Old Hampton Wick poem - fascinating new information

We are indebted to Paul Barnfield (local historian) for the following information he has shared with us following our publishing of the Old Hampton Wick Poem in last week’s HWA Email News.

In Paul’s words:

“I was interested in seeing the piece in the latest HWA newsletter about the old poem on Hampton Wick.

It was in fact written by Harry Waldo Warner (1874-1945) who was a noted violist and composer in his time. Apparently “he related how, upon his calling upon a friend who resided in an old house situated upon the riverside here, he was so struck by the antiquity of his surroundings that he allowed his imagination to conjure up an impression of how the neighbourhood must have appeared at the time of Henry VIII. These thoughts inspired him into writing a poem, which was produced under his pen-name “Onslow Frampton” and is the poem quoted in the Newsletter (see Harold Able’s History of Hampton Wick, 1935). Waldo Warner then composed a symphony in the form of a tone-poem (op.38) based on this, which was submitted to and won the Hollywood Bowl Competition in 1932. Harold Able describes the various sections of the work in his book (copy at Richmond Local Studies Library). I did try some years ago to obtain a score of this work but to no avail.”

Paul Barnfield