Page 13 - The Long Crendon Connection

The Long Crendon Connection Redditch Heritage

Long Crendon & Needle Making

Archaeological recording work recognised what was originally considered a garden shed to be
the 19th -century workshop and scouring mill of Matthew Shrimpton that finally ceased to be
used in the early 20th century.

Investigations were carried out on an outbuilding at 76a High Street. Long Crendon (NGR SP
69677 08918) as part of a planning application in 2008. The first impressions of the building were
that of an early 20th century brick-built outbuilding of poor construction and little historic value.
On closer investigation this impression proved inaccurate.

Needle making had been an important industry in Long Crendon since the 17th century. Donald
(1971 records that in 1848 Samuel Shrimpton and his son, Andrew, installed a steam powered
scouring mill at 76 High Street, "where it was
installed in the brick shed at the back of the house."' The Shrimptons' had been a needle making
family since 1739 and Emanuel is so recorded on the census of 1841. Outbuildings arc marked
in the area behind 76 and 78 High Street on the 1827 Inelosurc map of Long Crendon. The building
is also depicted on the 1st edition OS map of 1885.
Prior to 1845 all scouring was done at Long Crendon by Richard Shrimpton, with a Horse Mill kept
in a barn behind "Dodwell's Store" (Donald 1971). In 1845 John Harris of Thame set up a steam
engine at llarrod. A second was installed by Edward Shrimpton and his son Jonah at their factory
at Arnott s Yard. Although the industry was modernised at this time it was still in overall decline
in the area. Matthew Shrimpton was the last manufacturer of needles, specifically darning needles
and bodkins, in Long Crendon from his workshop at 76 High Street (Donald 1971). However, the
census of 1891 places In in living at Buekway, not High Street. Donald (1973) contradicts herself,
placing Matthew Shrimpton at 78 High Street during this time. This is likely to be a typing error
as she mentions his neighbour Mr. Lovell "who made needles in his spare time in the shed at the
rear of 78 High Street."

The 1901 census records Jonah Lovell and his wife Louisa living at 78 High Street He was aged
55 and an agricultural labourer. The couple had lived here since 1871. At this time Walter B.
Crook a farmer and his wife Annie were living at 76 High Street (May 1991)
Short Description of the Building The property (Fig. I) is single storey and rectangular in plan.
Only the northern, eastern, parts of the western and the internal walls remain of the original
structure, although traces of the original footings of the southern wall could be identified. The
building was presumably roved in red ceramic roof tiles, due to the numbers located in layers
within the building or incorporated into the fabric of later additions.
Originally the building was constructed on stone footings with a single brick course thick wall built
upon them. The footings in the northern wall were apparently constructed to a greater height
than those of the other walls, ihe equivalent of six courses of bricks high. This appears to have
been a deliberate attempt to create a raised shelf-like structure along this wall, presumably for
storage.

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