MR. WALTER AND THE BEAR WOOD ESTATE.

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"THE FIELD." – IN MEMORIAM.

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In a sympathetic memorial notice of the late Mr. Walter, the Field of Saturday says: As proprietor of the family estate of Bear Wood, Mr. Walter was known as a generous and considerate landlord, and took a keen interest in all matters calculated to promote the welfare of the district. All his life he remained a retiring, modest, hard-working man, whose real kindness of heart was often as much concealed from casual acquaintances. Those who have had the privilege of enjoying the hospitality of Bear Wood will not easily forget the sincere and genial welcome they received from one who will be missed in many forms of county activity and innate beneficence. Mr. Walter possessed that innate scholarship of brain and temperament which lasts through every vicissitude of life. His rectitude of purpose and integrity of action were not the least of those qualities which commanded the respect of all who knew him.

Bear Wood is not an ancient estate, but it has been made historic on account of its possession by the maker and founders of a newspaper which has become a national institution and exercises a world-wide influence. The founder of The Times was John Walter I, who dying in 1812, was succeeded by his son John Walter II, who showed a strong and purposeful personality, and developed the newspaper enormously by establishing its individuality and causing it to be the medium for the expression of unbiased political opinion. Prosperity dawned, and he decided to found a country house. The neighbourhood of Wokingham attracted him, and before his death in 1837 he purchased from the Crown a portion of the old Windsor Forest near the village of Sindlesham, and in that pleasant district reared for himself a comfortable house.

Bear Wood is an ancient name. The Forest of Windsor in the time of King James I, was divided into "walkes", of which there were sixteen. Norden’s map of the forest shows the Beare Wood Walke on the west of the forest, bordering on the river Loddon, and embracing Winnersh, Newlands, Arborfield, and Barkham. It was stocked with fallow deer, and the keeper was Sir Francis Knollys.

The land which now constitutes the Park of Bear Wood remained Crown lands until it was purchased by Mr. John Walter II, about the year 1830. Some of the giant beeches, when felled, disclosed beneath the bark the Royal Arms that had been stamped upon them more than a century ago.

Besides building the house, Mr. Walter erected the church of Bear Wood and attached to it a separate parish, constituting it a rectory. The third John Walter began his reign in 1837, and ruled till 1894. During that period of nearly 60 years he raised The Times to the zenith of its fame, erected at Bear Wood an immense Mansion, and formed by gradual purchase a great estate, monuments of the position won by the Walter family as faithful servants of the public, and honourable conductors of the greatest newspaper in the world.

A characteristic story is told of the building of this house. There was a strike of bricklayers, but Mr. Walter was not a man to be beaten by labour troubles. He at once mounted the scaffolding and began to lay the bricks with his own hands. "You see, I can get on without you", he said, turning to the men on strike, who were watching him; "it will take a little longer, perhaps, but I shall get it done in the end". The men returned to their work forthwith, and there were no more strikes at Bear Wood.

The plan of Bear Wood mansion is so arranged that a large picture gallery forms the central and principal chamber, wherein is placed a notable collection of paintings, chiefly of the Dutch school. The ground immediately around the house are laid out with much skill, showing Mr. Walter’s taste for landscape gardening, a taste which was inherited by his son who has just passed away. The house stands on an éminence. A broad terrace surrounds it on two sides, and on the south are stone steps leading to the paths running down to the lakes. In the distance are beautiful woods of beech and fir and oak, where, in the peaceful seclusion of the park, wild nature can be studied under perfect conditions. Mr. Walter also bestowed much care upon the housing of his labourers, rebuilding the cottages in the village of Sindlesham, converting it into a model village. He also constructed a large walled garden with immense conservatories, two Home Farms, a house for his agent, the Walter Arms, making the estate as perfect as his skill and taste for building and his great wealth could devise.

Far and wide he extended his domain. He purchased in 1874 from the executors of Mrs. Clive the village of Barkham, about 1,300 acres, and the east coast manor of Finchampstead in 1849 from Sir John Gordon Sinclair for the sum of £30,000. Part of the town of Wokingham and of the village of Sandhurst were also added to the estate, and everywhere are to be seen houses, rectories, farms, and cottages built by Mr. Walter, and also the noble church of St. Paul, Wokingham, of which the Rev. H. M. Walter is rector.

Mr.Arthur Fraser Walter came into possession of the estate in 1894, and inherited a taste for "bricks and mortar" from his father, and set a high standard of building for farms and workmen’s cottages on the estate, which will now pass to his son, the fifth John Walter, and there is a sixth of that name, an infant, who may in course of time inherit the estate.