​Bemerton HISTORY

YOUR HOUSE

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Who lived here?

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42 Lower Road

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Previously known as River Cottage then Bridge Cottage, the property is now known as Bridge House and was occupied by the Bracher family at the end of the 20th century.

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Cordelia (Lydia) Lodder left her husband, a blacksmith at West Stour, and came to Bemerton with several of her nine children.  In 1901 she lived here with Hannah, Albert, Wilfred, Tom and Annabella (Annie) with her husband, Thomas Shergold.  Annie was the eldest child and, together with two other sisters, had earlier moved from Dorset to work and live at the Fisherton Asylum from 1891.  Annie's husband Thomas had also been an assistant at the Asylum, where they both met.

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Lydia's eldest son James Lodder married in Nottingham in 1898 at the age of 23.  He became a publican and builder and owned Bridge House. He previously lived at East Bridgford near Nottingham.

 

Two of Lydia's family, Hannah and Wilfred, continued to live in Bridge House.   Wilfred lived there until he died in 1946.  Hannah died 1957 while living with her nephew in Castle Road.

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Other occupants:  John and Biddy Fleetwood (1970s-2000s).

 

44-48 Lower Road

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Situated on the dangerous ‘S’ bend, opposite Bemerton House, these properties were built between 1901 and 1911 by James Lodder, owner of the adjacent Bridge House.  

  

44 Lower Road

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Known from the beginning as Newlyn, the house was occupied in 1911 by John and Lucy Mitchell and their two young daughters, Dorothea and Bertha.  Lucy was the sister of James Lodder.  The family of the present occupants have lived in the house since the 1930s.

 

46 Lower Road

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The first occupant of this property in 1911, when it was known as Ilfracombe, was Frank and Beatrice Spicer when Frank was a railway fireman.  The property was named after the Devon resort but later named Southwell by James Lodder and his wife who had connections with the area in Nottingham of the same name.  James and Ellen lived in the house in the 1930s and 1940s, and were succeeded by William and Madeline Mallett who lived here for over 50 years.

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48 Lower Road

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Originally known as Bridgford, the house was occupied in 1911 by Tom and Annie Shergold, their two sons and two daughters.  Annie was the sister of the builder James Lodder.  Annie and Tom met while they were both employed as ward assistants and the Old Manor Hospital.  Later, Tom was employed as a farm labourer and their eldest son Wilfred was a boy writer with the War Office.  Osmund and Madeline Burden lived in the house in the 1950s and were here for over fifty years.  Oz Burden grazed his horse on nearby Burden's field and ran a fruit and vegetable business from a shack on the corner of the field and from his horse and cart throughout the area.