Ferguson


Harry Ferguson


Famous tractor manufacturer and resident of Stow.

Harry Ferguson (1884-1960) became one of the 20th century’s most celebrated inventors and pioneers. In 1945 he purchased the Abbotswood estate on the outskirts of Stow-on-the-Wold and lived there until his death in 1960. 

Ferguson’s brainchild was the three point linkage system with hydraulics which, together with the collaboration of Henry Ford in America, resulted in the fore-runner to modern-day tractors. In 1946 Harry Ferguson promoted his “Little Grey Fergie” with a publicity stunt driving it down the steps at Claridges Hotel in London! 

His engineering brilliance and innovation also extended into the aviation and motor-racing worlds. At the age of only 25 he was the first Briton to design, build and fly his own aeroplane and latterly was principal in designing the Ferguson P99 Formula One racing car—the world’s only Formula One winning four-wheel drive car which was driven to success by Stirling Moss in the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1961.

The Abbotswood Estate 

  

Abbotswood lies between the villages of Upper and Lower Swell on the outskirts of Stow-on-the-Wold. Purchased in the mid-13th century by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, ownership passed from the mid-17th century through the Atkyns family and John Hudson to Alfred Sartoris who built a ‘new’ house in 1867. 

  

In 1901 the new owner Mark Fenwick, a keen gardener with family wealth from coal business in Northumberland, engaged Edwin Lutyens whose initial advice was to ‘Blow it up and start again!’ However, Lutyens remodelled and extended the house and designed its striking architectural gardens.In 1945 Abbotswood was sold to Harry Ferguson, famous tractor manufacturer and inventor, who lived there until his death in 1960. It is now in private ownership.
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