Epochs
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Ghost Villages in World War 2
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 19×01: The Village That Rose From the Dead)
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•A curtain opens to reveal a room with nine people. All of them are dressed in 1940s style. Almost all of them are sitting at three tables, only the older woman who opened the curtain is standing in front of them, just finishing her presentation about a living museum in Little Auburn. It is Sylvia Lennard.
The audience applauds her. Roderick Craven, the landlord of Great Auburn and heir to Little Auburn, thanks her. 75 years ago, Little Auburn became a military base and fell into disrepair after the war, becoming a ghost village. The residents founded Great Auburn not far away, but tomorrow the army will return the land to the Craven family. In return, the landlord wants to support a project. There are three groups with very different ideas, including Sylvia Lennard’s living museum.
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Domesday in Midsomer
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 07×02: Bad Tidings)
•Sergeant Daniel Scott has just arrived at his new police station in Causton and is assigned to investigate a murder in Midsomer Mallow. Tom Barnaby and his new sergeant are walking across a meadow where a woman’s body has been found. Daniel Scott is struggling to walk on the uneven ground and in the tall grass. Meanwhile, Tom tells him that this place is called Chainey’s Field and has been common land for centuries – even in the Domesday Book.
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Francis Galton, founder of eugenics
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episodes 13×05: Master Class, and a bit for 14×06: The Night of the Stag)
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•The Fieldings’ manor, Devington Hall, is currently hosting auditions for Sir Michael Fielding’s Master Class. The manor is a 19th century country house, the grounds of which belonged to the Knights Templars several centuries earlier and has been built on since at least the 14th century. Its real name is St Katharine’s Convent and it is situated in the little hamlet of Parmoor, Buckinghamshire. A very detailed documentation of the house, which has been on the National Heritage List since 22 January 1986, can be found on the Buckinghamshire Gardens trust site.
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At the Beginning of the Year in Englefield
Much like Englefield House and its 16th-century owners, not much is known about the history of the parish of Englefield, much of which lies within the Benyon family estate. Yes, two battles took place here – firstly a bloody battle in September 1643 during the Civil War, the site of which is now known as Deadman’s Lane. The other was in Anglo-Saxon times – the battle of Englefield – which I will come to in a moment.
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episodes: 14×05: The Sleeper Under the Hill)
Diesen Beitrag gibt es auch auf Deutsch.
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The Night of the Stag
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episodes: 14×06: The Night of the Stag)
Diesen Beitrag gibt es auch auf Deutsch.
•On a colourfully decorated village square, a very well-attended, joyous fete takes place. There are stalls and plenty of alcohol to drink. We are at the Midsomer Abbas May Fayre, which is celebrated jointly by residents from Midsomer Abbas and Midsomer Herne – always on the first of May. Malmsey wine is served in a sweet version (= the well-known sweet Madeira wine) and in a tart version. Now, a man, Reverend Conrad Walker, enters the wooden platform and speaks into a microphone and welcomes the crowd.
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Midsomer’s Old Railways
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 08×01: Things That Go Bump in the Night)
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Map of the London and North Western Railway and Caledonian Railway systems, about 1900. Public Domain. (Click to enlarge it.) Joyce and Tom Barnaby are guests of Elizabeth Key in Fletcher’s Cross. They go out of the cottage into the garden. Elizabeth Key carries a tray with three cups and saucers, sugar bowl and creamer. Joyce carries the teapot in her hand. The two women walk side by side in front, Tom Barnaby with his hands in his trousers behind.
The Barnabys admire the garden and the location and Elizabeth Key enlightens them that back then in Victorian times, there was a railway just behind a row of trees near the house. Joyce is startled and apparently imagines express trains. But back then they were only steam locomotives, of course. However, the line was later closed.
Now, the railway is to be partially restored and Fletcher’s Cross Station reopened. We learn later at the railway inauguration festival that it is mainly thanks to James Griss! But he is not quite respected in Fletcher’s Cross because he is a bit of a show-off.
Barnabys and Elizabeth Key sit down at a small table and set it and talk about Elizabeth’s parents and the upcoming meeting of the Spirit of Friendship Group. Just before the scene change, you hear the rattle and toot of a steam locomotive, but you don’t see it.
A steam locomotive is also seen in Great Worthy in another episode (14×03: Echos of the dead), but without any further information about the railway system there.
Old, new railway stations
The episode takes up a rather topical theme – both at the time of filming and the first broadcast and today. In the 19th century, the construction of railways was booming, even in rural areas, but in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, many of these railways were closed down because they were no longer lucrative enough.
Especially since the turn of the millennium, there have been repeated initiatives to reopen these disused stations. Though the plans always fail to materialise because demand remains too low or costs too much to open. And that is also the difficulty in Fletcher’s Cross. That’s why James Griss is talking to potential investors.
Some former railway stations become museums – like Quainton Road Railway Station, now Buckingham Railway Centre. Fletcher’s Cross station was filmed there. The name of the village is Old English for Queen’s Estate. It presumably refers to the estates of Edith, who was the wife of King Edward the Confessor.
A good 800 years later, in 1860, the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway Company was founded and the line opened 8 years later. Initially it only connected the Wycombe Railway (Maidenhead-Abingdon) in Aylesbury to the south and the Verney Junction of the Buckinghamshire Railway (Bletchley-Banbury-Oxford) to the north. In 1899 a junction was added to the north just beyond Quainton station, linking the line with the Great Central Main Line (Sheffield-London).
Unlike the connection from Fletcher’s Cross to Causton, the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway had no connection to Wallingford, 30 miles (about 50 km) away, which is known to be the filming location for Causton.
Quainton Road Railway Station
Ravenseft: Quainton Road Railway Station, Buckinghamshire, 2008. CC-BY SA 2.0. Quainton Road Railway Station was one of six stops on the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway. Although it opened in 1868, it was not worthwhile in this underpopulated area and yet it was probably the most important stop on the line. It had a special status because the Brill Tramway started here – or ended here, depending on which way you were travelling.
The Brill Tramway’s main purpose was not to transport people, but goods. The Dukes of Buckingham were all interested in railway construction and this new means of transport. Their new estate, Waddesdon Manor, was being planned and was to have its own railway station nearby. Because of lobbying, the planned line was extended to Brill.
The tramway overcame a first financial decline of the line due to newer and faster connections to London and the north of England, as it was modernised and the trains now travelled 7.5 mi/h (12 km/h) instead of 4 mi/h (6.4 km/h). This meant that goods were now taken from Brill to Quainton in 40 minutes.
The tramway became part of the London Metropolitan Railway. Therefore part of the London Underground even as late as 1933, although 40 mi (64 km) from London and this train route was anything but underground. But two years later it was over. When the last train left Brill Station on its way to Quainton on 30 November 1935, hundreds of people watched and some members of the Oxford University Railway Society travelled from Oxford to get a last ticket.
A new life as a museum and well-known film location
After the Brill Tramway was closed, Quainton Road Railway Station also lost its importance. However, the station was closed to passengers in 1963 and to local goods in 1966. Three years later the Quainton Road Society was formed with the aim of preserving the station and started The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre as a museum. In 1971 the London Railway Preservation Society took over its collection of historic railway equipment, which included many locomotives, and passenger and non-passenger rolling stock.
Thanks to the society, Quainton Road is one of the best preserved railway stations in England. It is also still part of the railway network and can be booked for special events. As a film location it was not only used for Midsomer Murders, but also for Doctor Who and other films and shows.
Beeching
In the early 1960s, Britain’s railway network stretched an impressive 29,000 kilometres, an extensive system linking towns, villages and rural areas. But despite this extensive infrastructure, British Railways was facing significant financial losses, exacerbated by the growth of private transport and the expansion of the road network.
Against this backdrop, Dr Richard Beeching was appointed Chairman of the British Railways Board in 1961 with a mandate to improve the profitability of the rail network. In 1963, he published the report “The Reshaping of British Railways”, in which he recommended the closure of 2,363 stations and the decommissioning of 8,000 kilometres of track – equivalent to around 55% of the stations and 30% of the entire network at the time. The aim of these measures was to stem financial losses and increase the efficiency of the network.
These cuts, known as the “Beeching Axe”, led to massive changes in the British transport system. Many rural communities lost their railway connections, which not only affected accessibility, but also had social and economic consequences. Decisions on which lines to close were mainly based on profitability analyses, with little regard for the long-term needs of communities.
Back For Goods?
In the following decades, however, the value of a comprehensive rail network for both passenger and freight transport was recognised. From the 1990s, a period of revitalisation began: some of the previously closed lines were reopened, often supported by local initiatives and a growing awareness of sustainable transport solutions. For example, the Dartmoor Line between Okehampton and Exeter reopened for regular passenger services in November 2021 after being closed since the early 1970s.
Another notable example is the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington, which reopened in December 2024 after extensive refurbishment work. This line, which was originally closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts, is now serving passenger services again, connecting communities that were without rail links for decades.
These developments reflect a rethink in transport policy that re-emphasises the importance of rail as a sustainable and efficient mode of transport. Despite historic cuts, the reopening of selected routes shows that the railway continues to play a central role in the UK’s transport network.
In Barnaby Land
In the 1960s, the counties of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire underwent significant changes to their railway network as a result of cuts initiated by Dr Richard Beeching. These measures were aimed at identifying and closing unprofitable lines in order to increase the efficiency of the British railway system.
Buckinghamshire
In Buckinghamshire, the Beeching report led to the closure of several lines. A notable example is the Wolverton-Newport Pagnell line, a 4-mile branch line that connected Wolverton with Newport Pagnell. This line was opened to passenger traffic in 1867 and served to connect the communities along the route. Despite its local importance, the line was closed to passenger traffic in 1964 and to freight traffic in 1967 as it was deemed unprofitable. Today, part of the former route serves as part of the Redway system in Milton Keynes, a network of shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists.
Another example is the closure of the Great Central Main Line north of Aylesbury in 1966, which was once an important link but was closed as part of the rationalisation of the network. Despite these closures, many lines in the south of the county remained as busy commuter routes to London, and new stations were later opened, such as at Milton Keynes in 1982.
Oxfordshire
In Oxfordshire, cutbacks included the closure of Wantage Road railway station in December 1964. This station, which opened in 1846, was located near the village of Grove and served as an important hub for the region. Despite its importance, the station was closed due to its perceived lack of profitability. In recent years, however, there have been efforts to reopen the station to meet today’s transport needs. In 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) proposed in its ‘Connecting Communities’ report that Wantage Road station should be reopened as part of an extension to the rail network. In addition, Oxfordshire County Council published proposals and a viability analysis for a new station at Grove in August 2018, with the assumption that a new station could open by 2025.
Berkshire
In Berkshire, the Beeching cuts have also led to the closure of several lines and stations. One example is the closure of the Newbury to Winchester line, which closed in 1965. These closures had a significant impact on local accessibility and freight transport in the region. However, in recent years there have been efforts to reopen some of these closed lines to meet today’s transport needs and improve infrastructure. One example of this is the reopening of Reading Green Park station, which was planned for 2020.
The impact of the Beeching cuts in these counties was significant and resulted in a loss of rail infrastructure. Nevertheless, modern initiatives to reopen and modernise lines and stations show the continued interest in the railway as a sustainable mode of transport.
🤓 Read more about Midsomer Murders & History
The Chronology of Midsomer County by Year or by Episodes • Deep Dives into Midsomer & History
Further readings
The Rail Map Online maps historic transport maps and lists the so many railways in the UK, most of which no longer exist today. See: https://RailMapOnline.com/
Literature
- Oppitz, Leslie: Lost Railways of The Chilterns. Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire. Newbury 2017.
I would like to point out that this is an unofficial fan site and I am not connected to Bentley Productions, ITV or the actors.
First published on MidsomerMurdersHistory.org on 27 November 2023.
Updated on 5 December 2024. -
Midsomer Connections: Episodes & Epochs
Under the menu item „Midsomer Connections“ you may have already seen the sankey chart in the lower half. It connects episodes with historical events from the respective era. In contrast to the charts above, this one not only includes references to British history, but also to Midsomer’s own history: Sir Hugo Melmoth, Ellis Bell, St Cicely, and so on.
Click on the chart to enlarge it. The chart shows it clearly: the 20th century is very strongly represented in Midsomer Murders, especially the period after the Second World War. Tudor, Stuart, Georgian are equally represented, as are Victorian and Modern 1.
It is much more often mentioned that a tradition or estate has existed since Henry VIII than since the Domesday Book. And the period before the Tudors, especially before the Battle of Hastings, is very under-represented. (Under “Medieval” I include everything between William I and the Wars of the Roses, i.e. Normans and Plantagenets).
That’s not so surprising, because Midsomer is actually typically Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, where most of the film locations are. It’s precisely here and in rural surroundings because small hamlets are usually synonymous with idyll, peace, order, even sleepiness, and in such an atmosphere very bizarre murders have a very strong effect. Midsomer Murders is almost a parody of cosy crimes (sometimes pokes fun at its own type) and the really extreme, exaggerated types of murder make us laugh rather than feel horror.
An archetypal English tale with a certain creepy edge
Essentially, Midsomer Murders is an archetypal English tale with a certain creepy edge, but it remains cosy because we know that DCI Barnaby will solve the series of murders with the help of his sergeant and his family. He will put things right – that is his function and he says exactly this in one of the filmed books, Death in Disguise, when he tries to find the murderer of Master Ian Craigie out of the intimidated Tim in his tree house at the Lodge of the Golden Windhorse.
The reference to history – of Midsomer or England, not British – reinforces the stereotypical idyll. But tradition has two directions. It strengthens identity and inhibits progress. Inhibiting process is very rigid form and makes things stay the way they have always been – it becomes preservative and is therefore a particular stylistic device in episodes by Brian True-May, for whom Midsomer County is an area that was a kind of sleeping beauty, but is torn from this fairytale sleep by bizarre murders by people who want to disrupt the established order. (Not always the case, but very often.)
Historical references before and after Season 15
However, tradition can also provide support through identification. In the episodes after True-May, there are some historical references, but more often in a parodic way. Midsomer is no longer so archetypal, and can also be completely atypical of Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire. But still, history (and the Midsomer-y landscape of the Chiltern Hills for that matter) remains the stabilising element of the show.
This is wonderfully taken to extremes in the very first episode after True-May, The Dark Rider, when Sarah Barnaby attempts to re-enact the Battle of Naseby on the DeQuetteville estate in a historically accurate way but, completely frustrated and annoyed, gives up and hanging the microphone on the holder, causing the feedback to squeak.
Let’s look at the time before and after Brian True-May’s time with Midsomer Murders in the sankey chart.
While the epochal segmentation of the left graph differs imperceptibly from the pattern of all MM episodes, a shift can be seen: exactly half of the historical references are from the 20th century, and there are hardly any references to the time of the Tudors and Stuarts and thus Henry VIII. So there really is a shift.
It is also quite apparent that there are fewer episodes with a historical connection. Now the episodes without Midsomer or English history are not listed in the graphics, so I’ll list them here:
Pilot and 1-14 15-22 Altogether 89 episodes Altogether 43 episodes Thereof 54 episodes with history = 61% Thereof 15 episodes with history = 35% Per each (histo) episode 1.3 historical references Per each (histo) episode 1.2 historical references From the pilot episode to the end of season 14 there are 89 episodes, and from season 15 to the end of season 22 there are 43 episodes. Of these, references to history are made in 54 and 15 episodes, totalling 70 and 18 times respectively.
So there are also fewer “histo episodes” in percentage since season 15, but if it is one, there’s not too much difference given the historical references.
Cosy crimes needs nostalgia
I mentioned tradition and its different directions at the beginning. At its best, tradition is something that gives you identity and forms a base for you. But it’s not something you have to carry around with you; ideally, you can continue to build on it and take responsibility for ensuring that the tradition remains sustainable and keeps up with the times. Tradition is a conscious transfer of history that you want to preserve for the future – like a special family heirloom that you have slightly adjusted so that you can wear it every day and it doesn’t end up in the drawer. And the historical references in Midsomer Murders are in this way, too, because it was and will always be cosy crime and therefore nostalgia takes over the role, the position of identity and the base on which a story from our present day is then told.
Read more about Midsomer Murders & History
The Chronology of Midsomer County by Year or by Episodes • Deep Dives into Midsomer & History.
I would like to point out that this is an unofficial fan site and I am not connected to Bentley Productions, ITV or the actors.
First published on MidsomerMurdersHistory.org on 13 December 2023.
Updated on 4 December 2024 -
Albert Plummer in India
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 08×07: Sauce for the Goose)
Diesen Beitrag gibt es auch auf Deutsch.
•Sam Hardwick leads a small group through the Plummer’s Relish factory where he worked until he retired – past the desks and conveyor belts where the work is done. He tells us that Albert Plummer was a young man in the Punjab when he discovered an excellent relish. When he returned to England in 1851, he brought the recipe for the relish with him and produced it. It was a great success.
It is not known how Albert Plummer came up with the recipe for this delicious relish, which Tom Barnaby also enjoyed. The only clues we have are the year 1851 and the region of Punjab.
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ATA – Anything To Anywhere
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 16×04: The Flying Club. With a bit of 13×02: The Sword of Guillaume, and a little bit of 10×01: Dancing with the Dead)
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•A murder has occurred at Finchmere airfield. John Barnaby interrogates the Darnley family who own the airfield and looks at old photographs in the family’s home. The Darnley family home was filmed at Penn House, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, which has been in the family since 1222. However, the photos John Barnaby is looking at are from the annual festival held at White Waltham.
John Barnaby notices a photo of a Spitfire among the many photos and asks Molly Darnley, with a certain recognition in his voice, whether she used to fly one of these famous planes. The elderly lady launches straight into the story: She didn’t fly in the war as a soldier, but was part of the ATA that transported the planes between the factories and the airfields. Without radios and guns.
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The Dissolution of the Monasteries in Midsomer Murders
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(Caution: Contains spoilers for Episode: 04×01: Garden of Death, 07×06: The Straw Woman, and 11×07: Talking to the Dead. With a little bit of 20×01: The Ghost of Causton Abbey, 08×03: Orchid Fatalis, and 14×07: A Sacred Trust.)
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•Tom Barnaby and Ben Jones are in Bow Clayton with the Reverend Wallace Stone in his drawing room. The clergyman is standing in front of a mirror in a cassock, getting ready for the next service, while he tells the two detectives what he thinks of the legend of Monks Barton Wood: It’s about the monks of Monks Barton Abbey, slaughtered in the nearby forest by mounted men in the name of Cromwell and his Dissolution of the Monasteries. A horrific event and their screams and moans of their ghosts can still be heard in the woods, the locals say.
