History - Ceely house

Ceely House was originally a timber framed, jettied 'Brother House' of the Fraternity of the Virgin Mary, a religious organisation linked with St Mary's church. The Fraternity was founded in 1450 and dissolved in 1547 so it should not be surprising to learn that some of the timbers, still extant, have been dated by dendrochronology to 1473. This building was originally intended as a communal, ceremonial place for meetings and offices for the Fraternity and was much smaller than the current building. It was not a habitation however, but the upstairs room which could only be reached by an outside staircase, may have been lodgings for a priest. The wall painting, now on display, dates from a little before 1500.

After the suppression, in 1548, Sir Edward Warner and John Gosnold petitioned the Crown to purchase various chantry lands including those at Aylesbury which were granted in 1549 and held by them as part of the Honour of Eye in Suffolk. We have no information for the next hundred years or so until 1649 when we find that a survey of the Honour of Eye did not include the Brother House.

It is thought (though without evidence) that from the late 1500s the Heywood family were in residence here. Richard Heywood, who died in 1701, being the Registrar of the Commissary Court for the Archdeaconry of Buckingham.

During the latter years of his lifetime the house was panelled, the upstairs rooms ceilinged and the ceilings of the downstairs rooms plastered and a new wing constructed to serve as a kitchen. This new wing now serves as the 'Garden Cafe'.

The next occupier was Joseph Bell who become Registrar on Heywood's death and was related to the Heywoods. In 1717 Hugh Barker Bell, third son of Joseph, was born and upon his father's death in 1739, for some obscure reason came into possession of the house instead of his elder brothers. He was married by then but in 1749 his wife died aged only 33. He remarried in the mid 1750s to Mary Thornbury, widow of the Rev. Samuel Thornbury who, we think, was responsible at a slightly later date for the construction of the rear wing of the house, the part containing what we now call the 'Baker Room' with its fine plaster ceiling. About this time, the timber framed building was encased in brickwork and the jetty underbuilt in brick to 'Georgianise' the house. It is probable that the iron railings around the Church Street frontage were also erected around this time.

The panelled staircase (which is a listed feature of the building) is contiguous with these alterations and a bed alcove was formed in one of the upstairs rooms fronting Church Street. This alcove was infilled with a partition wall in the 1950s and has only recently become accessible to the public as for many years this room was used as a Museum storeroom.

Hugh Barker Bell died in 1776, probably not in Aylesbury and it is not known if he still owned the property at that time. What is known is that the next occupier was named as the Rev. John Stevens DD who was Headmaster of the Grammar School from 1744 until his death in 1770.

In 1780, Joseph Burnham, Gentleman, was the owner of 'Bell's House' but was probably not the occupier. He moved in 1784 and was yet another Registrar. Around 1796 an extension to the main house was built fronting Church Street to be used as offices for the Registrar. Burnham died in 1799 leaving all of the property to his wife and nine nephews and nieces but it appears that his clerk, Thomas Hatton, continued to used the Registry Office for some time after his death. It also appears that a large window was converted into a doorway (still extant as the Museum's staff entrance) during Hatton's tenure to provide an independent entrance for this wing. After Mrs Burnham's death, a nephew, Joseph Rose bought out the interested of the others to become the proprietor and is thought to be responsible for the building of an extension to the kitchen wing mentioned above. This may have been a scullery and it is known that, much later, it was part of the butler's area. This part is now used as public toilets though in the 1970s/80s a small boiler room was sited here.

Around 1810 the imposing front doorway and pillars were erected. It is thought that they came from Eythrope House when that house was demolished.

Rose was a solicitor and practised at No. 7 Church Street, the former Registry Office and now the Museum shop area. He was still there in 1841 but had gone by 1847 by which time one Henry Pickess, a surgeon, was in residence for a few years, though Rose was still the owner.

By 1851 Pickess had moved on and the house was let to Joseph Parrott, a solicitor.

In 1866, Rose's son Richard and his mortgagees sold the property to James Henry Ceely but the house became known as 'Ceely House' after this older brother, Robert Ceely FRCS, who was in residence and practised there and had been prominent in establishing the Bucks Infirmary (Royal Bucks Hospital) in 1833.

In 1882 the practice was purchased by Robert Harvey Hilliard MD, FRCS who died in 1891 aged only 52. Hilliard's trustees then let the property to a Dr Weaver who, apart from being a doctor, started a factory on the site which is now Cooper's Yard car park for making non toxic ale. In 1901, Hilliard's trustees let Ceely House to Dr John Charles Baker and in 1918 he purchased the freehold. Dr Baker used the former Registry Office as his surgery and dispensing room, the waiting room being a rather draughty corridor accessed by the previously mentioned doorway converted from a window. This area is now the Museum shop and if you take a look at the door behind the shop counter you will notice a curious flap. This was the dispensing hatch where the patients received their medicines, however, the door is not in its original position. The small cupboard with glazed doors between the windows fronting Church Street and the one next to the internal door are original and are where Dr Baker kept his medicines and instruments.

At some time, probably in the 1920s, a room was constructed at first floor level between the former Registry Office and the wing to the rear to serve as a nursery. This was a predominantly wooden structure with a glazed front overlooking, and overhanging the yard which was used during the 1970s and 80s as a secretary's office for the Museum. It was considered to be of no architectural importance and during the recent refurbishment work was demolished to provide the light and airy entrance foyer that you now see.

Under the floor of the foyer is a large cellar which was accessed by wooden steps from what is now the 'Garden Cafe' and by a large double trap door in the floor just about where the statue of 'Mona' now stands. All the Museum's junk' was stored down here (and still is!). When the building was being cleared in preparation for the recent refurbishment an intrepid party of Museum Assistants explored the cellar to recover any valuable Museum artefacts and discovered a previously undisturbed doorway. After removing the door we found that the small room behind had once been used as a wine store. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) there was no wine in there but we did find several bottles of ginger beer, still with contents intact, dating from 1942. After carefully removing the bottles to a place of safety (the Assistant's Tea Room) we thought that we had better inform the Curator of our find. Was he interested? Well, actually yes but more interested in whether or not the contents were still drinkable. After a completely democratic decision had been reached about who was to test the liquid ("You found it, you drink it") the youngest (at the time) Assistant had a sip. I can personally tell you that it was still as good as when it was bottled. The remaining bottles are now on display in the Aylesbury gallery, still with their contents.

Dr Baker joined the Bucks Archaeological Society in 1903 and in 1906 was appointed Honorary Assistant Curator of their adjoining Museum. In about 1921, owing to ill health, Dr Baker sold the practice, but not Ceely House, to Dr A.W.D. Coventon who practised just across the road at 'The Chantry'. In 1924 Dr Baker died leaving the house to his daughter Cicely who, in 1944 sold the property to the Society. However, Miss Baker remained in residence on the first floor as the Society's tenant until 1950 when funds allowed the Society to incorporate the house into the main Museum. Miss Baker then moved to Bierton where she lived for many years.

During work to make the house suitable for Museum purposes, workmen found four gold Rose Nobles of Edward IV and a bone seal in an upstairs room amongst dust and rubble when an old cupboard was being removed. The find was declared treasure trove, was purchased by the Museum and an electrotype of one of the coins is on display in the Aylesbury Gallery.

The Ceely House extension was formally opened in July 1954 and an agreement was entered into with Bucks County Council to jointly share the running expenses. It was subsequently found that these expenses were too great for the Society to fund and in 1957 sole responsibility for running and staffing the Museum was assumed by Bucks County Council in return for a lease with a peppercorn rent.

The last alteration to Ceely House before the recent refurbishment was in 1956 when the Society fitted out Dr Baker's study as a library and named it the 'Grinnell Room' It is still used as such.