Green Corners (Norton Court Estate Cottage No 7)
In 1807 when the Inclosure Act came to Norton, Samuel Preston, a thatcher, appears to have been in occupation of a cottage and garden at Plot No 182, which is now Green Corners, along with a Mr S Moorfield. If the pictorial representation of the building is anything like accurate it was much different from what can be seen their today and suggests either a large house or a terrace of a number of smaller houses. It is also at the other end of the plot.
Inclosure Map 1807
The first mention of the Preston family in Norton appears to be the baptism of Charlotte, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Preston on 12 May 1782. Samuel and Elizabeth are not recorded as having married at Norton so are presumed to have moved here at around this time. Research has not attempted to find the family prior to this date but later documents suggest they may have come from Bristol. Over the next twenty years further baptisms occur at regular intervals; Sophia (1785), Prudence (1788), Sarah (1791), Moses (1793), John (1796), Robert (1799) and another Robert (1802) the first presumably having died as an infant. Samuel died and was buried at Norton in April 1816, aged 66 years.
20 May 1818 saw the marriage of Samuel’s son Moses Preston to Esther Smith at St Mary’s, Norton, and the following twenty years sees more Prestons arriving in the village as Moses’ family grows; James (1821), Henry (1823), Samuel (1824), George (1828), Ann (1830), Nathan (1832), Harriet (1835) and Roseanna (1841). The baptisms of Moses’ children record that he was a labourer in 1821 but by 1823 had taken up the profession of a cordwainer – a worker in leather.
It appears that the family decided to sell the property in 1827 and a number of Indentures still survive from this time telling us that it was sold to Joseph Lane of Barnwood.
“Indenture dated 1 May 1827 between William Preston of Stapleton Road, near Bristol, stonemason, son and heir at law of Samuel Preston late of Norton in the County of Gloucester, thatcher, and Mary his wife of the first part Joseph Lane of Barnwood in the said County of Gloucester shoemaker of the second part and Richard Lane of Hare Lane in the City of Gloucester shoemaker a trustee named and appointed by the said Joseph Lane to bar the said Joseph Lane’s wife dower in the messuage land and premises hereinafter mentioned of the third part. Whereas the said Samuel Preston died intestate and whereas the said William Preston is his eldest son and heir at law and whereas… in consideration of the sum of forty five pounds… William Preston hath given, granted, sold… all that messuage or tenement now or late in the occupation of Moses Preston situate at Norton… together with the land thereunto belonging and appertaining which land contains in length forty yards or thereabouts, more or less, and in breadth thirteen yards… and is bounded on the north by land in the occupation of William Butt and on the north west by the kings Highway leading from Norton to Apperley in the said County of Gloucester…”
“Indenture dated 17 May 1827… Whereas I Aaron Preston of Tuffley in the County of Gloucester labourer and the second lawful born son of the within named Samuel Preston deceased according to information and my belief – but if I as the eldest lawful born son of the within named Samuel Preston, in consideration of the sum of two pounds of lawful money paid to me by the within named Joseph Lane… I do hereby… sell… all the within mentioned messuages, land and premises… I agree to ratify and confirm the possession and livery of the within named William Preston…”
Moses Preston continued to live here and in 1831 the property was sold once again from Joseph Lane to Joseph and Josiah Bartlett of Norton.
“Indenture dated 7 June 1831 between Joseph Lane of the parish of Barnwood in the County of Gloucester cordwainer of the first part Joseph Bartlett of the parish of Norton in the same County labourer of the second part and Josiah Bartlett of the same parish farmer of the third part… Joseph Lane doth grant bargain sell release and confirm unto the said Joseph Bartlett..…in consideration of the sum of sixty pounds sterling… all that messuage or tenement now in the occupation of Moses Preston situate in the parish of Norton in the County of Gloucester…”
By 1841 Moses was living with his wife and five youngest children at The Lane Side, Norton; possibly still the house that had been his parents at Green Corners. His profession was now more clearly defined as a shoemaker. Moses died and was buried at Norton in August 1845 and his wife followed shortly afterwards in July 1846, aged 57 years.
On 12 April 1865 Joseph Bartlett made the following Declaration which confirms the earlier Indentures and adds to our knowledge of the site;
“I Joseph Bartlett of the Parish of Norton in the County of Gloucester, labourer, do solemnly and sincerely declare and say as follows :- 1. I am now sixty four years of age and upwards and for the last fifty years and upwards I have known and been well acquainted with the property situate in the Parish of Norton aforesaid which formerly belonged to Samuel Preston of Norton aforesaid thatcher and was after his death purchased by Joseph Lane of Barnwood in the said County of Gloucester shoemaker and conveyed to him by an Indenture of feoffment dated the first day of May one thousand eight hundred and twenty seven made between William Preston therein described as the son and heir at law of the said Samuel Preston and Mary his wife of the first part the said Joseph Lane of the second part and Richard Lane (dower trustee) of the third part and which conveyance was confirmed by a deed poll endorsed under the hand and seal of Aaron Preston of Tuffley in the said County of Gloucester, labourer, another son of the said Samuel Preston thereon dated the seventeenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and twenty seven and which said property formerly consisted of and was known and described as one messuage or tenement only with the land thereunto belonging and appertaining bounded on the north by land in the occupation of William Butt and on the north west by the King’s Highway leading from Norton to Apperley”
Joseph Bartlett goes on to state that some years previous the Preston cottage was almost entirely demolished and replaced by four cottages;
“ … and I say that the said messuage or tenement was many years ago almost entirely pulled down and four cottages and gardens were erected and laid out on the site thereof and that the four freehold tenements gardens and premises in the several occupations of Giles Dawe, John Okley, Charles Roberts and myself which I have lately contracted to sell to Edward Webb Esq and the site or position of which (with other adjoining property belonging to William Nash) is delineated and coloured pink on the plan set out in the margin of this declaration are the four cottages and gardens which were erected and laid out on the site of the old messuage or tenement and premises comprised in the said indenture of feoffment and deed poll and also in certain indentures of lease and release dated respectively the sixth and seventh days of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty one being a conveyance thereof from the said Joseph Lane to me”.
Extract from the plan included with the 1865 declaration of Joseph Bartlett. The Plot coloured pink that he refers to can be seen with the names of ‘Bartlett & Nash’ appended, opposite Plot No 130 and the chapel.
The Chapel is included on this plan and as that was not constructed until 1841 it is assumed that there were still four cottages here at that time. The map extract also suggests that there was a lane or track running to the rear of these cottages.
Joseph Bartlett’s Declaration of 1865 continues;
“2. To the best of my knowledge information and belief the above named William Preston died and was buried at Bristol in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty nine and the above named Mary his wife died and was buried there about four years previously.
3. The above named Joseph Lane is still living but I have been informed by him and believe it to be the fact that his wife died about sixteen years ago and was buried at Barnwood near Gloucester.
4. No claim to dower or thirds out of the said four cottages gardens and premises or any part thereof has been made against or acknowledged by me during the last twenty years or at any time previously.
5. From and after the date of the above mentioned conveyance to me in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty one I have been in the undisturbed possession and enjoyment or in receipt of the rents and profits of first the old messuage or tenement above mentioned and since of the four cottages erected on the site thereof and of the land or gardens belonging thereto respectively.
6. Upon the execution of the aforementioned conveyance to me in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty one I entered upon the possession and enjoyment of the old messuage or tenement and premises above referred to or into the receipt of the rents and profits thereof and retained the same until the said messuage or tenement was pulled down and since the erection of the existing four cottages on the site thereof I have been in the possession and enjoyment of the same and the gardens thereto belonging or of the rents and profits thereof and during the whole period since the date of such conveyance my possession and enjoyment of the said property or of the rents and profits thereof has not been disturbed or interfered with by any adverse claim or demand whatever.
And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by the virtue of the provisions of an old Act made and passed in the session of Parliament of the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his late Majesty King William the fourth instituted an Act to repeal an act of the present session of Parliament instituted an Act for the more effectual abolition of oaths and affirmations taken and made in various departments of the state and to substitute declarations in lieu thereof and for the more entire suppression of voluntary and extra judicial oaths and affidavits and to make other provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths.
Declared and signed at Down Hatherley in the County of Gloucester on the twelfth day of April one thousand eight hundred and sixty five…. Joseph Bartlett”.
Sections 5 and 6 of the Declaration clearly state that when Joseph Bartlett bought the site in 1831 there was only one cottage here and it seems to have been him who replaced it with four.
Later in 1865, on 22 December, Joseph Bartlett sold the properties to Edward Webb who owned the Norton Court Estate at that time.
“This Indenture made the twenty second day of December in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty five between Joseph Bartlett of Norton in the County of Gloucester labourer of the one part and Edward Webb of Norton Court in the said County of Gloucester Esq of the other part whereas… …to the use of the said Joseph Bartlett and his assigns for life with a limitation to the use of the said Josiah Bartlett and his heirs during the natural life of the said Joseph Bartlett… …and whereas the said Joseph Bartlett has contracted and agreed with the said Edward Webb for the absolute sale to him… …in consideration of the sum of one hundred pounds… …all that four freehold cottages or the tenements with the gardens thereto adjoining or belonging and containing in the whole in length forty yards or thereabouts (more or less) and in breadth thirteen yards (more or less) bounded on the south by the road leading from Norton Green to the Gloucester and Tewkesbury Turnpike Road on the west by two cottages and gardens lately belonging to George Hiam and purchased from him by the said Edward Webb and on all other sides by hereditaments of the said Edward Webb and on the site of which said four cottages formerly stood one messuage or tenement formerly in the occupation of Moses Preston”.
Although selling the cottages into the Norton Court Estate, Joseph Bartlett signed a separate Agreement with Edward Webb to allow him to continue to live here until his death;
“An agreement made the twenty second day of December one thousand eight hundred and sixty five between Edward Webb of Norton Court in the County of Gloucester Esquire of the one part and Joseph Bartlett of Norton aforesaid labourer of the other part. Whereby in consideration of the said Joseph Bartlett executing a conveyance (already prepared) from him to the said Edward Webb of four cottages and premises belonging to him situate at Norton aforesaid the said Edward Webb agrees that he will provide for and allow the said Joseph Bartlett to have the use and possession for his life of a habitable cottage or tenement and garden in the said Parish of Norton at the nominal rent of six pence per year and that in the meantime and until possession of such cottage and garden shall be so given to the said Joseph Bartlett he shall be at liberty to retain the use and possession of the cottage and garden now held by him being one of the four cottages and premises above mentioned free of rent and that upon Giles Dawe the tenant of the one of the others of such four cottages and premises giving up possession thereof the said Joseph Bartlett shall be at liberty to remove into and hold the same in lieu of and substitution for the cottage and premises now held by him until the other cottage and premises hereby stipulated for shall be provided for him as aforesaid.
Witness the hands of the parties Edward Webb by Bruton & Knowles, Joseph Bartlett”.
These documents tell us that the cottage residents around this time were Giles Daw, John Okley, Charles Roberts and Joseph Bartlett himself.
In 1841 Giles Daw and family were living at a property referred to as ‘The Cottages’ which may have been how this site was described at that time. The family were still in the village in 1851 but were living ‘near Norton House’, presumably Norton Court, so not necessarily the same house although the above referenced agreement states that Giles Daw was still a tenant here in 1865. There were several Oakley and Roberts families living around The Green at this time. In 1841 Joseph Bartlett was living at the Kings Head Inn employed as agricultural labourer so was doing well to have been buying and selling property. In 1853 Joseph was living at Norton and was qualified to vote on the basis that he owned ‘freehold houses and land’ near The Green. I could not find Joseph on any Norton Census after 1841 until 1871 when he appears to have been living at Smithfield when there was a number of houses there. Things didn’t get better for Joseph and by 1881 he was living at the Gloucester Union Workhouse, Workhouse Lane, St Catherine, Gloucester, where he died in 1882.
As well as the four cottages held by Joseph Bartlett, his declaration also refers to ‘…other adjoining property belonging to William Nash …” and “ …two cottages and gardens lately belonging to George Hiam …”. It seems likely that the Nash and Hiam cottages were one and the same and were to be found to the west of Bartlett’s four cottages, most likely on the exact site of the current Green Corners cottage.
Comparing the Inclosures map and the later OS map it would appear that the four earlier cottages were at the bottom of the garden of Green Corners and would have been found nearer what is now Wainlode Way house whilst the property that became Green Corners itself was constructed at the other end of the plot, to the west as stated by Joseph Bartlett in his lengthy Declaration. This possibly means that there were six cottages on this site at one time in the mid-nineteenth century.
Other documents confirm that the William Nash property passed to George Hiam and that this was once a blacksmiths shop in the possession of James Caudle who died in 1825. When James Caudle died the property passed to his widow Anna Maria. When Anna Maria died in 1858 a declaration was signed by her sister, Mary Chucketts of Kingsholm, which gives more details of the site;
“…the said Anna Maria was in the possession and receipt of the rents and profits of the said cottages and gardens without interruption from the decease of her first husband the said James Caudle till her marriage with her second husband said William Nash …”.
William Nash was also a blacksmith, from Longford, who died in about June 1855 leaving Anna Maria a widow again. An Indenture dated 10 March 1860 concerning the estate of Anna Maria Nash states that she left her Estate to three widowed sisters; Elizabeth Jelf of Ashleworth, Hannah Curtis and Mary Chucketts both of Kingsholm. The sisters sold the property at Norton to George Hiam, a bricklayer of Maisemore, for £45. A further Indenture dated 9 December 1865 records the sale of the properties at Norton from George Hiam to Edward Webb for £160, an enormous return on his £45 investment of only five years previous. This indenture describes the cottages as follows;
“… All those two cottages and gardens situate at Norton in the said County of Gloucester bounded by the road leading from Norton Green unto the Gloucester to Tewkesbury Turnpike road and on the south and on the east by four cottages and garden belonging to Joseph Bartlett and agreed to be purchased from him by the said Edward Webb and on the other side by hereditaments of the said Edward Webb and one of which said cottages was formerly in the occupation of Joseph Mellin and late of John Robinson and the other was formerly in the occupation of Thomas Juggins and late of William Cook”.
It is difficult to believe that the plot of land where Green Corners now stands was once the site of six houses, one of which a blacksmiths shop, and the associated number of residents of such. In the 1860s Edward Webb was purchasing much of Bishops Norton into the Norton Court Estate and it is likely that it was around this time he demolished the six houses on the site, which were probably not in good condition, and built the property now known as Green Corners in their place. I have not identified who was living here over the following 20+ years but it is possible there was a brief period with the demolition of the old properties and building of the new cottage when no-one was resident here.
In 1891 Henry Stubbs, (who was my great great grandfather) was living at the village Post Office. Ordnance Survey maps from this time show that the Post Office was then located at what became Green Corners, directly opposite the old chapel at the Green. Kelly’s Trade Directory also lists Henry Stubbs as sub-postmaster around this date.
OS 25” 2nd Edition, 1894-1903
Fanny Mullens (my great grandmother) was Henry Stubbs’ daughter and widowed in 1904 she returned with her four children to live with her father at the Post Office and I have a document from 1909 where she signed herself as assistant post mistress. Henry ceased to be sub-postmaster prior to 1919 according to Kelly’s.
In 1921 Henry Stubbs was retired and living in the six roomed property here. Also in residence was widowed daughter Fanny Mullens and three of her children; Frances Edith who was employed as a clerk for Rolfe and Morgan, tailors and outfitters, Soughgate Street, Gloucester, and twins William Henry Norton Mullens and Mary Eliza Marguerite Mullens. William was a clerk with Lloyds Bank, Eastgate Street, Gloucester, whilst Mary was a tailoress working for Mrs Trigg of Henry Road, Gloucester.
Henry Stubbs died in 1927 at which time Fanny Mullens had to sign a new tenancy agreement with George Norton Walker of the Norton Court Estate to remain at the house; "Whereby the Landlord agrees to let, and the tenant agrees to take, all that cottage, garden and appurtenances situate at Norton in the County of Gloucester, being estate No 7 and late in the occupation of Henry Stubbs from the twenty fifth day of March one thousand nine hundred and twenty seven at the yearly rent of £16 (sixteen pounds) payable monthly. The tenancy to be determinable by either party upon giving to the other one calendar months’ notice in which event the last month’s rent shall be due in advance and be paid if demanded. The tenant agrees to pay the said rent and all rates taxes and outgoings (except land tax and landlords property tax) also to keep the glass windows in repair and the interior of the said cottage and premises clean with the fences belonging thereto in proper repair to properly cultivate the garden and to quit and deliver up possession of the said premises at the time to be specified in any such notice and not to underlet without the written consent of the landlord or his agent. At the beginning of the tenancy the hedges belonging to the garden and also the pigstyes were not in a good state of repair. The tenant shall not be liable for these on quitting the cottage. The cottage is to be used as a dwelling house only and not as a shop. Produce left in the garden on the termination of the tenancy shall be taken to at a valuation by the incoming tenant. A deposit of £3 (three pounds) shall be paid by the tenant to the Landlord on the commencement of the tenancy as a guarantee for keeping the interior of the cottage in good repair. A such deposit shall be handed back on the termination of the tenancy if the repair (so far as the tenants liability is concerned) and if the garden has been properly cultivated. During the tenancy interest at the rate of 5% per annum shall be paid by the landlord on this deposit."
The agreement included the condition that; “The cottage is to be used as a dwelling house only and not as a shop”. I am guessing that this would have been to ensure that the Post Office never returned.
Fanny Mullens raised her four children at Green Corners; Frances Edith, Frederick George, William Henry Norton and Mary Eliza Marguerite. Her youngest daughter, Madge, married William Hopkins of Norton and moved away from Gloucestershire. With the outbreak of the Second World War her two children, Richard and Robert Hopkins, were evacuated from Twickenham to live with their grandmother at Green Corners being admitted to Norton school on 11th September 1939. Unfortunately, their stay at Green Corners was to be a brief one. Evacuating the children to protect them didn’t work out as Robbie was shortly to die here as a result of measles and brother Richard immediately returned to live with his mother at Twickenham on 14 December 1939.
Frances Edith Mullens with nephews Richard and Robert Hopkins in the garden at Green Corners. Fanny Mullens at the door to Green Corners.
Denise Cole who used to live at Hill Farm and one of the Tythe Cottages from the 1940s, shared her memories with us in 2009; "Dr Prior would come to the village twice a week, on a Monday and a Thursday, and he would hold a surgery in the little reading room opposite the house where Miss Mullens used to live. Old Mrs Mullens lived there as well with her daughter Miss Mullens. If you wanted a prescription renewed after he’d held his surgery he would go across into Miss Mullens’ house, sit at the table and he would write you a prescription and then you would go and collect it from her".
The cottage was rented from the Norton Court Estate until it was sold off by auction on 17 June 1952 when it was bought for £450 by Fanny’s son, William Henry Norton Mullens, for his mother and sister to continue living in. It was described as follows in the auction notice;
"Lot 14, an attractive detached house known as No 7, situate opposite the reading room. It is built of brick, part cemented and has a tiled roof. The accommodation comprises: sitting room with cupboard, pantry, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, two with fireplaces and landing bedroom. Coal house, EC, garden and well of water. In the occupation of Mrs Fanny Mullens at a rent amounting to £16 per annum."
As an aside, Roger Stubbs married Margaret Roslyn Welch in 1959 at Longlevens and they wished to come to Norton to live. Roger’s father Jim’s aunt was Fanny Mullens. Margaret shared the following information;
“Jims aunt Fanny Mullens and her daughter Dick lived opposite the Chapel at Green Corners and he used to visit her whilst he was working at the Chapel. At the time, we were looking for a piece of land to build on and had had several disappointments. He mentioned this to his aunt in the course of conversation and she suggested that we might be able to build in the orchard at the bottom of her garden. She was then an invalid in her 90s and was concerned that the garden was too much for her daughter to manage and felt that it would be a weight of her mind if Dick had someone close at hand. Dick worked at The Golden Anchor, a Gent’s Outfitters in Gloucester, for many years. She was a very keen gardener and it must have been very hard for her to see our house being built on the orchard but we became very good friends and neighbours and were able to lend a hand when she needed one. Roger’s dad was born at The White House on The Green and spent his childhood in Norton so he was delighted that we were able to live here”.
So, in 1960, there were further changes on the site with Wainlode Way being constructed here.
Fanny Mullens spent the remainder of her life at Green Corners with her daughter Frances Edith living with her. Fanny Mullens died and was buried at St Mary's, Norton, on 29 January 1963, but her daughter Frances Edith remained here.
Frances Edith was known as ‘Dick’ or more commonly around the village simply as ‘Miss Mullens’.
‘Miss Mullens’ became ill with cancer and went to live with her brother William Henry Norton Mullens and his wife Eleanour at Painswick so her brother Fred’s son Roy moved into Green Corners from Fir Tree Cottage where he had been living in 1968. ‘Miss Mullens’ died in October 1969 and her ashes were interred at St Mary’s near her mother.
Roy remarried Mildred Emily ‘Millie’ Burcher, who had worked as housekeeper to George Whittaker at Norton Farm and they settled at Green Corners till Roy died in August 1992. ‘Millie’ sold the house after this and returned to live with her sister at the then retired George Whittaker’s house on Stroud Road, Gloucester.
In 2002 Andrew Spiers was living at Green Corners.
[2002]
Even after all these years and changes that have taken place, this aerial photo, above, from 2021 still clearly shows Plot No 182 from the Inclosure map of 1806 and it doesn't seem to have changed at all.
[2021]
In 2021 Roger and Margaret Stubbs were still living at Wainlode Way.
Wainlode Way [2021]
