Sassoon played cricket in Haytsbury for the last three decades of his life
This is a lush, green corner in Wiltshire where Siegfried Sassoon dabbled. find peace after the horror of the trenches by playing the game he always loved.
But, more than half a century after the death of the World War I poet, there are now fears that the Haytsbury cricketers may soon be playing their last over.
The Siegfried Sassoon Foundation has notified the Haytsbury Cricket Club, for which Sassoon played for the last three decades of his life, of the need to leave the territory of his former estate.
The club, which had operated in some form or another for over a century on the grounds of Haytesbury House, was given until the end of October to find a new home.
Sassoon bought Heytesbury House in 1933, immediately joining a local team and playing with them until his death at the age of 80 in 1967. The house was later sold by his family in 1996 to be converted into apartments and houses.
Sassoon fell in love with cricket as a child and played in it all my life
Now the Siegfried Sassoon Foundation has announced that their land company Heytesland Ltd is considering selling the cricket ground and adjacent football fields for possible redevelopment.
The Siegfried Sassoon Foundation is considering one of the options: to keep its share but revise the previous planning application for the construction of 23 new houses and a new village town hall.
The planning application was submitted in 2017 and then withdrawn after resistance from many villagers.
But the trustees, who control the estate on behalf of Sassoon's surviving descendants, have acknowledged that a direct sale of the land could also be an option.
The proposals, however, split the poet's surviving descendants: his granddaughter Kendall Sassoon and her children opposed the scheme.
She told The Telegraph: «I told the trustees no, don't!» I will not sell the land, but donate it to the village for public use. The cricket club was very important to my grandfather. He adored it. He has found peace there after all he's been through.»
Other beneficiaries of the trust, including members of the wider family, are supportive of the proposed sale.
Stubbornly defending residents
The prospect of losing their The cricket grounds have infuriated the villagers as 160 people gathered in a public meeting last week to speak out against the plans and discuss how best to put an end to them.
Justin Wagstaff, chairman of the Hatesbury Cricket Club, told The Telegraph: “In just a couple of weeks, this constant in my life will be over. I hope the villagers can come together to find a way to buy the land and let others enjoy this piece of bizarre countryside.
«The land isn't up for sale yet, but all we know is that we will have to leave the territory at the end of October, when our license to use it will expire. This is very frustrating for everyone involved.”
Haytsbury Cricket Club has been given until the end of October to find a new home.
Sassoon, whose poetry later brought up the horror of war before a generation, played cricket with his brothers in the Kent countryside as a child.
During his time on the front lines, he is known to have discussed shared memories of skin on Ive with my fellow soldiers, fleeing the horror they faced every day.
Although he rarely wrote about cricket, he used it in his 1918 poem «Dreamers» to evoke the peace the soldiers left behind, writing: «I see them in dirty dugouts eaten up by rats/And ruined trenches gushing down with rain.» /Dream about what they did with balls and bats/And scoffed at their hopeless desire to win back/Vacations, film screenings and spats/And rode the train to the office.”
In an attempt to save the cricket ground and sports grounds, the parish councils of Haytsbury, Imber and Knook voted last month to register them as assets of public value. This will give community groups time to put together a bid when the land goes on the market.
The villagers, however, fear they won't be able to raise the asking price, which is likely to be in the six figures.< /p>' Hostility towards parish councilors'
Tensions have also arisen in the village between those who oppose any form of development and those who recognize that new housing is needed in the area, with members of the parish council being allegedly bullied by some of those who oppose the proposal to build on this earth.
«There has been a lot of hostility towards parish councilors who are just trying to find an acceptable path forward,» a source said.
Sassoon left Haytsbury House to his son George, who in turn placed the state in trust with his surviving relatives when he died in 2006. George's two children from his third marriage died in a car accident while returning from a concert. Festival in 1996, but he is survived by his eldest daughter Kendall and her two children.
A source close to the trustees said: “The family trust does not have the authority to donate land to the village.
However, the GT Sassoon Trust happily allowed the Haytsbury Football and Cricket Club to use the fields for a nominal fee for decades.
“He also made two valiant attempts, at no small cost to the foundation, to provide sports fields and pay for the construction of the village town hall, free of charge to the village for the past 15 years, as part of a development proposal to build much-needed affordable housing in the village.
“These proposals have not been approved by the Haytsbury Parish Council. Unfortunately, the club's licenses have been canceled following a recommendation received to protect the foundation's position in light of the community asset claim filed by the villagers in July.»
Isabelle Deverill, one of the trustees, said, that the trust was «considering its decision» regarding the sale of the cricket ground and surrounding land.
She told the newspaper: «We are going to make a decision in the next few weeks, but a sale is the most likely option.
“The beneficiaries tried to get a building permit, but it turned out to be a difficult process. Although we sympathize with the countryside, this is the best way for us.”
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