​Bemerton HISTORY

Who lived here?

1 St Andrews Road

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The purchaser of this plot of land in 1904 was Canon Watts, who was living in the Red House on Lower Road.  In 1906 he had the cottage built for the use of his sister Anne and then to augment the Rector’s stipend.  The property was first occupied by some of the domestic staff employed by the Watts.  By 1911 Albert Morris, a gardener to Miss Watts, was the first occupant to live here with his wife Jane and their young son Reginald.   The cottage was named Stourpaine after the Dorset village where Reginald had been born.

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Between 1925 and 1938 the property was occupied by one of the curates, and it was then known as the Curate's House.  At one point, the Rector served notice on the Rev Allwork to vacate the property but this was resisted by the occupant.  In his letter to the Diocese offices at Church House in Salisbury, the curate set out his concerns - chief among which was the difficulty he would face without access to his large library of books which he had built up in Stourpaine. Rev Allwork, however, was able to find another curateship which offered tied accommodation and he thus vacated the property. The property was then sold into private hands and the proceeds subsequently applied for the benefit of the Rector.

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3 St Andrews Road

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This property was known as Selwyn, an old term meaning ‘friend in the house’ as well as a given name or surname.   The first occupants in 1904 were Robert and Winnifred Manfield and their two children, Ethel and Robert.  Robert senior was originally a cabinet maker, like his brother John who lived in Church Lane, but by 1911 he had changed his occupation and had become a school attendance officer. Robert and his brother John had a disagreement about the quality of their respective houses, bought for them with the assistance of their father.  This led to a falling-out, and the brothers and their families went their separate ways with little contact for the rest of their lives. The Manfields lived in the house until the 1950s.

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Robert's daughter Ethel married Fred Sutton, a poultry farmer from Stoford, and one of their children called John owned Sutton's musical shop in Catherine Street, Salisbury.

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Robert junior vanished at the age of 16.  His clothes were found neatly on a beach, but it was believed that he may have staged his disappearance to become a monk.   Nothing further is known about him.

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Missing House

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A curious feature of the 1911 census is an additional property listed in the census schedule between Selwyn and the house next door, Glenmore.  The property was known as Nythfa, which is a Welsh word for a resting place, so was this temporary accommodation of some sort?   The house had six rooms and was occupied by William Roberts, his wife Catherine and their two daughters.  William was a railway engine driver and hailed from Glamorgan in Wales.  A further reference is made to William Roberts living at Nythfa in the 1913 electoral roll but the location of the house remains a mystery.

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5 St Andrews Road

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This house was known as Glenmore and was occupied in 1911 by Philip and Elizabeth Mitchell and their daughter Lillian.  Philip was employed as the senior clerk in a solicitor’s office.

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