages in the distance.

Holywell Front (undated)

Holywell Front & Marley Gap Brook, Holywell-cum-Needingworth

History of Holywell Front

Holywell Front (DG 2022)

Then and Now (David Gent) – Holywell-cum-Needingworth, Holywell Front.

I couldn’t get in the exact same spot as the original photographer as I couldn’t get over the water and even if I did, the land the other side was completely overgrown. The water course shown is Marley Gap Brook, I wonder where that name came from?
Holywell is a Saxon ring village and the layout of the roads haven’t changed much since that time.

An 1887 Ordnance Survey map section showing Hill Farm, labeled fields, buildings, a waterway, a ford, and marked fish ponds.

Holywell Front, 1887 OS map

The first picture is an undated postcard. Second picture was taken in August. The brook is still there but pretty much hidden in the undergrowth, the road shown in the second picture was no more than a dirt track/path in the first

Then and Now

A watercolor drawing of thatched stone cottages beside a stream, with a grassy bank and a stone wall in the foreground.

The Front, Holywell, William Fraser Garden (1856-1921)

A watercolor painting shows cottages along a grassy path leading toward trees, with a small stream in the foreground.

The Front, Holywell, William Fraser Garden (1856-1921)

Projects

Holywell cum Needingworth

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