​Bemerton HISTORY

YOUR HOUSE

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139-151 Lower Road

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Built on the old Hay Ground, where the subsoil contained good quality brick earth, the first five cottages were originally known as Church Villas and were built before 1897.  When the last two cottages were added, No 149 and No 151, the whole terrace was renamed EMA Terrace. 

 

The owner of the plot was William Knight who in 1881 had been a brewer and hotel keeper of the Bridge Inn in Bridge Street, Salisbury.  The Bridge Inn was another name for the Shoulder of Mutton Inn which was on the site of the present Carwardine's restaurant, on the corner of Bridge Street with St Thomas's Square.  By 1891 William had given up being an innkeeper and had become a turf accountant, operating from his home in Devizes Road.  He had also become a property developer, like others, acquiring land in Bemerton to capitalize on the growing demand in the village for accommodation.