In a prominent position on the Reading Road in Henley is the impressive tower and spire of the Christchurch Centre, with what was Thames Carpet Cleaners on the left now demolished in favour of a block of smart apartments. It’s diagonally opposite where I worked at Higgs for 29 years, until a few months ago. I’m increasingly trying to “look up” as the recent Henley Town Council signs encourage, and there’s number six at the top of Norman Avenue, a short distance from here, pointing out the plane and lime trees there.
How many people reading this have passed by the plaque in my picture without looking up to notice its peculiar message about a religious imprisonment? In Henley we associate the name Crisp with Friar Park and the road named after him. But the wording on the church mentions him in relation to a curious punishment and reads: “This tower was erected by Sir Frank Crisp to the memory of his grandfather John Childs a nonconformist who in 1836 was imprisoned by the ecclesiastical court of Norwich for not contributing to the maintenance of the church at Bungay in Suffolk”.
Although it is recorded that there are instances of tongue-in-cheek rivalry and teasing in that part of the country, the choice of words hints at Crisp’s disapproval. I worked many years ago for the paper company Wiggins Teape and had to call regularly on customers in the East Anglia area. The neighbouring Suffolk town to Bungay is Beccles where the church clock has just three faces. The missing forth face would have faced Norfolk, but legend that was told to me back then was that the townsfolk there would not give people in their adjoining county the time of day! However, imprisonment is clearly altogether more serious and I am unable to find out the story of Crisp’s grandfather, so perhaps someone well-informed will be able to enlighten us.
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