Its owners and some historical connections - Lackham Countryside ...

The Manor of Alderton 3 rd edition
Sir John Neeld, Bart. died at Grittleton on September 3 rd 1891 and was
succeeded by his son Sir Algernon William Neeld. A few days before his death
Sir John was at the Grittleton flower show and when congratulated on his hale
appearance he replied “I am an old man but I am not tired of life”
The funeral was very grand, with most of the County aristocracy attending, as
well as John’s tenants; the representative of Alderton were Mr and Mrs
Monkton, Misses L and H Hall, Miss Scott and Mrs Wheeler.
At the hour appointed for the funeral and at intervals earlier in the
day the death peal was tolled and at night the ringers rang a
muffled peal. Among the wreaths one of the most beautiful was
from the parishioners of Alderton with the message “In grateful
and affectionate memory” 499
John’s eldest son, who had been running much of the estate for many years,
inherited the estate. He was Sir Algernon William Neeld, the second Baronet.*
Algernon William Neeld was educated at Harrow and took a BA at Christ’s
Church College, Oxford, in 1868 and an MA at the same College eight years
later He then lived at Grittleton “uninterruptedly” 500 , and helped his father to
run the estate and, 25 years later took over on his father’s death.
His tenants described him as a model landlord and, on his fiftieth birthday (in
1896), they presented him with a substantial token of their regard 501 . He
appears to have been a supportive landlord throughout the long period of
agricultural depression in the late nineteenth century.
AW Neeld continued his family’s tradition for munificence; he supported the
establishment of the Chippenham Cottage Hospital 502 and was a regular
499 Devizes and Wilts Gazette Sept 3 1891 ibid
500 Devizes and Wilts Gazette Aug 16 1900 p8
501 Devizes and Wilts Gazette Aug 16 1900 ibid
502 Which was located on the north side of the London Road. It was closed and
demolished in 1993. It was a nice little hospital; I was treated in the accident
department there, once, after my shoulder blade was broken in an assault at Lackham.
The local Health Authority felt that Chippenham didn’t need two small Hosptials and
142