​Bemerton HISTORY
preserving the past for the future
YOUR HOUSE
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1-28 Skew Bridge Road
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Skew Bridge Road was undeveloped at the time the village was put up for sale in 1838 but houses started to appear towards the end of the 19th century. The first buildings were around the brickyard but these were demolished to make way for development. The first new houses in this area were the two cottages facing down Skew Bridge Road, built in the 1850s, originally known as Beulah Place. The next houses to be built in this road were those at the bottom right behind the old shop and post office. These were followed by the terraced houses opposite, known as Brights Villas after the builder Thomas Bright. The houses at the top right-hand side of Skew Bridge Road were the next to be built, one on top of the kiln that was built here as part of the brickyard. Finally, the semis at 10 and 10A were the last to be built on a vacant plot which allowed access to the rear of the original site.
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1-11 Skew Bridge Road
2-28 Skew Bridge Road
Who lived here?
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1 Skew Bridge Road
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William Walsh was resident here in 1 Brights Villas in 1910 and Les and Doris Wallis lived in the house in the 1930s and 1940s.
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3 Skew Bridge Road
In 1908 the Whiley's lived here at 2 Brights Villas, running a part-time gardening business. Although the address was given as New Road, this was in fact the first name for St Andrews Road, round the corner from Skew Bridge Road. George and Rossanah Davis and their three young children lived in the house in 1911. George was a sergeant in the Army Pay Corps.
5 Skew Bridge Road
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In 1911 Ernie and Emily Batterham lived in 3 Brights Villas while Ernie was serving as a corporal in the Army Medical Corps.
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7 Skew Bridge Road
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Caroline Cook, who was single, shared this house, 4 Brights Villas, in 1911 with Mary Sawyer who was a widow.
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9 Skew Bridge Road
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In 1911 Albert and Selina Stone lived here in 5 Brights Villas with their six children. Albert was a grocer’s assistant and the three elder children were employed as a dressmaker, an engine cleaner and an apprentice bootmaker. Harry Alford was here in 1931 and his son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth and Phyllis Alford, were here between the 1940s and 2000s.
11 Skew Bridge Road
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This house was originally 15 South Side, St Andrews Road. The house was shared between two families in 1911: Robert and Julia Doyle and their baby daughter, and John and Mary Sharp. Edward was an engine fitter and John was a coachman.
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2 Skew Bridge Road
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William and Mary Thorne and their baby daughter lived here in 1911 when the property was known as Maida Villa. William was a railway engine stoker. Mary lived in this house for much of the 20th century.
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4 Skew Bridge Road
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In 1911 Richard and Emma Feltham and their four children lived in this house in 1911, when it was known as Linda Villa. Richard was employed as a gardener and their eldest child Frank was a shop boy at the local Scout Motor Works. Victor was still living here in the 1960s.
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6 Skew Bridge Road
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Originally known as 1 Whitsbury Cottages, presumably named after Whitsbury village near Fordingbridge, William and Margaret Vining and their six children occupied this property in 1911. William was a professional umpire with the Marylebone Cricket Club - better known throughout the cricketing world as MCC, the world's most famous cricket club.
The Vinings had previously lived in Church Lane.
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8 Skew Bridge Road
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Albert and Janet Green and their five children lived here in 2 Whitsbury Cottages in 1911. Albert was a railway signalman and their eldest child Albert was a farm labourer. Albert and members of his family were still here in the 1970s.
10 Skew Bridge Road
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This house and the house next door were built after 2000.
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10a Skew Bridge Road
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This house and the house next door were built after 2000.
12 Skew Bridge Road
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Joseph and Susan Jenkins and their three children lived in this house in 1911, when it was known as Heatherleigh. Joseph was a look-out man on the railways and one of their sons was employed as a groom-gardener while the other was a railway engine cleaner.
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14 Skew Bridge Road
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George and Agnes Lawford and their two young daughters lived here in 1911, when the house was known as Benin – named after a country in Africa immediately west of Nigeria. George was a railway engine stoker. Members of the family were living here until the 1960s.
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16 Skew Bridge Road
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In 1911 Samuel and Alice Yeats lived here with their teenage son Fred. The house was then known as Summerleigh. Samuel was a railway engine stoker and Fred was employed as a railway engine cleaner.
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18 Skew Bridge Road
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Known as Woodbine in 1911, the house as unoccupied at the time of the census on 2nd April. Although Woodbines were a popular strong type of cigarette at the time, known as gaspers, the house takes its name from a type of sweet-smelling honeysuckle shrub. This property and the other semi next door, were built by Fred Hand who lived at No 24 Skew Bridge Road.
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20 Skew Bridge Road
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Ernie and Hester Witt lived here in 1911 with their two children when the house was known as 2 Elm View. Ernie was a railway engine driver and lived here until the 1930s.
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22 Skew Bridge Road
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Known as 1 Elm View, this house was occupied in 1911 by Thomas and Jane Booth and their three young children. Thomas was serving in the Army as a clerk.
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24 Skew Bridge Road
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This house has always been known as Clarendon Villa and was occupied by Fred and Annie Hand by 1911. Fred was a retired brickmaker, having first been the foreman then owner of the Whaddon brickworks, and built this house and several others in the immediate area. This house was built over the brick kiln that originally stood on this site.
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26 Skew Bridge Road
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John and Deborah Wyatt and their two sons lived here in 1911, when the property was known as 2 Beulah Place. Fred was a foreman in the metal department of the Scout Motor works while their son John was a draper’s assistant and their other son Victor also worked in the Scout factory as a foreman in the engine assembly department. The Wyatts were here until the 1930s.
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28 Skew Bridge Road
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George and Mary Hibberd and their six children lived in this property known as 1 Beulah Place in 1911. George was a rug weaver, Georgina was a milliner in a draper’s shop and Cecil was a baker.
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