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2004 - The Manor, Church Road
The Manor, Church Road. It is said to date back to 1619, but this may apply to some internal features only as the house is probably early 1700s, later reclad, probably 1820/30s. Known that it was thatch until 1905. Existence of dovecote suggests Manorial quality.
Francis Beynon (married to Elizabeth Dorothy, nee Okell, daughter of Royle Bateman, vicar of Spratton from 1684 - 1733) was known to have acquired an estate of just under 300 acres at the time of the Inclosure Award of 1766. This passed on his death in 1778 to his only surviving child, Elizabeth (married to Andrew Hackett and of Moxhull in Warwickshire), who erected a memorial in the church. On her death, it passed to her son Francis Beynon Hackett, who never lived in Spratton, but resided at Moor Hall, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. It is known that the estate included the White Horse Coaching Inn (in what is now Brixworth Road), and also the Manor House in Church Road and adjacent 3 acre site (then known as Greens Close, upon which St. Luke's Close development was made in the 1960s). The Estate was put up for sale in 1826. When nothing sold, it was put up for sale again in1838, when the Manor and adjacent Close were bought by Edward Butlin from Hackett's heirs.Butlin sold the house and the close to Rev Llewellyn Roberts in 1871. At that time the close was farmed (together with the easterly 27 acres of the Broomhill site) by John Rixon, who lived in the Manor house. Later, Edward Copson bought the house in 1874 and the Close in 1880. At that time it was a single long dwelling (now 2 houses, numbers 6 & 8) with the entrance at the back. Shortly afterwards it became the Post Office, requiring the construction of the Church Road entrance and steps so as to facilitate the handling of mail bags. Mr Copson divided the house into its present two dwellings at around the turn of the century. The thatch was destroyed by a terrific storm in 1905, and the house was then slated. The house passed to Ernest Copson, and when he went to the War in 1916, the Post Office was transferred elsewhere. Ernest Copson's widow remained in residence after his death. In 1926, when they moved to Spratton, the Saul family became her tenant. The property owned the land that became St. Luke's Close - this was sold early in the 1960's.
Image Reference: 1109
Related Searches: Houses | Houses built 17C | Manor Houses in Spratton | 2000
Late 1940s
Jeff Tite with his daughter outside his thatched cottage, Yew Tree Cottage, one of a pair that stood on the site of the Millennium Rose Garden.
Image Reference: 1112
Related Searches: Houses | Millennium Garden | People | Street views | 1940
Circa 1910
Miss Catherine Channer's servants outside her Lace School (now 26 High Street) in Spratton, where she taught Valenciennes lace. She had probably learnt her lace skills from Georgina Roberts, wife of John Llewelyn Roberts, vicar of Spratton from 1862 - 1891, who was herself an extremely accomplished lace maker. Catherine Channer was teaching lace making in Spratton and other villages (getting to them by bicycle) by 1890. Just before going to India (1899 - 1909), Catherine Channer and Margaret Roberts (Georgina's daughter, who married Henry Chubb, curate of Spratton in 1894) wrote 'Lace-making in the Midlands', which details much of the lace activity in and around Spratton, and the decline of the industry. On her return, she taught lace in the High Street premises between 1910 and 1912 before moving to the Midland Lace Association's headquarters in Northampton. In 1914 she set up her own lace business and school at 10a St. Giles Square. This continued until 1930 when she moved to Bedford and taught at the Technical Institute - she died in 1949. She was an expert in many varieties of lace-making - Valenciennes, Brussels, Italian, and the old Bucks and Honiton styles.
The house on the left, 28 High Street, is believed to have been built by the Cheney family in the late 19C, and here is seen in its brick construction before later being rendered.
Image Reference: 1115
Related Searches: Commercial activities inc. shops | Houses | Lace | Work related images | 1910
Circa 1910
Miss Catherine Channer's servants outside her Lace School (now 26 High Street) in Spratton, where she taught Valenciennes lace. She had probably learnt her lace skills from Georgina Roberts, wife of John Llewelyn Roberts, vicar of Spratton from 1862 - 1891, who was herself an extremely accomplished lace maker. Catherine Channer was teaching lace making in Spratton and other villages (getting to them by bicycle) by 1890. Just before going to India (1899 - 1909), Catherine Channer and Margaret Roberts (Georgina's daughter, who married Henry Chubb, curate of Spratton in 1894) wrote 'Lace-making in the Midlands', which details much of the lace activity in and around Spratton, and the decline of the industry. On her return, she taught lace in the High Street premises between 1910 and 1912 before moving to the Midland Lace Association's headquarters in Northampton. In 1914 she set up her own lace business and school at 10a St. Giles Square. This continued until 1930 when she moved to Bedford and taught at the Technical Institute - she died in 1949. She was an expert in many varieties of lace-making - Valenciennes, Brussels, Italian, and the old Bucks and Honiton styles.
The house on the left, 28 High Street, is believed to have been built by the Cheney family in the late 19C, and here is seen in its brick construction before later being rendered.
Image Reference: 1115 (v2)
Related Searches: Commercial activities inc. shops | Houses | Lace | Work related images | 1910
1944
A hospital ward at Broomhill. Matron Elliott is by the door, other nurses are Sister Hoare and Audrey Crick. One of the patient's names is Attwood.
During the war the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Church, moved into the groom's quarters and in 1941 let the main house to Blagdens, a small firm from London who had been bombed out of their offices. Blagdens came with all their staff and stayed until Broomhill became an annexe to Northampton General Hospital in June 1943. Here patients were able to recuperate after their operations. After June 6th 1944 only military patients were admitted and Mrs. Church, a VAD, was able to help with the nursing. The house took a maximum of 40 soldiers and regime was strict. There is a story that some of the soldiers escaped by climbing down the wisteria from the upper bedrooms and walked across the fields for a drink in the Chequers in Spratton.
Image Reference: 1121
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1944
Patients and nurses outside Broomhill.
During the war the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Church, moved into the groom's quarters and in 1941 let the main house to Blagdens, a small firm from London who had been bombed out of their offices. Blagdens came with all their staff and stayed until Broomhill became an annexe to Northampton General Hospital in June 1943. Here patients were able to recuperate after their operations. After June 6th 1944 only military patients were admitted and Mrs. Church, a VAD, was able to help with the nursing. The house took a maximum of 40 soldiers and regime was strict. There is a story that some of the soldiers escaped by climbing down the wisteria from the upper bedrooms and walked across the fields for a drink in the Chequers in Spratton.
Image Reference: 1122
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1944
Patients relaxing in the drawing-room at Broomhill with the popular commandant, Miss M de Putron, daughter of the late Rev J P de Putron, ex-vicar of Kingsthorpe. Miss de Putron gave up work at St. Dunstan's to take up this post.
During the war the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Church, moved into the groom's quarters and in 1941 let the main house to Blagdens, a small firm from London who had been bombed out of their offices. Blagdens came with all their staff and stayed until Broomhill became an annexe to Northampton General Hospital in June 1943. Here patients were able to recuperate after their operations. After June 6th 1944 only military patients were admitted and Mrs. Church, a VAD, was able to help with the nursing. The house took a maximum of 40 soldiers and regime was strict. There is a story that some of the soldiers escaped by climbing down the wisteria from the upper bedrooms and walked across the fields for a drink in the Chequers in Spratton.
Image Reference: 1123
Related Searches: Broomhill | Houses | War 1939-1945 | 1940
1929 - Broomhill from the sale particulars
The ancient name 'Broomhill' (referred to in the 13th century cartulary of Northampton St. James - see 'The Place Names of Northamptonshire') refers to the broom and gorse that grew profusely in the sandy soil in the western part of the village. In fact it became a custom on the Monday following Spratton Feast Sunday, the Sunday following the festival of St. Luke (in October), for villagers to walk up the hill together to gather gorse from the common land and take it home to use as fuel.
The large house named Broomhill standing on the outskirts of the village was designed by the architectural firm of Goddards in Leicester and, although the deeds were lost in a fire in a London solicitor's office during the Second World War, the architect's drawings exist dating from 1869 and 1871. The house can also be dated form a large stone near the back porch to 1872. It was built by Colonel Henry de Tessier. By 1881 it was owned by Francis Bruce Simson, who had lived in India for most of his life and had recently retired from HM Bengal Civil Service. He lived in the house with his wife and young son, Bruce, and five or six servants.
When Sir Mervyn Manningham-Buller, Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Daventry, bought the house in 1902, the property consisted of the main house run by 12 staff, a cottage, a coach house, stables, grooms' quarters and a farm cottage, Spratton Lodge, for a farm manager together with about 150 acres of farmland. Sir Mervyn had the original staircase removed and replace with a pine and mahogany one that had come from Burlington House. Sir Mervyn's son, Lord Dilhorn, later also became an MP as well as Lord Chancellor and his grand-daughter, Elizabeth, became head of MI5.
The house was put up for sale in 1929 with about 130 acres (see 1125), of which 120 acres were described as good grass land on the corn-brash. The accommodation is described in archive 2153, and outbuildings in 2154. Acreages are marked on the plan. The whole was for sale with vacant possession, so there was no continuing farming tenant.
It was bought by a speculator who hoped to sell it at a profit. Unfortunately the economic conditions of the time meant that house prices fell and Broomhill remained unsold and empty for seven years.
Christopher Kench, the former head gardener, who made floral garlands for the children's May Day celebrations, looked after the house until it was sold in 1935 to Leslie Church (Sheila Bradshaw's father), the Chairman of Church & Co., shoe manufacturers. The Church family made many improvements to modernise the house, including installing a huge central heating system.
During the war, Mr. and Mrs. Church moved into the groom's quarters. In the early summer of 1940, there was a Canadian Regiment there for about a week (see 1376), and in 1941 the main house was let to Blagdens, a small firm from London, who had been bombed out of their offices. Blagdens came with all their staff and stayed until Broomhill became an annexe to Northampton General Hospital in June 1943. Here patients were able to recuperate after their operations. After June 6th 1944, only military patients were admitted and Mrs. Church, a VAD, was able to help with the nursing. The house took a maximum of 40 soldiers and the regime was strict. There is a story that some of the soldiers escaped by climbing down the wisteria from the upper bedrooms and walked across the fields for a drink in The Chequers in Spratton.
After the war, Mr. Church sold the house to Sir John Pascoe & Margot Pascoe - he was the head of British Timken at that time. He was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket and football in the village and Lady Pascoe also enjoyed contributing to village life. The Kench family were tenant farmers here in the 1940s. Sir John sold the house and 55 acres (to the north and east) in 1961 to Humphrey Bennett, a highly respected local property manager. In 1962/3 he bought the 100 acres to the west (down as far as the last but one field
Image Reference: 1124
