Reflections: The Shakers of Vaggs Lane, Hordle

The subject of Mary Ann Girling and ‘the Children of God’ or ‘Shakers’ community in Hordle has been very well documented over the years. There is a considerable amount of material on this sect and its charismatic leader available in books, articles such as that published in the June 1927 Milford-on-Sea Historical Record Society (MOSHRS) occasional magazine, and newspapers, including the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times. Local historians need to carefully sift through the various sources to get a clearer understanding of the events that took place in Hordle between 1872 and 1886. This month’s column will review the background of the sect leader and retell the Hordle story, indicating the sources used.

Mary Ann Girling

The ‘Children of God’ were led by a lady called Mrs Mary Ann Girling, nee Clouting. The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) records that she was in born in Suffolk in 1827. Her father was a farmer making a living on a small area of land. Mary does not appear to have received much in the way of education. TA Wylie, writing in the MOSHRS 1927 publication, stated that she “added to her education by studying any book on religion that came within her reach”. He had interviewed former Shakers who had known Girling. Their recollections formed the basis of his article.

At the age of 16 Mary married George Girling who was a sailor. He later took employment working in an iron foundry. Writing in his book Abodes of Love, John Montgomery states that Mary had 10 children but sadly only two, a son and a daughter, survived beyond infancy. After the death of her last infant, Mary turned to religion and was a regular attendee at her local Methodist church. The DNB records that she was expelled from the church for disturbing the congregation and that by 1860 she and her husband had separated. After leaving the Methodist Church, Mary started preaching the gospel on the streets of Suffolk to anyone who would listen.

The new incarnation of Christ

During Christmas 1864 she began to believe that she was the “new incarnation of Christ’. She had visionary and mystical experiences, claiming that stigmata appeared on her hands, feet and side. Those who could not see the wounds were dismissed as non-believers. Wylie recorded that Mary later told followers it was at this time she received the divine call. Historian Arthur Lloyd (NMAT 1986) points out that Florence Nightingale claimed that Christ had called to her on three occasions. Writing in the Hampshire Magazine of November 1980 author Dennis Hardy explained that only a few years before, ‘the Exeter prophetess’, Joanna Southcott had claimed to be the returning messiah and attracted crowds of over 100,000.

According to Wylie, empowered with this experience Mary went out into the Suffolk community preaching the “brotherhood of mankind and the early advent of the second coming of the messiah” before moving to preach in London. Without a doubt, Mary Ann Girling had a charismatic personality. Wylie describes her as being a tall lady, upright in carriage with bright piecing eyes and a somewhat abrupt manner of speech. She soon attracted a crowd of followers or disciples. They set up a small community at 107 Bridge Road, Battersea, living together, sharing everything, and modelling their lives on Christ. They claimed that the divinity of Mary Ann Girling would be eventually acknowledged and that they, through their religious worship, would become immortal. The group were initially called the Children of God but became known as the Shakers because of their ecstatic dancing and gyrating when moved by the spirit of the Lord as they worshipped.

The group came in for much mockery and harassment from intolerant local residents who jeered Mary and her followers, even pelting them with eggs when they were preaching in the street. Unable to live a peaceful life in London, the group moved to Hampshire.

Arrival in Hordle

In January 1872 they moved to Vaggs Lane in Hordle. One of the group of Shakers was a lady called Julia Wood. She had a modest wealth which she placed at the disposal of the group. She had bought a 31-acre property for £2,250 called Forest Lodge, now known as Hordle Grange. Their money was not enough to cover the entire cost of the house and this left a mortgage of £1,000. The Daily News edition of 18th December 1874 commented on the Shakers saying “had they searched England through these peculiar people could not have pitched their camp at a more suitable place for quietness and repose. The New Forest is the sleepiest hollow we have left to us”.

William Spackman, the vicar of Sway wrote a letter to The Times in which he said “she claimed to have direct communication with Heaven, to obtain supernatural revelations, to be the elected head of those saints on earth who were waiting for Christ’s coming”. Mary confidently stated this would be in the New Forest.

Life in the colony

By now the group had grown to over 150 disciples. This was far more than the house could possibly hold. Philip Hoare in his book England’s Lost Eden describes the arrangements. The male and female Shakers were strictly segregated. The large brick stables had been converted into a chapel with benches around the walls, a dais at one end for Mary to preach from. The floor was left open to enable the congregation to dance. The loft above the chapel was converted into a dormitory for 50 men. A new hall and outbuildings were made from unfired clay bricks.

The rules of the sect were that everyone joining must give their worldly goods to Mary. Nothing could be taken away from Forest Lodge without her permission. No marrying or undue intimacy was allowed. No teaching of any doctrine other than that approved by Mary was allowed. Nothing could be bought or sold. No wages were to be paid. Mary kept no proper accounts, there was just one common fund. There were no masters. On Sundays the women dressed in white smocks and wore trousers. This was practical wear in the commune but was considered to be most unladylike at the time.

Wylie wrote that people came from far and wide to see the New Forest Shakers. Horses and traps, donkey carts and bicycles were parked up along Vaggs Lane and round the corner beyond the Three Bells public house to Woodcock Lane and northwards up to the Plough Inn.

The Shakers had cultivated some of the fields around the house, some had brought cattle and farming tools when they joined the sect. With ready local markets and fertile farming soil, the Shakers should have been self-sufficient. Mary refused to allow this saying that “God will amply provide for all our wants”. She also said “Christ did not sell” and so neither would the Shakers.

Obviously, it was necessary for the Shakers to make some purchases such as cloth or leather but they would not sell goods, nor would they accept payment for work. The Shakers relied solely on public donations as a source of income. Local landowners and farmers were all in favour of this free workforce but this strange way of life created difficulties for the group when they tried pay the mortgage and other bills.

The beginning of the end

Eventually their economic practices became their undoing. The interest on the mortgage on Forest Lodge had not been paid. At the time this amounted to £25. Property to the value of £200 was seized and sold. No attempts were made by the Shakers to pay any more of the interest owed. They had been digging large holes, extracting clay and making them into unfired bricks. These were used to make buildings which were becoming dangerous. There was also considerable overcrowding in Forest Lodge. The mortgagee felt he had to act.

During a storm on a bitterly cold day on 15th December 1874 the New Forest Shakers were evicted onto Vaggs Lane. There were some 45 children, 60 women and 35 men in the group. The children were taken into the shelter of nearby cottages. Thanks to the compassion of a local farmer, some of the women and men were given refuge in a nearby barn. Others stayed outside in the open. All their goods and property, including three pianos and 77 beds were ruined by the weather. Other items of property had been damaged by the bailiffs during the eviction process. Later, the group were given refuge in a larger barn at Ashley Arnewood Manor by the Hon. Aubron Herbert. After a few weeks the local authorities decreed the conditions in the barn were unsanitary and they were asked to leave. Mother Girling took them back to Vaggs Lane to a field she had manage to rent. Here they improvised shelters by using carpets and other materials slung over ropes.

In August 1878, once again they were evicted when the lease came up on the field they were camped in. They remained on Vaggs Lane until they were served with a notice by the authorities for obstructing the highway. The Shakers moved to a nearby field at the Tiptoe end of Vaggs Lane where they set up an encampment of wooden huts by the mission church. The 1881 census shows that the Shakers now numbered 64. However, the followers drifted away and by 1886 there were only 20 left.

Mother Girling passes away

On 18th September 1886 Mary Ann Girling, or ‘Mother Girling’ died from cancer. The Pall Mall Gazette of 23rd September 1886 reported that her coffin was made of “rude oiled elm boards” and was placed in the cart that Mary used when visiting Lymington. It was drawn by her 20-year-old pony. The cart, followed by mourners, proceeded down Vaggs Lane and crossed a temporary bridge over the new railway line. As the procession moved towards Hordle Church, local villagers and others joined. The church was filled to capacity and some mourners had to stand at the back. The newspaper estimated that there were over 500 people standing around Mary Ann Girling’s grave.

She is buried in All Saints Churchyard in Hordle alongside 12 other Shakers who had passed away during their time in Vaggs Lane. Their graves are unmarked. The only record of their burial to be found today is a small plaque attached to a buttress of the church.

For such a small group living in a country lane in Hampshire, they appear to have attracted an incredible amount of press coverage out of all proportion to their impact on a local and national level. The newspaper reports were syndicated around the country and the harsh evictions the Shakers suffered became front page news.

My Reflections mentor, the late Jude James, suggested that Mary Ann Girling was a divisive figure who split families and brought hardship on her followers by her authoritarian leadership and poor fiscal management. Jude goes on to point out that she had notable and influential dignitaries, such as the Hon. Auberon Herbert, who offered her assistance and highlighted the harsh treatment the Shakers had received and the distress this had caused them. This promoted their notoriety.

The story of the Shakers and Mary Ann Girling is an interesting aspect of our local history which proved quite emotive during the 14 years of their existence in Hordle.

In today’s more tolerant society, it is possible that Mary Ann Girling and the Shakers may have been better treated and allowed to maintain their small community in peace.