Gilwell Park
Gilwell Park is The Scout Association's principal camp site and activity centre in the United Kingdom. It is a site, located in Essex in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey within Epping Forest near the border with Chingford. It is used by Scout and Guide groups. Adult Scout leader training undertaken at Gilwell Park since 1919 is known as Wood Badge training. Scout leaders from many countries have trained at Gilwell Park and Wood Badge training was followed by some other Scout organisations, and, therefore, Gilwell Park has taken on importance to other Scout organisations.
Gilwell Park has a number of camping fields, indoor accommodation, historical sites, Scouting monuments and outdoor adventure activities. It can accommodate up to 10,000 people and regularly does so. It is also used by schools and other youth organisations and hosts social events such as weddings and birthday parties.
Gilwell Park is also host to Scout Adventures Gilwell Park, one of twelve national centres run by or in partnership with The Scout Association, including Downe and Youlbury.
Gilwell Park was bought for The Boy Scouts Association in 1919, by one of its Scout commissioners, William de Bois Maclaren to provide camping facilities for London Scouts.
History
Late Middle Ages to 18th century
The history of Gilwell Park can be traced to 1407, when John Crow owned Gyldiefords, the land that would become Gilwell Park. Between 1407 and 1422, Crow sold the land to Richard Rolfe and the area became known as Gillrolfes; "Gill" being Old English for glen. Following Rolfe's death in 1422, different sections of the property came to be called "Great Gilwell" and "Little Gilwell." The two areas were named after the Old English "wella". A farmhouse has stood at Gilwell Farm ever since.Around this time, Richard Osbourne purchased an adjoining property and in 1442, he built a large dwelling called Osborne Hall, which stood for 300 years. According to a local legend, in the early 16th century, King Henry VIII owned the land and built a hunting lodge for his son Edward. Around 1736, highwayman Dick Turpin began using Gilwell's forests to hide and for ambushing travellers and freight along roads leading into London.
In 1754, William Skrimshire purchased Great Gilwell, Little Gilwell and half of Osborne's estate, including Osborne Hall. Skrimshire demolished Osborne Hall and built a new residence, which he also called Osborne Hall and is now called the White House. Timbers in the White House can be dated to this time but not to any previous era. Leonard Tresilian bought the estate in 1771 and expanded the land holdings and size of the residence.
After Tresilian's first wife Margaret Holland died young after bearing three daughters, he married Elizabeth Fawson. Desiring that Gilwell pass on to his eldest daughter, who was also named Margaret, Tresilian drew up a detailed prenuptial agreement with Fawson's father. By the time of Tresilian's death in 1792, the younger Margaret had married William Bassett Chinnery, the elder brother of painter George Chinnery.
18th century to early 20th century
The Chinnerys were wealthy and influential. William Chinnery's father, who was also named William, owned trading ships and named one Gilwell in 1800. William and Margaret Chinnery initially lived in London and after three years of marriage they inherited Gilwell in 1792 and moved to the property in 1793. They soon shocked the populace by renaming Osborne Hall to "Gilwell Hall". William Chinnery expanded Gilwell's land holdings through significant purchases over 15 years and with his wife, transformed it into a country estate with gardens, paths and statues. Parts of the garden, paths and dwelling modifications existed into the 21st century. William Chinnery was exposed as the embezzler of a small fortune from his employer the British Treasury and was dismissed from all his posts on 12 March 1812. On 2 July the same year, Margaret Chinnery was forced to sign over Gilwell Estate to the Exchequer.The Chinnery family were prominent enough for members of the English nobility to visit them often during the 1790s and early 19th century. King George III visited on occasion and the Prince Regent, who later became George IV, was a regular visitor. George III's seventh son Prince Adolphus became a family friend, lived at Gilwell for a while and tutored the Chinnerys' eldest son George.
In 1815, Gilpin Gorst bought the estate at public auction and his son sold it to Thomas Usborne in 1824. When London Bridge was replaced in 1826, Usborne bought pieces of the stone balustrades, which date to 1209 and erected them around the Buffalo Lawn behind the White House. The estate changed ownership more times but these families did not maintain the property and by 1900, it had fallen into disrepair. In 1911 local resident Reverend Cranshaw bought the estate; he was the last owner prior to The Boy Scouts Association.
Purchase by The Boy Scouts Association
, a wealthy publisher and Scout Commissioner from Rosneath, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, suggested a campsite was needed for Scouts in the East End of London. The Boy Scouts Association appointed its Scout Commissioner of the East End, P.B. Nevill, to deal with the issue. On 20 November 1918, over dinner at Roland House, the Scout Hostel in Stepney run by Nevill, Maclaren agreed to donate £7,000 to the project. Part of the agreement included narrowing the search for suitable land to Hainault Forest and Epping Forest. Rover Scouts searched both without success but John Gayfer, a young assistant Scoutmaster, suggested Gilwell Hall, which he visited to watch birds. Nevill visited the estate and was impressed, though the buildings were in poor condition. The estate. which then occupied, was for sale for £7,000, the sum Maclaren had donated. In early 1919, Maclaren purchased the estate for The Boy Scouts Association. Nevill first took his Rover Scouts to begin repairing the estate on 17 April 1919. Maclaren was a frequent visitor to Gilwell Park and helped repair the buildings and donated another £3,000. An official opening was planned for 19 July 1919 but was delayed until 26 July so Scouts could participate in the Official Peace Festival commemorating the end of the First World War. Invitations were changed by hand to save money.Maclaren's interest had been to provide a campground for Scouts but Robert Baden-Powell envisaged a training centre for Scouters and the first adult Scout leader training, with eighteen participants, took place in September 1919. In the 1920s, significant remodeling and construction was done but, because of limited finances, few improvements were made during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Baden-Powell took the park's name as the territorial designation in his peerage title 1st Baron Baden-Powell of Gilwell in 1929.
Origin of the axe and log totem
The symbol of the axe in the log is associated with feudalism that was instituted after the invasion and conquest of England by William the Conqueror. In that era, property, including forests, were owned by the landed barons and knights. Serfs were forbidden to cut wood from trees in the forest and only permitted to gather fallen wood. A freeman who carried an axe in a nobleman's forest demonstrated he had earned the right by service.The axe-and-log logo was conceived by Francis Gidney in the early 1920s to distinguish Gilwell Park from the Scout Headquarters. Gidney wanted to associate Gilwell Park with the outdoors and scoutcraft rather than the business and administrative headquarters offices. At Wood Badge courses, axe blades were masked for safety by being buried in a log. Seeing this, Gidney chose the axe-and-log as the totem of Gilwell Park. This logo came to be strongly associated with Wood Badge leader training and is still used on certificates, flags and other items.
1940s and later development
In 1940, during the Second World War, the War Ministry requisitioned the Gilwell estate as a local command, training and ordnance centre and remained there until 1945. Little remains at the estate from this period, except a hole that was created by a bomb the Luftwaffe dropped. The hole was enlarged and is now used for swimming and canoeing.The purchase of Gilwellbury and adjoining land in 1945 allowed The Scout Association to close the original road and fully use Branchet Field. It was originally used for small retreats and conferences but is now used as staff accommodation. The Ministry of Education assisted in the purchase.
After the war, The Boy Scouts Association bought adjoining land to increase the estate and protect it from rapidly approaching new developments. These areas are called The Quick, New Field and Hilly Field. An additional purchase and a donation from South Africa in the early 1950s brought the estate to its present size. Camping facilities for Scouts were extended until the early 1960s. Training and sleeping facilities were added in the early 1970s.
The Gilwell Farmhouse is believed to date from the early 18th century, making it the oldest original building at Gilwell Park. It is composed of two buildings that were joined. There is a brick wellhead on the farm that is known as the Gil Well. A field adjoining the boundaries of Gilwell Park, known as Bill Oddie Field, affords dramatic views of the London skyline over Pole Hill, Chingford. The field was named in 2006 after employees of The Scout Association saw television ornithologist Bill Oddie recording a programme there.
During the 1970s, the Dorothy Hughes Pack Holiday Centre for Cub Scouts and the Colquhoun International Centre for training Scouters – which was originally called The International Hall of Friendship – were built. In the 1980s, the White House was extensive remodelled. In April 2001, The Scout Association moved its program staff from London to Gilwell Park, where its training staff were already located. Extensive renovations were done to the White House and other buildings. With a budget of £20,000,000 and individual contributions as high as £500,000, improvements to programs and facilities occurred in preparation for the 21st World Scout Jamboree in 2007, which was the 100th anniversary of Scouting, hosted at nearby Hylands Park, Chelmsford, with related activities held at Gilwell Park. Gilwell Park generates over £1,000,000 a year for The Scout Association through conference fees, accommodation fees and sales of materials.