Life story shared by Yota Dimitriadi
Among the quiet graves of Reading Old Cemetery rests the story of a man whose life and death became part of Britain’s railway heritage , Henry WICKS, a veteran railway goods guard whose dedication and tragic end left a living memorial that endures more than a century later.The topiary pheasant planted in his memory is still maintained by Network Rail.
Born in October 1840, Henry devoted three decades of his life to the railway. He was the son of Thomas Bury (or Berry) WICKS, a well-digger and Elizabeth. In 1851 we find the family living at 9 Swan Courts, Reading (census data). Henry (aged 10) was described as a scholar and his siblings were named as Thomas (aged 18), bricklayer’s labourer, Mary Ann (aged 16), Sarah (aged 14), Emily (aged 7), Ellen (aged 5). Thomas, Henry’s dad died in 1852. In 1861 he lives at the same house with his mum and sister, Ellen. A year late, on 1st September 1862 Henry married Emma Elizabeth WITHERS.
In 1871, Henry (aged 31) lives with his wife, Emma Elizabeth (aged 30), at 128 Cumberland Road, Earley. His family seems to consist of two sons and a daughter: Henry George (aged 8), Martha (aged 7), Joseph Fred (aged 5). Henry is listed as a railway guard. 10 years later, in 1881, he is still at the same house with Emma and his son Joseph now 14 years old. We do not know much about the other two children. Henry George got the highest score in the local examination and won a place at the Blue Coat’s School in 1875 while Joseph Frederick was a talented artist. He won a prize for freehand drawing from the Reading School of Science and Art in 1885.
By the age of 52, he had become a trusted guard on the South-Eastern line, working the routes between Redhill and Reading, a lifeline of goods and passengers in Victorian England. Known among his peers for his reliability and calm manner, Henry was described as: hard-working, disciplined, and deeply loyal to the iron road.
On the night of Monday 29 February 1892, a leap year, Henry was working aboard a heavily loaded goods train travelling from Redhill to Reading. The train, led by two locomotives and hauling 51 trucks, with two guards, one at the front and one at the rear van of the train, was climbing the steep Chilworth Bank when disaster struck. Just before the train started its descent, three quarters of a mile from Chilworth Station, near Postford crossing, a coupling broke, splitting the train in two. The front section continued slowly down the line between Gomshall and Chilworth, but the rear wagons, gathering speed on the gradient, overtook the front part and slammed ‘with terrific force into the few trucks and the guard’s van which had remained attached to the engine’. The collision sent 30 wagons tumbling down the embankment, derailing nine others and the second locomotive.
Henry was in the front van, which was next to the engine, came unhooked and was smashed to splinters. He died on the spot, his body ‘almost covered by the earth’ and ‘shockingly mutilated’, as newspapers grimly recorded. It was not his turn to be on duty that night but had voluntarily taken the place of a fellow guard who had gone to see his parents. Henry was found at first light, lying on the embankment. Among the wreckage they found a copy of ‘Forget me not’, which Henry seems to have had with him at the moment of the crash. The title may have referred to popular illustrated gift books of the period, small volumes of verse and sentiment exchanged between loved ones. Yet the phrase carried deeper meaning in the Victorian ‘language of flowers’, where the forget-me-not symbolised remembrance and enduring affection. Whether coincidence or fate, its presence among the debris felt hauntingly apt, a quiet emblem of love, memory, and loss. It was 10 o’clock in the morning before the lines were cleared with the down lane totally destroyed. It was not until Thursday evening that week that the down lane was restored.
Mr G.F. Roumieu, the local coroner, led the inquest, which was held at the Percy Arms, Chilworth on Thursday 3 March 1892. Evidence from railway employees, officials, a doctor and Henry’s son Joseph Frederick returned a verdict of “accidental death through a railway accident” and concluded that “the train was not overloaded” but only a week later, when the inquest was resumed on Friday 11 March 1892. During the inquest it was claimed by George White, brakesman, that Henry was in charge of one of the trains.
The jury gave Henry’s widow, Emma Elizabeth their fees while the South Easter Railway Company granted her a weekly pension of 10s (£80–£85 modern equivalent) for life. Contemporary records suggest that a goods guard’s pay in the 1890s typically ranged from about 18 to 30 shillings a week, roughly £145–£240 in today’s purchasing power terms, or about £1,260–£2,100 (Anderson, 2017).
Emma Elizabeth died on 2nd February 1923 at the age of 88 and is buried with Henry. Sarah WITHERS, possibly Emma Elizabeth’s sister (died in 1937, aged 91), is also buried with them.
Henry’s daughter-in-law, Jessie WICKS, wife to Joseph Fred, was particularly upset by the loss of her father-in-law, according to reports at the time. She was instrumental in the planting of his lineside memorial and asking railway workers to care for it. Her response was to create something enduring, a tribute not only to Henry, but to the railwaymen who risked and often gave their lives in service. Jessie and Henry had always enjoyed an excellent relationship and thus since then the Memorial Topiary has also been known as ’Jessie’s Seat’.
The topiary bush is pheasant-shaped, although often referred to as ‘The Chicken’, and reflects a popular Victorian fashion for ornamental planting. It was planted by South Eastern Railway employees on the lineside between Gomshall and Chilworth in March 1892, just a month after Henry’s tragic death.
The following is taken from the Network Rail’s Website (page currently not active): Paul Kemp, a shift regulation manager at Network Rail, has been among the volunteers who have looked after the memorial for many years. Paul said: “The crews appreciate the significance of this lineside landmark of respect to a fellow railway employee whom lost his life whilst in the service and duty to the railway on that winter’s night.” He added: “It’s railway people doing what railway people have always done – look after railway people.”
The topiary is of Box (Buxus balearica), “an incredibly hardy plant, able to withstand years of weather, railway weedkiller and train brake dust! It is shaped as a large seat for ‘Guard Wicks’s spirit to sit upon for tranquil eternity’ and on the back of the seat is a ‘country pheasant’. It is the ‘bird like part’ of the topiary that has been given the affectionate nickname by train drivers of, ‘the Chilworth Chicken’ or the ‘Chilworth Pheasant’. Since 1991, and the privatisation of the railway, the memorial has been maintained by a team of volunteers from the local operations staff and with kind support from the railway network.
There was a special Commemorative Train Ride on 29 February 2020, exactly 128 years to the day after the crash, to remember this event and as the train stopped at the spot a posy of primroses was placed on the topiary ‘seat’ by one of the St Martha Parish Councillors. A number of Network Rail retirees were on board the train as well as Sir Peter (now Lord) Hendy, Chairman of NR.” (from the newsletter by St Martha Parish, Feb/March 2023).
Unfortunately, in September 2025 this historic topiary suffered significant damage during railroad repairs (BBC, 1 October 2025). As far as we know it is set to be replanted in a safer, more visible location with a commemorative plaque.
Update: A detailed account of Henry’s life story was published by historian Frank Phillipson on 17 November 2025.
Division 32, Row A, Plot 12