After enjoying the International Agatha Christie Festival in September, my husband and I toured more of England, including places related to Agatha such as Wallingford. If you have never been there, here is a brief overview of our trip.

Wallingford is about four hours from Torquay, although we broke the drive time into two by stopping in Bath, the midpoint. The Jane Austen Festival had just started, and it was delightful to see so many people in Regency garb walking along the Georgian streets.

Thirty minutes south of Oxford and ninety minutes west of London, Wallingford is a sizeable town and old but not hectic. Agatha and her second husband, Max Mallowan, bought Winterbrook House, located just outside of Wallingford, in 1934, and it was their home until her death in 1976. They didn’t live there full-time, however. The Mallowans spent part of the year at Max’s archeological digs in Syria and Iraq, and in 1938, they bought Greenway House in Torquay as a holiday home. While there is a plaque on the house, it is still privately owned, and they have encouraged some very tall bushes along the road to shield the house from gawkers.

While in Wallingford, we spoke with a very nice lady at the Information Centre who gave us brochures and maps and marked the highlights of the Agatha Christie Trail, which is about six miles long. The Trail includes Winterbrook House, about a mile from Wallingford proper, and St. Mary’s Church in Cholsey, about three miles away.

St. Mary’s was Agatha’s parish church. Her funeral was held here, and she is buried in the churchyard along with Max. St. Mary’s dates back to 986, although probably only a few foundational stones still exist from that time. Most of the current church was built in 1150 and rebuilt over the next few centuries, including some major work by the Victorians. It’s a nice church, not overly grand.

The churchyard is in the back with fields beyond. Agatha and Max’s headstone is in the far corner, a peaceful spot. Admirers bring flowers and other tokens which are left at the foot of the stone. On the nearby wall is a plaque marking Agatha Christie’s Centenary Celebration in 1990. It says that the people inscribed on the plaque donated funds to plant 25 trees in the churchyard. Among the names are Rosalind Hicks, Agatha’s daughter; Mathew Prichard, Agatha’s grandson; and Lady Mallowan, Max’s second wife.

Back in Wallingford is a modest museum that houses some interesting Christie memorabilia. Agatha liked to be known as just plain Mrs. Mallowan when she lived in town, visiting and shopping and getting involved in the community. For years, she was president and patron of the local drama society. When we stopped for lunch in town, we met a tiny woman with a walker and two tiny dogs who said she used to work in a shop down the street and often waited on Mrs. Mallowan back in the day.

In addition to the Christie exhibit, the Wallingford Museum had a display of the artwork Laura Hope created when she illustrated the 2023 Folio edition of Ordeal by Innocence. Her drawings are wonderfully evocative and true to my vision of the characters.

Across the street from the Museum is the rather new bronze statue of Agatha Christie by Ben Twiston-Davies. The grand unveiling was in September of 2023, and Agatha’s grandson Mathew Prichard was there to take part in the celebration. This statue is not a young Agatha, but neither is it a late-in-life Agatha. She looks vigorous and engaged, like someone who regularly travels to Syria and writes a new novel every year. Twiston-Davies has Agatha seated on a bench, so all of us fans can sit beside her for bit.

Wallingford is rightly proud of their connection to the Queen of Crime, and the town itself is lovely. If you ever get a chance to visit, you won’t be disappointed!