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Medmenham Abbey
Before we arrive at the town of Marlow we pass an interesting building on the left bank called Medmenham Abbey. It is now a private house and can only be viewed from the river.
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This is how Medmenham Abbey looked around 1800. An abbey was first built here for the Cistercian Order in the 12th Century, but it was a later occupant that gave the location its notoriety.
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In the 1750s the house was leased to a colourful character called Sir Francis Dashwood, who founded a secret order known as the Hell-Fire Club. This seems to have been very different to conventional monastic orders.
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Medmenham Door |
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Above the door is inscribed the Rabelaisian motto: "Fay ce que voudras" or "Do as you wish". Stories circulated of wild debauchery in a building decorated with erotic imagery. But other than this inscription, no other hard evidence remains and it may all have been a myth.
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Marlow
Moving on downstream, we pass through the town of Marlow. The Thames made this a very busy town in earlier centuries. There were wharves for boats and barges transporting goods to and from London, particularly wood, corn and malt from the southern Chiltern valleys. This photograph from the early 20th Century shows the elegant Marlow suspension bridge, built in 1825.
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Marlow Church and Bridge |
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The suspension bridge replaced an earlier timber one, seen here in this print from the early 19th Century.
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Introduction
Marlow
