Agatha Christie is known as the “Queen of Crime” and is regarded as the “bestselling novelist of all time” selling over 2 billion copies of her books. And on a beautiful Spring afternoon in April ten members of our group gathered in Wallingford and Cholsey to mark the 50th anniversary of Agatha’s death. We set out to find out more about Agatha’s lesser-known relationship with these beautiful Oxfordshire villages just up the road from our home base.
Our NWR outing started at the Church of St Mary’s in nearby Cholsey to view Agatha ‘s grave. A beautiful embellished edifice pays homage to the author who was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1956. Buried beside her is her second husband Max Mallowan , who was knighted for his contributions to archaeology and with whom Agatha travelled to architectural digs in Egypt and further afield.
In 1934, she and Max purchased Winterbrook House in Wallingford. Professing to hate “crowds, loud noises, gramophones and the cinema” Agatha and Max set out to lead a quiet life at Winterbrook despite her fame. She was, however, often seen in the town doing her shopping and chatting with locals and shopkeepers.
Due to their past residency in the town the historians at the Queen’s award winning Wallingford Museum are experts in their local celebrity and the museum was our next stop. Situated in the centre of town just across from a bronze statute of the author we took the opportunity to view the Agatha Christie exhibits. We were treated to an entertaining presentation by local historian Judy Dewey, who has actually been lucky enough to have visited Winterbrook House, which is now a private residence. She showed us rarely seen photos of the house’s interior and the grounds running down to the Thames, which gave Agatha and Max so much pleasure over the years.
The exhibit also features letters written in Agatha’s chaotic handwriting to various members of the local drama group, the Sinodun Players. Agatha served as their President from 1951 to 1976 and attended numerous performances, where she was often given a complimentary box of chocolates. There were also more official letters sent by Max declining various requests for Agatha’s time or money! They very jealously guarded their privacy at Winterbrook, where Agatha died on 12th January 1976, aged 85.