Questions about some Properties in Bagshot

Connaught Villas and a Blacksmith Shop in the High Street

Nigel asks : Does anyone know the location of Connaught Villas? My grandfather (Ernest Charles Leggett, or Leggatt) was born there in 1889. Also the location that my Great Grandfather (James Leggett ) had his blacksmiths shop on the High Street? He had the business for about 15 years before he sold it to a Mr Cudlip in 1899 and moved to Caversham. 1828.701

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Stone Hill House, Guildford Rd

Jill asks : Can anyone provide any information on Stonehill House 81 Guildford Road on A329 almost at the Junction of the M3 (next to Aldington Dog Kennels). It is an old house, converted some 25 years ago into flats. I have heard it was the weekend residence of The Bishop of Westminster and then became a convalescence home before being converted to private flats. I spend all my spare hours tending the huge garden and spend many minutes of those hours wondering what went before me. Any light shed would be most appreciated. 8058.708

In separate correspondence, Bridget recounts that she lived in Stonehill House as a child some 40 years ago, adding that she had heard something about it becoming a nursing home and then being burnt down. Bridget asks if anyone has any more information about Stone Hill House, and whether the present property is new, such as to confirm that it had been burned. 7043.407

Stone Hill House gets a brief mention in Marie de Eedle's book indicating that it was build about 1910. It appears on the 1934 OS map but not on the 1894 one.

Laurel Cottages, Jenkins Hill

Mary Kent writes: My mother lived in Laurel Cottages, Jenkins Hill, 1910ish. Can anybody give me the exact address location? I will one day visit Bagshot, but for now I will carry on enjoying your web site. 7090.1207

And from Terry : I live in Laurel Cottage, Jenkins Hill, (near the Foresters Arms ) as I am aware there are a number of Laurel Cottages in the area. Does anyone know when these cottages were built, and also if there is any history of who they were first built for. Do you know of any photographs of these properties when they were first built. 8023.308

Iris Westerman confirms that Laurel Cottages, Jenkins Hill are a row of 4 cottages opposite Notcutts Garden Centre (formerly Waterers Nursery) adding : 7032.508

My grandfather Richard Cranham eventually owned numbers 2-4. He and his wife Louisa (nee Main) lived in number 4 and I believe Louisa's sister Elizabeth Harding (nee Main) lived next door with her husband Bert and quite a large family. My mother Kathleen Cranham was born there in 1902 and my grandfather died there in 1963. He had let the smallest cottage, number 2 (I don't know to whom) until that was sold in perhaps the 1950's. He never owned number 1. Number 3 was later let to a Mrs Bowman and she was still in occupation when my grandfather died. Numbers 3 and 4 were sold by my mother after the death of my grandfather in 1963.
I don't know when the cottages were built. The only photo I have is of the front of number 4 when my mother was married from there in 1932. I could dig this out if anyone is interested. I would love to know whether Mary Kent's mother is in any way related to me or whether her mother lived in number 1 or 2. I have been trying to trace any Harding descendants, it would be lovely to have found one!

From Alan : My ancestors Henry and Ann Wynes are recorded as living in number 3 Laurel Cottages in the 1881 Census, so it is a good guess that they definitely were in existence prior to that date. 8057.708

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Florence Villas, Church Road, also the Mill and builder Edwin Spooner.

Alison Bowe writes: My husband and I live at 15 Church Road (Florence Villas) and I have been doing some research about the house and Bagshot in general and would like like to find answers to the following. Thanks! 7091.907

Were a lot of the houses in Church Road built by Edwin Spooner?
Who was Edwin Spooner?
Does anyone know who through the ages lived at 15 Church Road and what their profession would have been?
How could I trace (since 1888) who has lived in the house?
Any other information about Church Road and the mill that used to be in Church road also of interest to me.

Marie de Eedle's book tells us that E Spooner was a builder and timber merchant. He also won, for a while, the contract for collecting rubbish and emptying cess pits.
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One of my regular correspondents wrote: There is (or was in the 1980's) a pamphlet from the Surrey Heath Museum, "The Bagshot Series", No.8 "Bagshot Mill" which may still be available. It covers both of her queries, there is more elswhere. He added that he has accumulated bits and pieces of information about the Spooners and offered to talk directly with Alison. 540.1207

Little Yews, London Road

Peter writes : I recently bought Little Yews, Jenkins Hill, 105 London Road, Bagshot. The deeds indicate that the property is some 250 years old. Some parts of the roof would appear to be original with tiles held on with a very thin rusted nail! The entrance hall has a floor which I believe to be original and there is a bean across this entrance which would appear to be part of the original building. Surrey Heath Borough Council designates the house as of local historic interest. Perhaps there is some historic information that we can find about the house?

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Lambourne Villas and Belleview Cottage

Lisa is seeking information about Lambourne Villas where her Great Grandparents lived at the beginning of the 20th century, and Belle Vue Cottage on the London Road where her Grandparents lived around 1940. 6122.1006

Lambourne House was one of the "big houses" and is now replaced by Lambourne Drive and its housing. From an old map, Lambourne Villas appear to have been a pair of semidetached houses on London Road (now the A30) immediately southwest of what is now known as School Lane. There is still a house in this location, but not a pair of semis and is a different shape. I do not know if this property was Lambourne Villas combined and extended.

Bellevue House was on London Road, just southwest of the junction with what is now Lambourne Drive. Now demolished it has been replaced with a row of old people's houses. Belleview Cottages might have been nearby.

A correspondent looked up the 1881 census "A Richard Rewed aged about 57, a farmer of 15 acres, resided with his family in 1881 at Bellevue Cottage, Lightwater Road, Windlesham. Neighbours: Lightwater Lodge and "Mountan Head?" Lightwater Rd; while Park House and the Guildford Road seem to be close by. " This location would be about 2 miles south east of the London Road, Bagshot, location in what is now known as Lightwater. At the time Bagshot and Lightwater were part of the parish of Windlesham, though a few years later Windlesham parish would be split to form Bagshot Parish (which initially included Lightwater). 7010.807

There is also an enquiry about Bell View Farm

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Millfield

Amanda writes: I live in Lower Mill Field, (off Yaverland Drive). I was just wondering out of pure curiosity if there was any information about this area of Bagshot. When were the houses built, and was it ever a "mill field" as the names suggest? 513.0406

I would guess the houses were built in the late late 60's as they were there when I moved to the village in 1973. This was before Yaverland Drive was built and access to Lower Millfield was via Higgs Lane which was then open onto the A30 and ran through to College Ride. I assume that it was indeed once a mill field, the mill being the building just down from Beech House on Church Road and now converted to housing.

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Park View and Park Street

Park View is an un-paved road leading off the A30 and ending at a no-longer-used boundary gate of Bagshot Park. It was a continuation of what is now called Park Street until the building of the bypass in the 1920's cut it in half. The whole used to be called Brew House Lane (no prizes for guessing why). There are houses along one side of Park View, there used to be housing on Park Street but these were demolished and commercial properties and a Day Centre built.

Michael Campbell lived in one of the properties in the 1940's and recalls that it had had no electricity, no hot water and no indoor plumbing. "I lived at No 13. The house was relatively small. It had two bedrooms upstairs, a front room looking out at the dirt lane, a small parlor (livingroom) and a skullery. Up until 1947 the house was heated by a coal burning stove. In 1948 my Grandfather demolished the stove and replaced it with a fireplace which he built himself. Until 1949 the house was lit by a oil burning lamp that was located in the parlor. If you wanted to go to another part of the house at night you carried a candle. After 1949 gas light was installed. Activation of the gas lamps was achived by inserting a shilling into the gas meter. Outside of the house there was a small flower garden in the front and a long narrow vegetable garden in the back. Between the two gardens was a coal shed and an outhouse (toilet). That was fun in the winter. Since there was no indoor plumbing taking a bath was an adventure. You boiled water over the fireplace and then poured the hot water in a large portable bathtub." Apr/May06

A new Bagshot resident has written that he had not realised how historic the village was until he found this website and is intrigued to find out some history of the Park View properties - such as who would have first lived in them. Can anyone help with personal accounts or sources of reference? 623.0106

Bob Chapman writes: Park Street used to be much narrower than it is now. Next door to our shoe shop on the high Street (Chapmans Shoes) there was a green grocer's shop, run I think, by a Mrs Coma, and then the narrow lane. The green grocer's shop was demolished in the late 1960s or early 1970s and the site was vacant for several years - for a while it had a BT telephone box on it, and then it was re-developed originally for the shoe shop to move into, and more recently occupied by a florist (closed earlier in 2006) and a hairdressers. At that time the road was widened. An extension added above the shops prominently overlooks the square and added an extra room to the flat above. 124.1006

Bob also sent this photo of Bagshot Square, thought to be about 1930's, and just showing the narrow entrance to Park Street opposite the Kings Arms.

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Failthe Lodge and Weston House (Lake House)

Jill wrote that the place of birth given on a birth certificate in 1902 was Failthe Lodge, Bagshot. The father, William Henry Barrett, was a gardener and may have actually been living in Lightwater. Jill would like to know where Failthe Lodge was.

Lionel Parr tells us that Failthe Lodge burned down before 1928. It was a country house. Originally it belonged to a wealthy Ulster family. Its dower house is the present Weston House on the Lightwater road near the junction with the M3.118

The site of Failthe Lodge lies close to the kennels and motorway footbridge. Iron gates, presumably at the end of an avenue leading to the house, could still be seen in the 1930s in what was then an unnamed country lane. This was near a farm, possibly named Bagshot Green Farm.

During World War II Weston House was rented by Sir John Ellerman (the head of a large shipping line - he was sufficiently worthy to have been invited to the 1953 Coronation) to provide a base outside London, away from the bombing. He was a recluse. His secretary, a man named Pratt, was an officer in the local Home Guard. After the war Ellerman returned to London. Lionel believes it was then rented to someone else.

Lionel's son added "I learned on Google that "Failthe" is the Scottish Gaelic word for "Welcome". This correlates with Dad's recollection of the Ulster folk - perhaps they are on the 1901 census? The equivalent Irish Gaelic word is spelt differently."

The kennels that Lionel refers to were demolished when the Connaught Park housing estate that now covers the area was built. Weston House is still there, now accessed from Connaught Park, though I believe that it is now divided into 20 flats and called Lake House. 6101.806

Gary writes: Lake House / Weston House (now on Butler Road, Connaught Park) where I live was one of the original houses before the development of Connaught Park. Why was it not taken down and where would I find out any information on its history? 667.406

Lionel Parr says that during World War II Weston House was rented by Sir John Ellerman (the head of a large shipping line - he was sufficiently worthy to have been invited to the 1953 Coronation) to provide a base outside London, away from the bombing. He was a recluse. His secretary, a man named Pratt, was an officer in the local Home Guard. After the war Ellerman returned to London. Lionel believes it was then rented to someone else. 118.1206

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45 Guildford Road

Miles is intrigued by a near-derelict house and writes

I drive through Bagshot many times and have come to notice the abandoned house (number 45) right next door to the White Hart pub. I am very interested to find out what has happened, who used to live here, any older pictures of it etc and any hidden secrets there are to this house. My Dad once saw people decorating the house and doing it up then suddenly a few weeks after that it was once again abandoned. Any sort of information would be great! 527.0405

A conversation with a Bagshot resident reveals that this property, the sheds behind it and the small single storey office beside it, together with a large yard the other side of the pub, were part of Kemp's coal and haulage business. The business ceased operating sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's (I would speculate that the cause was a combination of the decline in the use of solid fuel for heating and the proprietor wishing to enjoy his retirement) and the yard was for a while used for the overnight parking of articulated lorries. Eventually the yard was sold off and redeveloped as a quite attractive complex of office buildings but presumably the owner chose not to dispose of the property Miles refers to.

Ron Frost adds: During the war (1939-45) most houses were lit by gas, some were still paraffin and only the better off had electricity, but heating was invariably by coal. There were three main coal delivery companies: Kemps, Parkers and Morrises. Parkers had a house and yard beside the railway embankment, with their entrance by the viaduct on the left hand side as you travel towards Lightwater. Morris's coal storage was opposite that entrance under the viaduct. All three companies had their main stores of coal adjacent to the Bagshot railway station. During the very harsh winters of 1941 & 42 women would take their baby's prams to that station yard to buy small quantities of coal, because the delivery lorries could not get through or the demand too great. ref 612.0206

Ken Wills, who lived at the White Hart from 1954 to 1963 when his parents were the tenants, confirms that the occupants of the house were local coal merchant Ron Kemp with his family, and that the coal yard was the other side of the pub. 637.0206

Curley View Cottages

John asks: Does anyone have any information about Curley View Cottages (now 19, 21 23 and 25 Guildford Road)? When they were built or any other information. 330.0406

Cedar Cottage

Another new resident writes:

My partner and I have just moved into Cedar Cottage and would be interested to hear any local history about the house. We know about it's use as the home of the tutor of Alexander II, a pharmacy, stables and servant's quarters to the Cedars and a farriers but any more information would be gratefully received.

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Connaught Road

Connaught Road is a turning off Vicarage Road. You do not need two guesses to conclude that it was named after the Duke of Connaught who lived in Bagshot Park (whose grounds extended to Vicarage Road).

Andy asks : Does anyone have any history on the Victorian cottages in Connaught Road ? 6102.806

From Stanley Draper : I know about the cottages in Vicarage Road. My Grandmother Annis Draper lived in No 4 Vicarage Road and my uncle Bill lived in the house on the corner of Vicarage Road and Connaught Road which now has a roof light. Does anyone have any information on Vicarage Road? 6148.1206

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questions & answers index page

Many of my pages have been prompted by, or include questions or information from, my readers. If you can add anything to the above please write to me using the message pad below.

This page is part of the Bagshot village web site.

Data provided only for personal background information. While every effort has been made to provide correct information no assurance as to its accuracy is given or implied. Check any facts you wish to rely upon.