​Bemerton HISTORY
preserving the past for the future
YOUR HOUSE
120-130 Lower Road
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120 Lower Road
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Built in the 1960s, this chalet type property stands on a meadow which formed part of land occupied by the curate in 1838. Roy and Winnifred Coombes were the first to occupy the house. They were members of the Brethren and did not have a TV but were very generous and sociable. They remained here for over 30 years.
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122 and 124 Lower Road
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Known as Rectory Cottages, this pair of semi-detached red-tiled houses were built in the mid-19th century for accommodating staff employed by the Rector.
122 Lower Road
Edward and Fanny Lampard lived in the cottage in 1871 - when Edward was employed as a gardener - and were still here in 1901. Widow Eliza Mitchell, who was a parish nurse, also boarded with them for a time before moving to accommodation in the Parish Room at 84-86 Lower Road. Later, by 1911, Tom Ford, his wife Sarah and daughter Ethel lived here. Tom was a retired policeman and was also the Parish Clerk and Treasurer of the Bemerton Conservative Club. In 1940 Sidney Humby lived here with his daughter Agnes, who was a hairdresser.
124 Lower Road
In 1901 John Manfield, who was a butler, had moved here with his wife Priscilla and his son John from a cottage in Church Lane. In 1911 Edwin Foot, a gardener, lived at this address with his wife Elizabeth and his 80-year old mother Anna. By 1925 Edward and Mary Cannings were here together with, in 1940, their son Alfred.
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126-130 Lower Road
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These houses were built in the early 1950s between Rectory Cottages and Church Cottages in a field known as the Glebe, which was made available to the Rector for growing vegetables, fruit or other crops or for grazing animals. In 1838 the area consisted of a meadow “in the occupation of the Rev Mr Baker”, who was at that time the curate living in the Rectory before the Rector, Wellesley Pole Piggott, took up residence. During the Second World War, Jack Wyatt, the Headmaster, together with his pupils, ploughed the field and planted potatoes and other vegetables as part of the Dig for Victory campaign. Before the war, Bob the fat pony grazed here and after the war, the area was home to another horse called Sally, which led to the area being called 'Sally's Field'.
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126 Lower Road
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Previously known as High Trees, and occupied by Doug and Betty Young for many years, the property has now been demolished and is in the process of being replaced with an ultra-modern building. Doug had served in the Fleet Air Arm and later worked in a civilian capacity at the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down before he retired.
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Betty was a great organiser and her main interest was her church. Doug used to recall that if they went out for the day on a Saturday, Betty always insisted that they had to be home in time in the evening so that she could get the church ready for the Holy Communion Sunday Morning service at St Andrews. Betty died in November 2012 and Doug followed a few years later.
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128 Lower Road
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Previously known as Keymore but now known as High Trees House, this property has been considerably extended and refurbished. Although the name originally belonged to the adjacent property, the Mortimores - who built and occupied Keymore - came to an agreement with the Youngs that the High Trees name could be moved next door. When Bob Mortimore died, Elieen and Jack Butterfield bought the property in 1990 and lived here until 2008.
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130 Lower Road
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Glebefield takes its name from the ground that was originally used by the occupants of the Rectory. The property was built c1951 by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Eagle, Royal Engineers, who trained as a building surveyor. Following the fall of Hong Kong, Robert was imprisoned by the Japanese and suffered health problems as a result. Later, while serving in Cyprus, his health led to him being returned to the UK and retired from the Army. He subsequently took up a post at the Army's HQ at Wilton as a civilian and later moved with his job to Bristol. In 1964 the house was sold at auction and it has never been on the open market since. The buyer was Mrs Bradfield, a widow who had been living in Bemerton House with her two children who wanted to move to something smaller. When she died, the house was sold privately to Bishop O’Ferrall, an ex-Bishop of Madagascar, a cousin of the Bradfields. After the Bishop and his wife had died, their son contacted Robert Eagle’s son, known as Roger and his wife Clare, who bought the property in 1985.
