Bisham Abbey

Tudor manor house on the Thames half a mile above Marlow, built on the site of a Templar preceptory. Three Men in a Boat lingers over its ghosts, its secret room and Shelley under the Bisham beeches.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Three Men in a Boat	Jerome K. Jerome	backdrop	Half a mile above Marlow: Templars, Lady Hoby’s ghost, Warwick the king-maker and Shelley writing under the beeches.

Three Men in a Boat — Jerome K. Jerome (1889)

Source: Exploration of Three Men in a Boat · Three Men in a Boat · Original · Readwise highlight

Grand old Bisham Abbey, whose stone walls have rung to the shouts of the Knights Templars,

• Role: backdrop
• In the book: Rowing past, the narrator describes Bisham Abbey’s tapestry chamber and secret room, the ghost of Lady Hoby who beat her little son to death, Warwick the king-maker, and Shelley composing The Revolt of Islam under the Bisham beeches.
• Why it matters: A gothic history aside rather than a scene, part of the book’s habit of turning each riverside landmark into a story.