Old Ashburton

Terrace House

Above: Terrace House, 2022.

With many thanks to James Trapp

According to Historic England, Terrace House was built in the early to mid 19th century.

The tithe map for Ashburton, drawn circa 1840, shows two small buildings close to where Terrace House is now, but nothing that seems large enough for a dwelling.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1207744?section=official-list-entry - accessed 19-03-2022

https://www.devon.gov.uk/historicenvironment/tithe-map/ashburton/ - accessed 17-03-2022

The number on the tithe map is 957, adjoining 958 further along Rew Road. The land opposite is 959. John Luscombe is shown as both the owner and occupier of 957 and 958.

How this fits with Terrace House being part of Lord Clinton's estate in 1905 (below) I do not know.

https://devoncc.sharepoint.com/sites/PublicDocs/Environment/Historic/Tithe%20Apportionment%20Transcriptions/PDF/ashburton.pdf?ga=1 - accessed 15-04-2022

In the 1841 census John Luscombe, aged about 40, was in the first property in North Street. A wheelwright, he was living with [his wife] Elizabeth, and a two year old girl, Susan.

The family may have been living at Terrace House; the building opposite is later, and possibly at the time, a wheelwright's shop.

1841 census HO107, piece no. 253, folio 3, p1

By 1851 John was, in addition to being a wheelwright, an innkeeper. He was still in North Street with his wife Elizabeth and two daughters, but there are properties either side of where they were living.

He was still an innkeeper in 1861, and in this census the inn was named as the Victoria.

1851 census HO107, piece no 1871, folio 328, p31

1861 census RG09, piece no 1405, folio 58, p25

Professor Satterley, in his memories of Ashburton at the end of the 19th century, says that on fair days 'Roundabouts with their blaring trumpets came to Luscombe's Yard at the head of North Street.'

Prof John Satterley, Ashburton in Late Victorian Days, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol 84, Torquay 1952, p33

See also Prof Satterley's reference to Knowling's Yard, under Wheelwrights, under Banks and Businesses 3

In August 1886, at the Congregational Chapel, Mr John Hatch, of Rattery, married Lawra, second daughter of Mr William Knowling, of Ashburton.

Totnes Weekly Times, 21 August 1886, p5 col6

41 year old John Hatch was at Great Bridge in the 1901 census, with his wife Laura Ann and their four children. John was a wheelwright and a carpenter.

1901 census RG13, piece no 2053, folio 43, p17

The following year, 1902, Hatch, of Terrace House, Ashburton, was selling a rick of well-saved hay.

Western Times 31 January 1902, p4 col4

The Right Honourable Lord Clinton's Ashburton estate was sold by auction at the Golden Lion Hotel in 1905. Included in the 86 lots offered for sale was the market, tolls, and Lordship of the Manor of Ashburton, and bidding was very brisk. Sawdye and Harris were the auctioneers.

Lot 32, a dwelling house, yard, garden etc., at a rent of £12, was sold to Mr John Hatch for £200.

Western Times 30 June 1905, p5 col7

Images below from James Trapp, to whom many thanks

Both John Hatch and his son Harold John were wheelwrights in the 1911 census. Also living at Terrace House was John's wife, Laura Ann, a daughter, Hilda Amy, another son, 14 year old John, and 89 year old William Knowling, John Hatch snr.'s father-in-law. William Knowling was a retired wheelwright who had been born in Ashburton.

1911 census RG14, piece no. 12727, schedule 93

In September 1915 Mr and Mrs J Hatch learned that their eldest son, William Knowling Hatch, who had been fighting in the Dardanelles, had been wounded. However, 'much to their relief' they had just been officially notified that this was an error, and that as far as was known William was alive and well.

Western Times 17 September 1915, p14 col1

In May 1916 came the official notification that Lance-Corporal William Knowling Hatch, 27, who had been missing, had been killed in the fighting in Egypt. Educated at Ashburton Grammar School, he had been a master there, but was at Richie's Secondary School in Gloucestershire when war broke out. Flags were flown at half mast at both the school and the Constitutional Club.

Western Times 11 May 1916, p2 col7

Harold John Hatch, a 27 year old wheelwright of Ashburton, had been granted exemption from serving in the military until April 1917. A local tribunal had considered his work to be of national importance, as most of it was concerned with agricultural implements. His father, mother and sister were dependent on the business, which would have to close without Harold.

The military appealed against this decision, arguing that there were three other wheelwrights within a four mile radius. The appeal was allowed, but Harold was to be given time to make arrangements for the business - he was not to be called up until February.

Western Morning News 19 December 1916, p8 col3

Harold J Nutch - surely actually Hatch - was a wheelwright living at Terrace House in 1939.

With him was Blanche, a nursing assistant. Harold J Hatch had married Blanche Heath in the Kingsbridge registration district in the September quarter of 1919.

With Harold and Blanche was John, a retired carpenter born in 1859, and Hilda A.

1939 register

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/

Henry* John Hatch, of Terrace House, Great Bridge, gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Arthur George Gill, in January 1940. Mr Gill was found in a field adjoining New-Road**, and had died from a gunshot wound. Mr Hatch testified that he had heard a shot from the field at the rear of his workshop.

Returning a verdict of suicide when, as the result of illness, the balance of his mind was disturbed, the Coroner said that the deceased was to be pitied, and that every sympathy should be shown to the widow.

Western Morning News 2 January 1940, p8, col3

*Should be Harold?

**Rew Road?

H J Hatch sold Terrace House in 1947 but continued to use the workshop.

Robert Wakeham and Susan Roberts, who were children at Terrace House during the 1950s, mention Harold Hatch in his workshop opposite, making wooden gates and metal rimmed cartwheels.

Obituary to Peggy Wakeham, Around Ashburton issue 99, September/October 2022, p40

See Blacksmiths, under Banks and Businesses, for more on Mr Hatch at the workshop.

Michael Francis Croghan owned Terrace House from 1947 to 1949.

Information from James Trapp

A snippet in the British Bee Journal in 1949 shows a Croghan wishing to sell, or wanting to buy, beekeeping equipment.

British Bee Journal vol 77, p178

Frederick Joseph Hennion took over Terrace House in 1949.

Information from James Trapp

In September of that year Hennion, Terrace House, Ashburton, was offering winter vacancies at full or half board. Guests would have quiet surroundings and good food; the property was on a bus route.

Western Morning News 27 September 1949, p5 col6

From Susan Roberts: 'Mum could recall someone (maybe the Hennions) selling ice cream from the window of the ground floor and she thought the front of the house (there had been no fence originally) was used to shoe horses before that (when the Hatches lived there?), so maybe it was a combined blacksmith and wheelwright which would make sense in those days of horse transport, although the main blacksmith continued for some years and I can just remember it in St Lawrence Lane near the chapel steps - we always had to linger and watch if a horse was being shod!'

Many thanks to Susan

Above: Terrace House in the 1950s. Susan Roberts: 'The sign on the front of the wheelwright's says "Buckland, Widecombe, Haytor". Poor old Terrace House had definitely seen better days, looking very shabby post-war, but the chestnut tree was still in the front garden - it had to be cut down later as it was dangerous.'

With many thanks to Susan

In July 1950 Newton Abbot County Court ordered Mrs Ada Hennion to leave Terrace House within a month. Mrs Hennion's father-in-law had mortgaged the house to a building society for twenty years: she had had electricity installed and had 'sunk every penny she had' into turning the property into a café and tea garden. Her father-in-law had now vacated the premises, and six monthly instalments were owing.

Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 28 July 1950, p6 col3

In August 1950 Sawdye and Harris were selling a large and 'superior' collection of furnishings and general effects at Terrace House for Mrs Hennion.

Western Times 18 August 1950, p1 col3

Ada Hennion was the wife of Charles A N Hennion, who had been baptised in 1905 in Abbotskerswell, the son of Frederick Joseph Hennion, a schoolmaster, and his wife Sarah Ann Matilda.

Abbotskerswell parish records

Charles A N Hennion married Ada E Kenward in the Edmonton registration district in the June quarter of 1940.

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/

There is no sign of Charles at the time of Ada's problems at Terrace House. However, when Frederick Joseph Hennion died in Cullompton in 1955, probate was granted to Charles Aubrey Norman Hennion, a bricklayer.

England and Wales Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019

Mr and Mrs Wakeham bought Terrace House in 1950.

Information from James Trapp

Above: John F Wakeham and Alison M Wakeham were listed as living at Terrace House on the 1965/66 register of electors

Left: Great Bridge.

My thanks to Peggy Wakeham and Robert Wakeham for the drawing.

In 1975 a child's shoe was found in the roof space of Terrace House. When Mrs Wakeham sold the property she gave it to the purchasers, the Murdins, who then passed it on to the Geikes. They apparently put it under a new water tank, rendering it currently irretrievable.

Many thanks to James Trapp for this information

Two websites on shoes concealed in buildings:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_shoes

https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2019/07/07/concealed-shoes/