Marlow Bridge - Houses of the Shelleys, Thomas Love Peacock and T.S. Eliot - Marlow River Walk - St. Peter's Church and All Saints' Church

Marlow Bridge
Marlow, SL7. (Map Ref 1.)
The Marlow suspension bridge commands a spectacular view of the River Thames, especially of the weir and lock that allow boats to pass through their confines. Built by bridge designer Tierney Clark in 1832, who was also responsible for the Hammersmith Bridge, Marlow Bridge's clean, angelic shiny white colour and aura brings forth visions of a gateway to an idyllic world that knows no hardships. Both the bridge and the view are utterly inspiring and it makes you understand why such great writers as the Shelleys and T.S. Eliot lived here. Clark did in fact build a larger version of this bridge over the Danube in Budapest.

There is little else to say about this majestic construction because words become futile when you are forced to express the feelings that rush through you when it looms into sight. All I can say is - EXPERIENCE IT! Let tidal waves of emotion streak through your entire constitution.
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Houses of the Shelleys, Thomas Love Peacock and T.S. Eliot
West Street, SL7 (Map Ref 2.)
One of the most famous literary streets in England, West Street's small, attractive houses, built around the picturesque grounds of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, are still relatively unprepossessing but obviously they impressed T.S. Eliot, Thomas Love Peacock, and Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary, so much that they decided to take up residence in some of them.

Each house is commemorated with a blue plaque high up on the respective facades, which are generally made up of flint and red brick materials. The Shelleys did in fact stay next door to Sir William Borlase in a charming cottage, Albion House, now owned by the school. Mary Shelley finished her groundbreaking Gothic novel, Frankenstein, there. Significantly, the cottage was created in a Gothic style. The Shelley's lived here for a year before shooting off to Italy. Further up the street at No.31 is T.S. Eliot's red brick house where he lived after World War I. Thomas Love Peacock lived in a similar house at No.47., where he wrote Nightmare Abbey - another interesting Gothic inclination but maybe I am clutching onto straws.

For those of you who are fascinated in the Romanticist writers, you should almost certainly make a quick stop here in Marlow. For those of you adore old English literature in general (or in the case of Eliot English-American) your eyes will be open with wonder. Marlow may not at first glance be the sort of place you would imagine writers to flock to, but when you are dealing with such powerful imaginations as the Shelleys, Eliot, and Peacock, and the ravishing charm of Marlow, then the two blend perfectly.
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Marlow River Walk
Starting at the car park in Pound Lane, SL7. (Map Ref 3.)
So many of the walks along the Thames in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are beautiful and it is actually hard to pick one out. Marlow, as expected, has a beautiful path leading to Bisham Abbey and like so many of the Thames walks nearby, it is memorable. Certainly, if you walk along the River Thames in its entirety you will have so many memories that they will come back to haunt you forever.

On your walk you should keep in mind that there were wharves along the river bank in the early days, which encouraged trading in such materials as rags, coal, wood, malt, and grain. Once you get to Marlow Bridge you will have a wonderful sighting of The Compleat Angler hotel. Keep on walking and you will eventually come across Court Garden, whose house was built by a famous physician of the time, Dr. Battie. This grand structure was later given to a hero of the Crimean War, General Sir George Higginson, as well as the park and gardens. He, in turn, donated it all to the town.

You will have an excellent view of The All Saints' Church which I will comment on later. However, the main attraction of this walk is Bisham Church and the partially hidden Bisham Abbey. The church has existed here since 1190, when the Normans had already conquered England. Indeed, the tower is still in existence there and has not as yet decayed. Bisham Abbey can just about be seen through the many trees that line the bank. It also has a long history and was formerly a manor handed over to the Knights Templar in the 12th century. The abbey is now a large leisure centre with five tennis courts and a vast sports field. Both famous tennis players and the English cricket team come here to practise.

The eerie beauty of the River Walk and the many ancient buildings that fill its banks is sure to make your walk both a factual and atmospheric delight. It is hard not to recommend any walk down the River Thames, but you should certainly not miss out on this one.
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St. Peter's Church and All Saints' Church
Both next to Marlow Bridge, SL7. (Map Ref 4.)
The Roman Catholic St. Peter's Church and the more noble All Saints' Church are architectural as well as historical landmarks in Marlow. All Saints' is admittedly more impressive and you are granted a fine view of it from Marlow Bridge. St. Peter's, designed by Pugin in 1848, is generally considered one of his least inspired designs, and it has been somewhat altered and spoilt even more since then with the addition of a modern chapel. All Saints', on the other hand, was built by another renowned architect of his time, C.F. Inwood, and stands out in the most formidable manner.

There is a history of churches on both sites since the Middle Ages. However, they were rebuilt at the start of the 19th century with varying degrees of success. As is so common with other buildings around Marlow, both churches were made with knapped flint and brick. The All Saints' has its churchyard built inventively on a river bank which means that when its parishioners have finished with their Sunday church services in the summer, they can walk outside and sunbathe on the banks. There are several beautiful tombs in the church relating to some halfway famous celebrities of the past. St. Peter's does pale in comparison but for church building connoisseurs it may be of some notional interest.

You cannot escape from the influence the churches have both over the town and the community. For all atheists out there, this is not a place you would probably admire.
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