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richardjlockleyhobson · 23 days

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“The inception of it was a murder at the village of Lower Quinton, just outside of Stratford-upon-Avon, in which a tramp was murdered by, I think villagers, and his body dragged along so that the blood could fertilise the crops” …

There is no English village that has not played host to at least one significant historical event, and I have it in mind that I have known something of Walton’s murder for quite-some-time, though I really can’t be sure. I have it in mind that the incident is infamous and that everyone knows something of it, but in truth, that really depends on to whom you speak and what circles they move in.

Alternatively, if it were not for prolific playwright and novelist John Bowen, I may well have never heard of Charles Walton, a farm labourer whose mutilated body was found among the hedgerows of Firs Farm, Lower Quinton, on the evening of the 14th of February, 1945.

Over time, the details of Walton’s murder have become other things and as it is, you could be forgiven for thinking that Bowen’s comments were more in-line with the circumstances of David Rudkin’s 1962 play Afore Night Come, than Robin Redbreast.

John once told me that Robin Redbreast was partly inspired by (and partly filmed in) Old Lodge Farm, which lies roughly 9 miles north-east of Banbury. John purchased the property sometime during the latter half of 1970 and was resident there until his death, in 2019.

Though varied and often of its time, it’s sometimes difficult to reconcile the lightness of John’s character with the darkness that prevails in some of his work. Robin Redbreast, to which our attention is drawn, is relatively straightforward and has found itself subsumed of late, but it is its malevolent counterpart A Photograph, that sticks in the mind. Here things are far from straightforward. Darkness prevails from the outset and the late appearance of Mrs. Vigo, last seen standing in front of Old Lodge Farm, seven years earlier, asks more questions than it answers.

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— John Bowen is quoted in conversation for inclusion as an “extra” on the BFI’s 2013 digital release of Robin Redbreast.

— Robin Redbreast (TV Drama). Written by John Bowen and directed by James MacTaggart. Produced as part of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Play for Today anthology series. Originally transmitted on the 10th of December, 1970. Though I understand that, due to a nationwide power-outage, the final minutes of the program were not transmitted and as a consequence, Robin Redbreast was repeated on the 25th of February, 1971.

A theatrical version of Robin Redbreast was staged by the Guildford Theatre Co., 15th of October 1974, at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford.

— A Photograph (TV Drama). Written by John Bowen and directed by John Glenister. Produced as part of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Play for Today anthology series. Originally transmitted on the 22nd of March, 1977.

— Afore Night Come (Play). Written by David Rudkin and first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, 7th of June, 1962, at the New Arts Theatre Club, London. Directed by Clifford Williams.

Revived, as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1964 season at the Aldwych Theatre, London, Afore Night Come was performed in repertory, along with, amongst others, Pinter’s The Birthday Party, Beckett’s Endgame and Weiss’ The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.

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Somewhere in the archives, I have a copy of John’s play Little Boxes, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1968. The book is dedicated to David Cook, John’s long term partner and inscribed “To Bill and Anna — a wonderful Jane! With love John Bowen”.

The “Anna” here is actress Anna Cropper, whose portrayal of Robin Redbreast’s protagonist Nora Palmer anchors us, when required. The “Bill” here is in fact William Roache, an actor most associated with the character of Ken Barlow in the long-running television serial Coronation Street. At the time, William and Anna were husband and wife, married in 1961 and divorced in 1974.

Little Boxes consists of two interrelated yet separate plays, The Coffee Lace and Trevor. Making its debut at the Hampstead Theatre Club on the 26th of February 1968, before transferring to the Duchess Theatre, later the same year. Although the characters differ, John’s intention was for the cast of one play to perform the other. In The Coffee Lace Anna plays the role of Miss Peel and in Trevor, Jane Kempton.

It is not usual for those that write for television, film or even theatre, to form associations with particular actors and John was no exception. As well as working with Anna, John’s television plays frequently featured actor John Stride. Stride plays the role of Mark Antony in Heil Caesar! (1973), Michael Otway in A Photograph (1977) and Paul in The Ice House (1978).

“When I wrote The Birdcage, I was on the verge of breaking up with my then partner - a Canadian dancer, but Norah was not he. She was, in fact, a version of myself, as most of my characters are” …

We have of course met Nora Palmer before. Prior to the unsettling events of Robin Redbreast, prior to a contemplative glass of brandy with Madge and Jake, Nora, a script editor for an independent television company, could be found drinking tea with Peter Ash, host of The Living Arts, a “cultural feature” screened monthly at participating cinemas.

The Birdcage was first published by Faber in 1962 and for the most part, concerns itself with the shifting sexual politics of the time, often informed by John’s own experiences and that of those around him. Three years later, what remains of Nora and Peter’s relationship is given due consideration, in Robin Redbreast’s opening scene.

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The space between, the end of one thing and the beginning of another. Time is taken-up. Letters, emails, phone-calls. Fac et aliquid operis, ut semper te diabolus inveniat occupatum (engage in some occupation, so that the devil may always find you busy).

Warwickshire County Records Office. Warwickshire and West-Mercia Police. The Metropolitan Police. Warwickshire County Coroner’s Office. Stratford-upon-Avon Herald. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Methuen, Routledge, Harlequin. I have been ably assisted.

As a consequence of this and other preoccupations, stacks of clear plastic storage boxes take-up space in what would otherwise be a perfectly usable room in my apartment.

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Wednesday 25/01/2017. The National Archives. A cold morning’s walk through Chiswick, over Chiswick Bridge and along the Thames Path.

The Public Records Office at Kew was designed by English architect John Cecil Clavering for the Office of Works. Clavering is perhaps better known for his work with the Weedon Partnership, designing a series of Odeon Cinemas at Kingstanding, Sutton Coldfield, Colwyn Bay and finally Scarborough. Opened in 1977 and renamed in 2003, the building is a fine example of what is commonly referred to as Brutalist architecture.

My possessions are transferred to a clear plastic bag, an extremely unflattering photograph is taken and a pass produced, a Reader’s Ticket. By prior-arrangement, an item of interest will find its way to an orange-tinted acrylic locker, one of many, alphanumeric, correspondent to a seat within the Reading Room.

MEPO 3/2290 contains the Central Officer’s Special Report 201/45/30 and other, related documentation. Fragile documents cannot be separated out, without the potential for damage. Documentation is comprehensive. That said, reference is made to photographs, taken at the scene and a map, showing the location of Walton’s body, but these things are conspicuous by their absence.

I move to another part of the room to make copies of Chief Inspector Fabian’s original report, by way of an overhead camera. The National Archives’ document scanning service. The resulting .jpeg files are then uploaded, emailed out and, as I return MEPO 3/2290 to the front desk, an elderly women has a coughing-fit and is escorted from the room.

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Sunday 17/12/2017. The civil parish of Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

1 h 24 min (66.3 miles) via M5. Fastest route, the usual traffic. Get on M5 in South Gloucestershire from A4018. 8 min (3.4 mi). Follow M5 to A46 in Tewkesbury. Take exit 9 from M5. 37 min (40.5 mi). Continue on A46 to your destination in Lower Quinton. 38 min (22.5 mi). Lower Quinton.

Four Thatches, opposite All Saints and before The Firs, which is curious as, from the street, there would appear to be only Three. Walton and his niece Edith Walton (Goode) having occupied the middle cottage, or second from the left, from Friday Street, if there are to be Four. Further along, The Firs, once the location of Alfred Potter’s farm, now a cul-de-sac of detached houses. Properties were registered in 1988.

Walking back along Main Road from The Firs, turning off onto Goose Lane. Halfway along Goose Lane, Lower Quinton turns to Upper Quinton. Goose Lane, The Green and Hill Lane. Hill Lane gives way to a tree-lined track that takes you up onto farmland, up onto Meon Hill’s northern slopes. I lose my footing and find myself cast to the ground. To mud, to infrequent patches of snow, my Ilford HP5 Plus single-use camera, which I had fished out of my rucksack at The Firs, flung from my hand.

Returning now, with care, I find a crab-apple tree amongst the hedgerows.

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Society has long-since organised itself in such a way as to make murder almost impossible to get away with. Between the residue of premeditation and the act itself, few murders go unsolved and the majority of murderers are brought to book, within a reasonable period of time.

The details of Walton’s murder are disturbing, upsetting, and although a thorough investigation was undertaken, Charles’ murderer was never found.

As far as Chief Inspector Robert Fabian of the Metropolitan Police was concerned, the only viable suspect was Alfred J Potter, owner of Firs Farm and Walton’s most recent employer. However, regardless of how much Fabian liked Potter for the murder, insufficient evidence and a lack of motive meant that this particular line-of-enquiry was unlikely to result in a conviction. And even if it had, such a conviction would have been considered unsound.

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Somewhere in the archives I have a photograph of Detective Superintendent Alec Spooner, head of Warwickshire’s Criminal Investigation Department. Spooner is pictured revisiting the scene of Walton’s murder and it is said that he did so on several occasions.

In 1949 Robert Fabian retires, having attained the rank of Detective Superintendent. Fabian had garnered some notoriety whilst working with the Metropolitan Police and subsequently, became something of a celebrity. In 1956, Robert appears as a castaway on Roy Plomley’s Desert Island Discs, his luxury item, an umbrella and that same year, he parts-company with Winifred Letitia Stockwel, his wife of 32 years.

Between 1950 and 1954, Naldrett Press published two books by Fabian, Fabian of the Yard and London After Dark. In 1970, Pelham Books published The Anatomy of Crime. In 1954, Fabian of the Yard was adapted by the British Broadcasting Corporation, their earliest foray into Police Procedural Drama.

Robert was undoubtedly a gifted and intuitive detective and I am sure that it was important for him to have felt that he had given a good account of himself. However, I suspect that the disappointment of never having caught whomever was responsible for Walton’s murder had preyed on his mind.

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Michael Bakewell (BBC) “With me now is the person who knew him most and best, his niece Mrs. Goode. Mrs. Goode, Charles Walton was living with you at the time of the murder” Edith Goode “Yes” Bakewell “Do you think there was any chance that witchcraft played any part in his death at all?” Goode “No. I think erm, the papers made a lot of it, erm, and I lived with him all my life and I’ve never known such things, I think it’s ridiculous really the things that were said” Bakewell “What did you think about the theories in the newspapers?” Goode “What the papers said was very disturbing, because none of it was true” Bakewell “Warwickshire is supposed to be one of the great centres of witchcraft, did you ever meet a witch or know anything about witchcraft?” Goode “No, never. I’ve never heard of it. I never remember them talking about witchcraft until this came along”.

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201/45/30. 7th April, 1945. Commander E. R. B. Kemble, R. N., Chief Constable of Warwickshire, County Constabulary, Warwick. Dear Kemble, here is a copy of our report and statements in the case of Charles Walton. I am sorry we have had no luck so far, but you never know, something may well still turn up. I hope you are fit. Do look in and see me next time you come to London. Yours sincerely, R M H.

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Fourteenth February 1945. In a field on Firs Farm, Quinton R.D. / Charles Walton / Male / 74 years / of 15, Lower Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon R.D. / Farm Labourer / Shock and haemorrhage due to grave injuries to the neck and chest caused by a pitchfork and a trouncing hook. The injuries having been inflicted by some person or persons unknown (wilful murder) / Certificate received from G. F. Lodder, Coroner for the County of Warwick, inquest 20th March 1945 / Twenty Second March 1945 / Wallace Ellis, Registrar.

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“On the 20th March, 1945, the adjourning inquest touching the death of Charles Walton, age 74, a casual labourer, of 15, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, who was found murdered in a field at Firs Farm, Upper Quinton, at about 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the 14th February, 1945, was held at the Town Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, by Mr. G. P. Lodder, H. M. Coroner who sat with a jury. The inquest concluded with the jury returning a verdict of murder against some person or persons unknown” — Chief Inspector Robert Fabian, April 1945, Central Officer’s Special Report 201/45/30

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“The very thorough enquiries made in this case have, so far, uncovered no evidence on which action can be taken. There is suspicion against the farmer Potter, chiefly because of discrepancies in his statements affecting what he says he saw of the murdered man at a time which must have been shortly before the murder. There are, apparently, no finger impressions on the weapons used. The most positive factor, at present, seems to be the missing watch. It may be that the victim’s trousers were undone by the murderer searching for a money belt. If robbery be the motive, the offender is likely to be a person with local knowledge, although this may not be so” — Superintendent Thomas Basil Thompson, April 1945, Central Officer’s Special Report 201/45/30

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“Old Man’s Terrible Injuries - Inflicted with Billhook and Pitchfork - Tragic Discovery at Quinton - Warwickshire police are investigating what may prove to be a murder of a particularly brutal character. On Wednesday night, following a search, the body of a 74-year-old farm labourer, Mr. Charles Walton, of Lower Quinton, was found with terrible injuries in a field on Meon Hill, where he had been engaged in hedge-laying. A trouncing hook and a two-tined pitchfork are said to have been embedded in his body. Mr. Walton, who lived with his niece, was a frail old man. He suffered considerably from rheumatism and walked with the aid of two sticks … Mr. Walton spent his whole life in Quinton, and was known to everyone. The tragedy has shocked the locality. A neighbour told the Herald that he was a quiet, inoffensive old man, one of the best you would meet in a day’s march, and he was not likely to have had any enemies in the village. He always had a cheery word for everyone, she said. It seems impossible to impute any motive for murder. Miss Walton is engaged to a Stratford man, and following the discovery of the tragedy left her home for Stratford. Last night the police were continuing their inquiries and had visited a camp in the area. Later it was stated that the police regard the crime as the work of a lunatic or someone maddened by drink” — Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 16th of February, 1945

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“Thank you for your email, Warwickshire case files that are over 50 years old were kept at our Warwickshire Police HQ. After enquiring with the relevant department, I have been informed that following a flood a few years back, all files were either destroyed or badly damaged and therefore unable to be viewed. Please accept my apologies, we will not be able to provide you the information you require” — Kieren Bodill, Operational Communications Assistant, Corporate Communications, Warwickshire and West Mercia Police

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“The Murder of PC 222 William Hine on 16th Feb 1886, is the longest outstanding unsolved murder that I have been made aware of, and not the Murder of Charles Walton. Kind Regards” — Kieren Bodill, Operational Communications Assistant, Corporate Communications, Warwickshire and West Mercia Police

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“I have had a look, and Alfred J. Potter, farmer, date of birth 16/10/1903 is listed as living at The Firs, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, England. I could not identify any similar sounding places in the 1939 Register. This seems to confirm your suspicions - and also seems to indicate that the farm was known as ‘The Firs’, as well as ‘Firs Farm’, from at least 1939” — Becky Hemsley, Public Service Team, Warwickshire County Record Office

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“But the author, it soon transpires, is up to something very different: the slice-of-life introduction and the carefully documentary setting are only the bait which leads audiences cheerfully into his trap … The strength of the play lies in two things: the inexorable theatrical logic with which it carries us from its simple realistic opening to the weird, primitive ritual of its climax; and the efficacy of the play on a literal as well as a metaphorical level … Accepting, then, that such things might happen and sometimes do, Afore Night Come builds up a minutely credible picture of how one such case might come about. In this countryside the dark gods still walk (Rudkin’s first favourite adult reading — after Just William and Arthur Ransome — was Hardy, which may have something to do with his view of rural life) and superstitions die hard. Strangers are mistrusted, the weak go to the wall and anything out of the ordinary (barrenness, insanity) is as like as not the fault of something unnatural, someone with the evil eye” — John Russell Taylor, Anger & After, Methuen 1977

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“The National Archives is the archive of records generated by UK central government departments and selected for preservation under the 1958 Public Records Act (and subsequent amendments). The MEPO 3 series contains correspondence and papers of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office and The National Archives’ document reference MEPO 3/2290 contains the full document as accessioned by us. If any photographs were present in the original file they were not selected for permanent preservation under the act” — Steven Cable, Remote Enquiries Duty Officer, The National Archives

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“Anybody can become a witch. All you have to do is to recite an ancient spell that will conjure up the devil. You then dip a quill pen in blood from your veins and sign an agreement selling him your soul. He gives you a silver coin in token, and leaves with you a cat, a bird and a black dog which will act as your fiendish servant and obey your commands. Such is the ritual of black witchery, and you should be warned that it is an offence under the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which is still unrepealed upon the statute books. When you have become a witch you can put the evil eye on your neighbours, make their cattle die, their crops rot.You do not believe such nonsense, and neither do I, yet in the picturesque Tudor village of Lower Quinton, its thatched roofs golden among the Cotswold hills, they speak of witches with a wry grin and many people will not pass from Bidford down Hillborough-Lane for fear of a headless horseman and a ghostly woman in white” — Robert Fabian, Under the Shadow of Meon Hill, Fabian of the Yard, Naldrett Press, 1954

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“It is curious that the first story the papers told was that Walton was killed at a Black Mass at midnight, a wonderful story to conjure up scenes of horror, when people noticed that if Walton was killed at a Black Mass at midnight on St. Valentine’s Eve, it was curious that so many people saw him alive and well the next day; so the story was hastily changed. She now said that “he was killed exactly at Mid-day on St. Valentine’s Day”. Now it so happens I was one of the people consulted at the time of the murder, as to the possibility of its being a ritual murder, or a sacrifice. I said it can’t be a sacrifice because, what use is an old cripple for a sacrifice? All races I know of want something young and vigorous. Because I was consulted I was told certain things not usually known, and I presume they are still police secrets, so I don’t mention them. But I can say he was alive and well after mid-day, so this second story is all moonshine. Although, if I am right, in one sense Charles Walton was a human sacrifice; he was a victim of the long campaign of witch-hunting that has been waged throughout the centuries; and the modern purveyors of fear and folly may well take it to their consciences” — Gerald B. Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, 1959

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— These considerations are dedicated to the playwright and novelist John Griffith Bowen. 5th of November, 1924 – 18th of April, 2019.

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— supplementary information —

“I’ve had a look at RAF Cooks’s printed research (a copy of which we hold in our library), and specifically exhibited pages of newspapers; principally the Stratford Herald, 26 February 1886. This tells how the body of PC Hine was found in the Warwick and Napton Canal, near a curve in the canal about a quarter of a mile from the Wharf Inn (coming back from the direction of Banbury). According to the accounts, PC Hine was attacked and possibly/probably murdered in a field leading from a footpath known as The Lanket (Stratford Herald), '300 yards from his house near the centre of the village’ (Warwickshire Advertiser, 20 February 1886). In the field (which is called White’s field in Cooks’s narrative, but I didn’t spot it being specifically named in the Herald and their version of the inquest) were found PC Hine’s helmet and handkerchief, and footprints, signs of a struggle and blood. So, his body was found in the canal (also referred to as the Oxford Canal in one account), but the murder likely took place in the above mentioned field, and his body was then dragged on a hurdle to the canal” — Amanda Williams, Archivist, Warwickshire County Record Office

“Firstly I looked at the 1939 register for Charles Walton and his neighbours in order to cross reference with the electoral register for that year. Unfortunately the record office does not hold the 1939 electoral register containing the parish of Quinton (presumably held by Gloucestershire Archive Service) and there are no registers for the war years. This being said, I looked at our first available electoral register (1950) and began to look for the names of the neighbours from the 1939 census and many were still in residence. The results of these searches using the 1950 electoral register show that the Stanley Family lived at Elmhurst, which still exists, and is the next property to the Four Thatched Cottages. Working backwards from the Stanley family to Charles Walton, cross referencing the names on the census with the electoral register we have the Hayward family living at No. 17 Lower Quinton; the Beasley family have moved, now in the occupation of the Rose family; No. 15 is not listed; Ellen Bowden and the Stowe family are at No. 14 Lower Quinton (1 Church Street on the census). We then move onto residents of Friday Street with the Nicholls family living at 23/24 Friday Street. This would indicate that Nos. 14-17 were the now Four Thatched Cottages with No. 14 being the end cottage on the corner of Friday Street and Main Street with the house of Charles Walton being the second cottage from the corner. So in conclusion 15 Lower Quinton is one of the cottages on the corner of Friday Street and Main Road” — Karen Moulder, Public Service Team, Warwickshire County Records Office

“The things that have been said about this case have been the deciding factor which induced me to write this chapter. After all, newspaper sensations are a very easy target for criticism, so easy that they are hardly worth shooting at. A new one appears regularly every week, duly makes its contribution to the gaiety of nations, and then comes in very useful for wrapping fish. However, when things are said which may affect the investigation of an unsolved murder, the matter becomes more serious. To unmask irresponsible sensationalism is then a public duty. This mysterious and terrible crime, which shattered the peace of a beautiful, secluded little village in the Cotswolds in 1945, has been the subject of wild speculation, and dark hints of witchcraft and ritual murder” — Gerald B. Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, 1959

“CR1635/350. Small leather bound volume, 6¾” × 9", containing plans and surveys of the following property on the Weston estate; the surveyor is not named - includes Meon Hill Farm in 1832, with a table of the annual state of cultivation, 1831-1855" — David Hodgkinson, Public Service Team, Warwickshire County Record Office

“The 1939 Register is a useful resource for family, social and local historians. As the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and no census was taken in 1941, the 1939 Register provides the most complete survey of the population of England and Wales between 1921 and 1951”

Charles Walton, 12 May 1870, General Labourer, Widowed, Lower Quinton , Stratford-on-Avon R.D., Warwickshire, England. Edith Goode (Walton), 23 May 1911, Unpaid Domestic Duties, Single, Lower Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon R.D., Warwickshire, England.

Alfred J Potter, 01 Oct 1903, Farmer, The Firs Lower Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon R.D., Warwickshire, England. Lilian E Potter, 01 Jun 1905, Unpaid Domestic Duties, Married, The Firs Lower Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon R.D., Warwickshire, England. Grace M Richards, 21 Sep 1913, Unpaid Domestic Duties, Married, The Firs Lower Quinton, Stratford-on-Avon R.D., Warwickshire, England.

“Norah Palmer owns a cottage In the country. She is a modern woman, used to city life, and totally unprepared when the setting and the people begin to take on an ancient and terrifying meaning” — Radio Times, December 10th, 1970

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#Charles Walton #John Bowen

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