1989
On the left is Cornforth Cottage, re-thatched by Roger Scanlan in 1985 removing existing Long Straw and replacing with English Water Reed. The rear elevation was re-thatched (together with an extension) by Scanlan using the same material in 2000.
On the right is Cobblewell Cottage, 2 Manor Road after its development - see 1459. It has 1758 scratched into the left part of the stonework, which may indicate age of original stone (the right hand part is newer). Number 4, to the left, is probably circa 1700 stone and thatch. The vertical scores on the stonework are sharpening marks for the slate pencils that children used on their slates, indicating that this may once have been a school. See "Slate pencil sharpening" in slhs archive.
It may be that this was the location of the Dame School, with the 1841 census showing an Alice Haines, schoolmistress living here aged 60. (Was Haynes Lane named after this family - it was the era of naming streets e.g. Drings Lane, Waterloo, Johnsons Road). It was a small fee paying private school, which closed down in 1872
Image Reference: 1458
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