The 20th century sea-change for Charlton Park
This commenced in 1918 when the penultimate private owner (Albert Brassey) died, presaging a lengthy sequence of events that led to what we have here today. The drawn out gestation period leading to the birth of several modern developments within the confines of the historic park was not uneventful as you are about to discover. The estate went on the market in 1921 but owing to what was described as 'extreme financial stringency' following WW1 it did not sell. What happened next was a seminal moment in the park's history, one that seems to have pre-ordained its subsequent urbanisation, with exclusive 1930s houses built along one edge and half a century later the larger in-fill housing development that most of us now refer to as Charlton Park, and as an indirect result, what you are reading here. The Post Office were reluctant to recognize 'Charlton Park' as part of the estate's modern postal address but the remnants of the Post Office appear to have mellowed over this, despite never actually giving it their official stamp of approval - stubbornly insisting on Charlton Kings instead of the more logical Charlton Park that most of us prefer to use anyway!
Staying in a house in Cheltenham for several weeks in the summer of 1922 was Mr. Hugh William Reeves (1866-1952) with his wife and two boys. In his youth Hugh and brothers attended Cheltenham College, where other family members had attended since 1855. Now a successful London lawyer (following his father's profession) Hugh clearly felt indebted to his old college, which may explain his munificence towards it. He and his wife were staying in town because their two sons were now at the College. Seeing that Charlton Park remained unsold a year on, and knowing the College playing fields (then struggling to cater for 700 boys) were overstretched, Reeves believed purchasing some ten acres of the nearby parkland would make a great College asset. He approached the Brassey Trustees, offering to buy just ten acres but found them unwilling to divide the estate. Surprisingly, they were however willing to accept what Reeves described as, 'A remarkably low figure for the house and its historic 110 acres', which still included a farm, and he bought the whole estate, ostensibly for the purpose of securing additional playing fields for his old College. By 'deed of gift' in 1923 he gave his old College fourteen and a half acres fronting Old Bath Road. It sloped fairly sharply to the north-west (towards Cox's Meadow) with a deep depression crossing it diagonally [likely to have been the course of the ancient route coming off Old Bath Road, as shown on Coates' 1776 map]. Reeves had it leveled by contractors making it suitable for sport, terracing it on two levels. Since then the two halves have been known as Reeves Field and Lower Reeves Field.
© Cheltenham CollegeThe north-west corner of Charlton Park which became Reeves' Field c1922when he gifted it to Cheltenham College (viewed towards Leckhampton Hill)The old 'London Road' route appears to cross the foreground in this photograph
© Cheltenham CollegeHugh William Reeves in 1943 (1866-1952)