Marl House (Marl Cottage)
Reginald died in 1981 and Gwendoline was still here in 1985. Son Kenneth Norman married Barbara Ainge, formerly of Fir Tree Cottage, in 1979 and in 1985 they were living at Marl House and this is the first mention of the property by this name. In November 1990 Ken applied for planning permission for alterations and an extension of the property to provide enlarged living accommodation.
In the early 1800s the piece of land where Marl House now stands was Plot No 269, was owned by Joseph Pensam, and there were no buildings on the plot. Joseph Pensam and Harriet, nee Arkell, lived at Evington Hill Farm, The Leigh.
Extract from the 1807 Inclosure Act map for Norton
This part of the village has changed a lot since this time, most notably when the new route for the Gloucester to Tewkesbury road was constructed and opened on 29 April 1925. The new road ran straight from the top right to the bottom left of the above map extract, along the boundary between Plot No 339 which, in 1807, was a barn, yard and garden owned by the Duke of Norfolk, and Plot No 340. To help with orientation Plot No 340 is now West House and the road leaving the bottom right of the map is Marlpit Lane.
For much of the 1800s it is difficult to judge exactly where people were living in this area with addresses usually being recorded simply as ‘Marlpit Lane’. During certain periods of time both High View and Marl Cottage, opposite, were owned by the same family and they even appear to have moved between the two. A number of the families that lived these cottages were also closely related by marriage adding to the difficulties. What follows is a ‘best guess’ based on research of a diverse range of primary sources.
In 1824 Richard Loveridge married Mary Guttins of Deerhurst, apparently a second marriage, and in 1828 Richard, shoemaker of Norton, died having written a Will concerning property he held at Norton. He left “…all that my freehold house and two gardens which I now occupy at Norton …” to son John to hold on behalf of his wife Mary. I believe this to have been what is now High View and also the piece of land across Marlpit Lane that later became Marl Cottage/House. Richard also left ten pounds to his grandson William who was living with them at the time. William appears to have been the illegitimate son of Ann Loveridge who was baptised at Matson in 1806. An Ann Loveridge died and was buried at Norton in 1822 which may have left William in the care of his grandparents.
We are fortunate to have extracts from an autobiography written by Alfred Thomas Loveridge, who was born at The Leigh in 1859 and later emigrated to Canada. The account was written at Christmas 1934 and tells of the origins of Marl House from his memories; “In a lovely part of old England, in the small village of Norton, and four miles from the old Roman City of Gloucester, my grand-parents founded their home. My grand-father, William Loveridge, was born at … in England on June 5, 1806, and my grand-mother, Mary Anne Cox, was born at … also in England on August 1, 1806. They were married at the old Parish church at Norton by the Rev. Jones on October 26, 1828. My grand-father built a brick house less than 200 feet from the road leading from Gloucester to Cheltenham surrounded by a large garden. It is pleasantly situated in a lane that leads up to the Parish church which is less than a quarter of a mile from the house. The church, which is built of stone, is several centuries old and has been torn down and reconstructed within the past 30 years [1876]. How well I remember the happy days of childhood when my brother and I used to walk from Cheltenham to Norton, about 4 miles, accompanied by one of our uncles to visit our grand-parents. We picked the cowslips which grew in such profusion in the fields across the lane. We often walked up the old lane, where the bluebells grew against its banks to the old church, with our grand-father. Occasionally grand-mother would walk with us to Gloucester and take us through the large Cathedral. My grand-parents were blessed with a large family consisting of six sons and three daughters, all born in the brick house at Norton. Grand-father and grand-mother rest side by side in the little graveyard on the hill. Their family have all passed away, two of the sons are buried in the province of Saskatchewan. One of the daughters sleeps in far off Australia, the land of gold, and the rest passed away in the land of their birth. Many years have passed since my brother and I walked up the old lane and picked the bluebells on its banks but I have never been able to revisit ‘old England’ and the scenes of my childhood. My father, Thomas Loveridge, was born in the old brick house at Norton on December 30, 1832. My mother, Hannah James, was born on a farm named ‘Charlton Kings’ close to Cheltenham. They were married in the Baptist Church in the village of Tewkesbury on August 4, 1858”.
So, with William and Mary marrying in 1828 and their son Thomas being born in the cottage in 1832 this gives a likely four year period for the house construction. There was already a building on the site of High View at this time so it must have been Marl Cottage that William built on one of the garden pieces referred to by his grandfather Richard in his Will. His grandmother Mary Loveridge was still living at the High View property at this time. I don’t have a photo of William but the following depicts many of the family.
Mary Anne Loveridge (nee Cox) Thomas & Hannah Loveridge with Alfred standing on the left and brother Albert on the right
By 1841 William and Mary Anne were living with four of their children at Marlpit Lane and they were to live their entire married lives at Norton.
I believe that at some time, possibly prior to 1871, the family crossed the lane to what is now High View where there was a workshop for boot/shoe making, the trade that most of the Loveridge boys and their father followed.
1881 Joseph Freeman, a bricklayer, wife Ann, daughter Harriet and grand daughter Gertrude were at Marl Cottage whilst the extended Freeman family had lived in a number of properties at Priors Norton throughout the nineteenth century. James Freeman had been born at Norton where he later became a builder and was responsible for constructing the porch around the entrance to St Mary’s church in 1889. By the turn of the twentieth century he had moved to Longford where he was the publican at the New Inn and it was here that he died in 1909. His death caused several properties at Priors Norton to be put up for auction including what I believe was Marl Cottage; “Lot 4 – A cottage, in Marl Pit Lane, Norton, close to the main road to Tewkesbury, let to Mr Portlock at £4 a year. It is well supplied with water. Tenants pay rates”.
This is the only reference I have found for a Mr Portlock at Norton so his time here was probably brief. There was a Portlock family living at Staverton at this time who may have been renting the property. In 1909 Charles Albert, an engineer of Staverton and son of William Frederick and Mary Portlock, married Edith Annie Spencer of Norton at St Mary’s suggesting another connection between this Portlock family and the village.
This property cannot be identified at all during the First World War period but in 1918 Elias and Emmeline Eagles were in Marlpit Lane and may have been living here briefly and in 1919/20 the property may have been unoccupied.
In 1921 Frank and Agnes Orchard were living in a four roomed property at Marlpit Lane. Frank William Orchard was born on 16 January 1890 at Bride Street, Islington, London, son of Henry Adolphus, a cabinet maker, and Rhoda Orchard. They were a Gloucester family and in the early 1900s they were all living back at 13 London Road, Gloucester with father Henry still a cabinet maker and son Frank was employed as a coach builder for the County Council. Rhoda was running a sweet and confectionary business, possibly from the family home, with several of their daughters assisting. Frank served as No 514651, later No 306102, in the Tank Corps during the First World War and married Agnes Magdalen Mary ‘Maggie’ Barratt in Shropshire in 1917. In April 1921 son Raymond Frank Victor Orchard was baptised at St Mary’s, Norton, at which time his parents address was recorded as Marl Cottage, the first time the name has been identified, and father Frank was employed as a carpenter at Priday & Metford Flour Mill, Gloucester Docks. In March 1921 Frank’s sister, Amanda, then 20 years of age, was also baptised at Norton, although she was living with her parents in Southgate Street, Gloucester. The marriage seems to have ended shortly after this with Frank remarrying Edith Sealey at Hammersmith, London, in 1923 and moving to Westcote in the Cotswolds. In 1939 Frank was living with his wife at 51 Southgate Street, Gloucester, employed as a carpenter whilst wife Edith was a tobacconist shopkeeper. Using the forename Margaret, Agnes remarried Charles Shelley at Bridgnorth, Shropshire, in 1933, and in 1939 they were the licensees of The Lion Inn, Hampton Loade, Shropshire, with son Raymond still in residence. Margaret died in Shropshire in 1954 and Frank at Gloucester in 1972.
The Jordan family were the next residents here. The family were to be long-time residents at Norton and are remembered living in Marl Cottage and at High View opposite during the first half of the twentieth century.
Walter Berry Jordan, a gardener of Birmingham, had married Ann Miranda Preston, daughter of Henry Preston a bootmaker of Norton, at St Mary’s, Norton, in September 1884. George Walter Henry Jordan was their first child and he later became Norton’s baker and lived opposite at High View for many years.
Walter Harris Berry & Ann Miranda Jordan
It is not known for sure when Walter and Ann Jordan came to live here but they were definitely in residence at Marl Cottage by 1931.
In December 1931 Ida Gladys Roberts married Albert Ernest Evans at St Mary’s, Norton, at which time she gave her address as Marl Cottage. Ida was born at Newport, South Wales, in 1907 and at the time of her marriage gave her father’s name as Arthur Jones. By 1911 she was living in the household of Walter and Merinda Jordan at Wootton Wawen, Warks, so she may have been raised by the Jordans. Her two witnesses at marriage were Walter Berry and George Walter Henry Jordan.
The following tale appeared in the Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror newspaper of 12 April 1934; “Although not admitted to court, Molly, a donkey, who was the central figure in a case at Gloucestershire Quarter Session yesterday, was viewed by witnesses outside. Ernest Reade-Hill, who had been traveling about the country with his wife and six children, was sentenced to 12 months’ hard labour for the theft of the donkey and carriage while bailed. Evidence was given by Walter Jordan, of Norton, near Gloucester, that Reade-Hill called at his house on July 24, 1931, with his wife and six children. He put them up for the night, and the following morning Reade-Hill asked for the loan of the donkey Molly to take his children into Gloucester, as one of them was a cripple and could not walk. Jordan did not see the donkey again for two and a half years when it was returned to him by the police. Answering Mr Roche, Jordan said he was glad to see the donkey again, and the donkey was glad to see him”.
The Reade-Hill family claimed they were en-route from Birmingham to Cardiff arriving at Norton on 24 July 1931. Mrs Jordan had taken pity on them, offering them tea, a few shillings and a place to spend the night. Ernest thought he was doing the Jordans a favour by taking the donkey as it was too much for them to take care of and as this was three years ago and Mr Jordan elderly, he was 74, it was difficult for him to remember what had really transpired. He had also ‘borrowed’ a chaise from a relative of the Jordans at Twigworth; Mrs Hebe Bedwell. At one point during the trial Reade-Hill broke down saying that he had more troubles than he cared to own. Reade-Hill was already serving a sentence of 9 months for obtaining credit by false pretences at Launceton and had a number of previous convictions for obtaining credit by fraud, stealing a perambulator and for false pretences. He was described as a plausible liar and an imposter.
Reade-Hill’s path had crossed the law on a number of previous occasions and his statements in court over the years suggest that he thought himself hard done by in life and his ‘crimes’ were never his fault. He appears to have owed £20 which he claims he could pay off in a year if given a chance but the police had twisted his affairs around and he must now go to prison. The police had stood between him and his fellow men and no opportunity had been given to him to settle his debts. Appearing at the Hull Police Court in 1928 Reade-Hill was charged with not completing a job he had been allotted by the Sculcoates Board of Guardians, working just 7 of the required 28 hours. At this time he was describing himself as an accountant of Hull. Reade-Hill offered the illness of his wife as his excuse this time stating that he had performed the more manly task by looking after her instead of working. He complained that when he called a doctor to see her the doctor was cruel and unkind and under pressure to be so from the Ministry of Health; “It is these despicable instructions from the Ministry of Health to the Guardians that is dragging down my life and reducing me to this level. My spirit revolts against them”. Reade-Hill had already been convicted in Chesterfield, York and other places and the Stipendiary asked him, sarcastically maybe; “Nobody gives you any justice ?”. Reade-Hill replied; “Not a scrap. I feel I have been misjudged. I feel that there is a higher power that will justify my character in the future. The greatest men have been to prison you know. We dote over their names now. We didn’t while they were in prison”.
Leaving Norton with Molly the family next crop up in Somerset in September 1932 where they sought lodgings with George Payne of Old Down House, Emborough. They paid for 2 nights lodging, left for 2 days then returned, stayed for 2 weeks and could not pay.
The Wells Journal and Somerset and West of England Advertiser newspaper of 30 September 1932 included; “A good deal of interest was invoked in the mode of travel of a family who passed through the City [Wells] on Saturday. A man, his wife and six children made up the party, the children riding in a small conveyance pulled by a donkey. The family were traveling from Tintagel, Cornwall, to London. The conveyance was an open invalid carriage secured for one of the boys, who is an invalid. Mr Ernest Reade-Hill told a pressman that they decided to leave Cornwall and go to London where he hoped to secure employment. The children did not like the idea of doing away with the donkey, and owing to the expense of taking Molly, the carriage and family by rail, it was decided to do the journey by road. They had averaged 20 miles a day when the weather was fine, and the children looked very happy and contented. The eldest child was eleven years of age and the youngest four”. Reade-Hill appears in the same newspaper the following week, 7 October 1932, when he appears to have spoken to a journalist. He claimed that they had previously lived in South Africa for many years and were currently touring Cornwall, Devon and Somerset whilst he made a study of agricultural problems. He was contemplating entering politics and they were heading to London in response to a summons from political headquarters. Molly seems to have been well travelled in her absence and was no doubt glad of the rest when she got back to Norton after being picked up by Walter Jordan from Gloucester Railway Station.
Ann Miranda Jordan in later life, likely outside Marl Cottage
Betty Jordan, later Oakley, was born at Marl Cottage in 1934 and told us some years ago that her Jordan grandparents, Walter Berry and Ann Miranda nee Preston, lived at Marl Cottage, a cottage that was later sold to Mr and Mrs Stephens. Her grandfather kept a very pretty garden and in what the children called the summer house his wife used to serve afternoon teas to visitors travelling along the Tewkesbury Road. Grandad Jordan served in the Home Guard during the Second World War.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 6 October 1945 carried the following article; “Mr Walter Jordan, of Marle Cottage, Norton, at the age of 88, is a film fan. As often as he can he takes a bus to Gloucester for a visit to the cinema. ‘I like thrillers’ he told a Journal reporter, ‘not all this sentimental stuff, something with action in it, that’s what I enjoy’. He and his wife celebrate the 61st anniversary of their wedding on Saturday. Only a few of their six children, 30 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren will be able to celebrate the day with them. Mrs Jordan is three months older than her husband, and although in good health is not quite so active as he is. Although he has officially retired from his work as a gardener about 10 years ago, he still spends his time raising his flowers and vegetables from seed, and occasionally lends an expert hand to help other people. For 63 years he worked in the gardens of many large houses in various counties. At one time he had a staff of nine men under his supervision. Longevity runs in Mrs Jordan’s family. Her mother and father, and her aunt and uncle – two sisters who married two brothers on the same day – celebrated their Diamond Weddings in 1909, and Mrs Jordan’s mother lived to the ripe old age of 98”.
Walter died here in 1948 and Ann died at Bristol in 1951. The crucifix with the brass figure at St Mary’s church, Norton, was given some years later in memory of ‘old Mrs Walter Jordan’.
In 1948 Charles and Lucy Osborne were at Marl Cottage. Charles Albert Osborne had married Lucy Edith Jordan at St Mary’s, Norton, in 1945, and they had three children; Clive, Carol and Sandra. At the time of their marriage Charles was living at West House and Lucy, daughter of George Jordan, at High View. They moved in 1948 to Benges Bungalow and between at least 1954 and 1956 they were at Mount Pleasant.
In 1954 Reginald and Gwendoline Mary Stephens were in residence at Marl Cottage.
[1973]
Reginald died in 1981 and Gwendoline was still here in 1985. Son Kenneth Norman married Barbara Ainge, formerly of Fir Tree Cottage, in 1979 and in 1985 they were living at Marl House and this is the first mention of the property by this name. In November 1990 Ken applied for planning permission for alterations and an extension of the property to provide enlarged living accommodation.
Barbara Ainge outside Hill Farm
[2002]
Kenneth and Julie Stephens were here in 2002.
