The Chestnuts (Springhill Villa)
By following the chain of ownership backwards we come to the earliest evidence from 20th February 1666. Documents from this date are at best difficult to read and at worst impossible. The document appears to record an indenture of feoffment between Walter Mills and Daniel Butt. This is followed just a few days later on 25th February by a similar document of feoffment between John Mills and Daniel Butt. Later, on 26/27th September 1698, we have an indenture of lease and release between John Butt of the one part and Thomas Jeynes and Mary Butt of the other part and another similar document dated 13/14th August 1713 between Thomas Jeynes and Lewis Bradley of the one part and Samuel Cox of the other. This would appear to be the first association of the Cox family to the site, an association that was due to last for many years.
3rd May 1784 sees the Will of William Cox, yeoman of Norton. William actually died the following year and has a memorial at St Mary’s, Norton, that reads as follows; “In memory of William Cox who died May 18th 1785 aged 85 years. Also Sarah the wife of the above died June 2nd 1746 aged 38. Affliction for a long time borne, Thy ? was in vain, till God and please my soul to ease, and free me from all pain”. Although his Will does not actually name or describe the property it is almost positive that this is the site in question. In his Will he made bequests to various sons and daughters and finally; “ … I give devise and bequeath to my son Joseph Cox of Churcham in the County of Gloucester … all those my messuage, lands, hereditaments, and estate situate and being at Norton …”. This makes William Cox the earliest identified owner of this site.
Some years later, on 11th August 1818 Joseph Cox raised a mortgage against the property for £250 with William Humphreys, a schoolmaster from Ledbury. It is recorded on 2nd October 1820 that Joseph repaid £200 plus £2 10s in interest and that on 23rd March 1824 he cleared the mortgage with a further payment of £52 15s 6d.
On 25th March 1824, however, another mortgage for £150 was raised with an indenture between William Humphreys, still a schoolmaster of Ledbury, of the first part, Joseph Cox yeoman of Norton of the second part and William Stephens, a gentleman of the city of Gloucester of the third part. This indenture described the property, which then appears to have been three houses, one newly erected, as follows :-
“All that messuage or tenement with the barn cyder mill stable garden and two pieces or parcels of pasture land and orcharding and also one piece of arable land containing by estimation eight acres more or less formerly part of a common field called Inlands situate in the parish of Norton and in that part thereof which is called Priors Norton in the said County of Gloucester formerly in the occupation of one Thomas Jeynes afterwards of Jonathan Allen and then of the said Joseph Cox. Also all that messuage cottage or tenement and garden adjoining the last mentioned messuage and premises there in the occupation of Elizabeth Allen widow as tenant thereof and also all that newly erected cottage or tenement with the garden to the same belonging nearly adjoining to the said last mentioned premises and then in the occupation of William Piff as tenant thereof…”
Joseph Cox died in 1835 and this can be confirmed by a memorial at St Mary’s that reads as follows; “Sacred to the memory of Joseph Cox yeoman of this Parish who departed this life Jan 9th 1835 aged 91 years. He was a loving husband and tender father a devout Christian and an honest friend”. His Will written on 10th March 1829 disposed of the property as follows; “… I give devise and bequeath unto my friend Richard Vick of Norton farmer and Richard Hyde of Staverton farmer … permit my wife Ann Cox … to hold use occupy and enjoy … for and during her natural life … now in the occupation of my grandson Joseph Cox…”.
On 24th April 1839 we find another indenture between William Stephens, James Abell, Joseph Cox and Hannah Cox of Malvern.
In the Gloucester Journal newspaper of 15 March 1862 there was a sale advertised to take place on 26 March 1862, when H Bruton was instructed to sell by auction; “3 valuable and powerful cart geldings and mare, in foal; half-bred brown gelding, 5 years old, 14 ½ hands high, with black legs, a capital hack and steady in harness; 2 promising two-year-old cart colts, 2 yelts (one in farrow), rick of prime hay and clover, stack of ditto, and rick of well-harvested white wheat, to go off; 1300 gallons of best and family cider and perry, capital casks and hogsheads, excellent farming implements, spring cart, harness, home-cured bacon, &c”. The instructions came from Mr Merrit who was quitting the estate, known as 'Cold Elm Farm’. The 1861 Census records Henry Merrett living at Cold Elm Farm, described as a farmer of 60 acres employing 5 labourers, along with his wife Emily, brother John, and two young children. It would appear that their time in the village had been very brief as they were not here in 1851 and the age of the eldest of their two children who had both been born at Norton was only two years, so perhaps their time here was limited to 1859-1862.
By 1861 Joseph Cox is following in his grandfathers footsteps by raising money against a mortgage on the property when he borrowed £45 from Hannah Perkes which, if not repaid by a certain date, would cause the property to be handed over to her.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 25 July 1863 advertised; “Sale of valuable growing crops, implements, &c. Bruton and Knowles have received instructions from Mr W L Williams, who is giving up the farm, to sell by auction on the premises, on Tuesday, the 4th day of August, 1863; - the undermentioned growing crops (straw to go off), implements &c, about 12 acres of wheat, 5 acres of barley, 1½ acres of swedes and vetches, 5½ acres of beans, 1½ acre of peas, 5 acres of potatoes, grass keep and fruit, winnowing machine, hogsheads and store casks, iron ploughs, harrows, drags, drills, 5 doz hurdles, rolls, set of harness, &c, &c. The growing crops at Kingsholm will be sold upon the ground punctually at six o’clock in the evening; the Implements and Growing Crops at Norton will be sold at the Buildings adjoining the Turnpike Road at Norton, commencing two o’clock”.
This would have been William Levi Williams who appears only briefly in Norton records.
On 7th April 1868 Harriet Helps paid off the £45 mortgage to Hannah Perks and a Louisa Helps agreed to pay Harriet Helps the £45 back and also to lend Joseph Cox a further £25 on 7th December 1872 with the same conditions attached.
In 1871 the property was occupied by John Hawkes, his wife Mary and one year old daughter Susan. Susan had been born at Quedgely but was baptised at Norton in 1870 which suggests that the family had not been in the village long at that time. John Alfred Hawkes was born at Quedgeley in 1845 and married Mary Jane Phelps at Bristol in 1869. John was employed as a corn factor and hay dealer. The couple had twins privately baptised at Norton in 1876 but they both died and were buried here within the month. They left the village shortly afterwards and by 1891 were living in Millbrook Street, Gloucester. Wife Mary died in 1930, John in 1938, and they were buried at Gloucester cemetery where they have a memorial along with two of their children.
In both 1861 and 1871 the owner, Joseph Cox, was recorded as a farmer and was living in an adjacent house termed simply as Tewkesbury Road. Early documents suggested that there were several residences on the site and this seems to still have been the case.
Joseph Cox appears to have died on 21st March 1877 and this can be substantiated by a gravestone at St Mary’s, that reads, “In memory of Joseph Cox who died ? ? 1877 aged 74 years. Also of Ann his wife who died June 12th 1873 aged 68 years”. At that time his property was described as being 18p in size on the main road. Formerly three cottages but now thrown into one. With stables, coach house, mill house. Formerly with Joseph Cox, his grandfather, John Wakefield, Elizabeth Allen later with Charles Smith and now with Daniel Locke. Next to land of Richard Butt.
Next comes an auction sale of the property in 1877 after the death of the owner, Joseph Cox.
“Bruton, Knowles, and Bruton have received instructions from the trustees of the late Mr Joseph Cox, deceased, to sell by auction, at the New Inn Hotel, Gloucester, on Saturday 23rd day of June 1877, at three o’clock in the afternoon, in one lot,- All that valuable freehold dwelling house, known as Springhill Villa, with coach-house, two-stall stable, cattle-sheds, poultry-house, outbuildings, labourers cottage, gardens, pieces of pasture land and orcharding adjoining and belonging thereto, most pleasantly situate at Norton, about three miles from the city of Gloucester, adjoining the Gloucester and Tewkesbury Road, containing together about 5a 2r 20p, in the occupation of Mr Daniel Locke and others. The house contains two sitting-rooms, kitchen, larder, dairy, china pantry, and five bedrooms. This property has an important frontage to the Gloucester and Tewkesbury Road, and is bounded on other sides by Lands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, and Mr Sims”.
At the auction the highest bidder was Mr Thomas Townsend, a butcher of Barton Terrace, Gloucester, who paid £121. An indenture dated 29th September 1877 records the transfer; “… all that messuage cottage or tenement with the garden thereunto adjoining and belonging situate in the parish of Norton in the County of Gloucester adjoining the Turnpike Road leading from Gloucester to Tewkesbury containing 18p or thereabouts lately in the occupation of the said Joseph Cox but now unoccupied and bounded on the east by the said Turnpike Road on the south by land formerly belonging to Miss Hannah Cox being a portion of the hereditaments secondly hereinafter described on the west and the north by lands belonging to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England and William Sims respectively now in the occupation of Richard Butt and which said messuage and garden were devised to the said Joseph Cox by the Will of his grandfather dated the tenth day of March one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine. And secondly all that messuage tenement or dwelling house (formerly three messuages or dwelling houses but now thrown into one) with the stable coach house mill house and appurtenances thereto belonging. And also all three pieces or parcels of land or orcharding thereto adjoining and belonging situate at Norton aforesaid adjoining the said messuage and premises firstly hereinbefore described. All which said messuage or dwelling house pieces or parcels of land and hereditaments now being described contain by estimation five acres or thereabouts more or less and were formerly in the several occupations of Joseph Cox (grandfather of the said testator) John Wakefield and Elizabeth Allen since of the said Hannah Cox afterwards of Charles Smith and are now in the occupation of Daniel Locke and are known by the name of Springhill Villa”.
In 1881 Nathaniel Curtis, his wife Caroline who was a dressmaker, and two adult sons were in residence and farming. Nathaniel, originally from Down Hatherley had married Caroline Fisher at Cheltenham in 1848 and with their first child being born at Norton the following year they must have come to the village straight after marriage but were originally living and farming near the church. On 7 June 1857 they had their first four children all baptised together at St Mary's, Norton. By 1881 they had come to Springhill Villa where Nathaniel was farming with two sons; Arthur and Alfred. The Curtis' were definitely still at Springhill Villa in May 1885 when son Frederick Albert married Eleanour Anne Trigg of Cold Elm, at Norton.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 17 September 1887 advertised; “Springhill Villa, Norton, 3 miles from Gloucester, Bruton, Knowles, and Co, have received instructions from Mr J Stephens, who is leaving, to sell by auction, on Tuesday, September 20, 1887, commencing at two o’clock in the afternoon, two dairy cows, two store pigs, table and cider fruit, casks, cider hairs, ladders, carpenters tools, dairy utensils, &c”. This is the only reference I have seen to J Stephens who's time at Springhill Villa seems to overlapped with Nathaniel Curtis'.
Nathaniel Curtis died in 1888 and widowed Caroline was still living at Cold Elm in 1891 with a son and daughter, although it is not clear if they were still at Springhill Villa, possibly having left upon Nathaniel's death in 1888.
Between approximately 1889-1892, William Evans, his wife Mary, and William’s parents John and Emma were at Springhill Villa with William and father John both employed as gardeners. William Edward was born at Tewkesbury in 1860, although the rest of the household were from further afield. Wife Mary Jane was from Lichfield, Staffs, father John was from Guilsfield, Montgomery, and mother Emma from Worcs. In July 1889 William had married Mary Jane Rabbage at St Mary’s, at which time both recorded their place of residence as Norton. Mary’s father Richard was also a gardener. In November 1890 they had a still-born daughter and in January 1892 a son, also William Edward, was baptised at St Marys. The family left for Twigworth where they had more children, then to Tuffley, then into Gloucester where William was a gardener at the cathedral.
The Gloucester Citizen newspaper of 9 May 1903 advertised; “Cold Elm, Norton, 4 miles from Gloucester. Sandoe and Son are instructed by Mrs Curtis, who is removing, to sell by auction, on Thursday, May 14th, 1903, at one o’clock prompt, - The live stock, comprising 20 store pigs, 10 ewes and lambs, 10 tegs, and a few fowls; also the farm implements, spring cart, harness, barrel churn, weighing machine, bicycle, manure, &c., together with a portion of the useful household furniture and other effects”. Caroline died in 1900 so the 'Mrs Curtis' who is mentioned in the above advertisement must have been one of the son's wives. Son Alfred Curtis had married Clara Anne Randall at Down Hatherley in 1896 and briefly settled further along the Turnpike Road in Cold Elm but had left Norton by 1904 so it was likely them selling up at Springhill Villa.
Thomas Townsend wrote his Will on 23rd June 1885 at which time he was a butcher of 103 Ryecroft Street, Gloucester, and left the property to his wife Elizabeth and only child Catherine Elizabeth. Thomas himself died on 23rd January 1889 and the Will was proven by his widow on 8th July 1889. Elizabeth in turn died on 18th March 1892 when the property passed to their daughter, who had since married, Catherine Elizabeth Turner.
It would appear that Catherine Elizabeth (Kate) Turner and her husband retained ownership of the property and in 1901 Kate and Thomas Turner, a 36 year old mechanical engineer originally from Badgewake in Somerset, were in residence with 5 young children, including daughter Elsie, all of whom had been born in Gloucester. The youngest child was 5 years-old which would suggest that the family had only recently moved to the village. By 1901 the name of the property had changed from Springhill Villa to The Chestnuts, the name by which it is still known today. The Turners were to remain at The Chestnuts until at least 1910.
The next identified occupier was in 1912-14 when Herbert Archer was recorded at The Chestnuts. Herbert Edwin was born in 1882 at Brimpsfield, son of Edwin and Henrietta Matilda Archer. In 1891 the family were farming at Brockeridge, Twyning, and moved to Green Farm, Norton, shortly afterwards. Herbert had married Elsie Elizabeth Turner at Norton in 1911 at which time he was already farming Green Farm with his widowed father, having previously been assisting an uncle on a farm at Cherrington.
At the Gloucester Police Court of January 1916 we have; “Edward Warner, The Chestnuts, Norton, was summoned for a breach of the swine fever regulations in respect of the movement of three swine without a license, from Tewkesbury Market to Norton, on December 8th. … Mr Warner purchased nine pigs in Tewkesbury Market on December 8th, six of which he resold, and the remaining three he intended to have taken to his premises at Norton, arranging with a Mr Groves, farmer, to convey them for him. Afterwards, Mr Warner sold the three pigs to a dealer, who obtained a license covering the conveyance of 18 pigs (including the three). It seemed, however, that 15 pigs only were so conveyed, the three referred to in the summons being missing from the Market when looked for”.
By 1919 William Goscomb, a retired farmer from Longford, and wife Charlotte had taken over and in 1921 they were here, in an eight roomed property, with baby daughter Margaret. William was born in 1870 at Longford, son of Samuel and Rhoda Goscomb. He married Charlotte Hester James in 1917 at St Mary de Lode, Gloucester, and likely came to Norton shortly after marriage although daughter Margaret Olive was born in Gloucester in 1918.
By 1924 a Herbert Gazey was on the electoral list living at The Chestnuts but the following year the Goscombes were back and had most likely never left.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 5 September 1925 advertised; “For sale, with possession, The Chestnuts, Norton; detached house; drawing, dining room, good kitchen, dairy and four bedrooms; good outbuildings; six acres. Orchard, good garden; in first class repair; price £1500; in occupation of owner; can be viewed on application”.
A Miss Mary Elizabeth Prout is the next named occupier, residing here between at least 1927 till 1960. She was largely a poultry farmer who likely took on the property from the 1925 sale. In 1928 Elizabeth Prout of The Chestnuts applied for an exemption from the need to have a dog license but was refused on the grounds that she had no cattle or sheep. At one time, Mr Prout, Miss Prout’s father/brother(?), was a teacher at Norton CofE School.
In 2009 Denise Blanchard (nee Cole) previously of Hill Farm, Norton, shared some of her early memories of the village. She told me; “My father [Tim Cole] also rented some ground at The Chestnuts farm up on the main road and I believe there was a spinster lady lived there, a tiny little lady with little glasses. Her name was Miss Prout I believe. My father used to chop firewood for her, and check on her to make sure she was alright, take care of the hedges and the maintenance of the fields and in return he put cattle there in the field”.
In 1962-66 Chestnuts Farm was in the hands of Graham L and Lorna Price.
From 1966 Chestnuts Farm was in the hands of Cyril and Eva A Ballinger who kept dairy cattle here. On 25th June 1970, J Pearce Pope & Sons held an auction at Agriculture House, Tewkesbury Road, to sell the Chestnuts Farm on behalf of Mr Cyril Ballinger. It was to be sold freehold with vacant possession upon completion on 30th October or earlier by arrangement. The details described the farmhouse as follows :- “…built of brick (with the south and front elevations cement rendered) and tiled roof offers attractive views of the hills to south east”. On the ground floor could be found; “Sitting Room .. with fireplace, bay window, poly-tiled floor and power point. Dining Room … with modern tiled fireplace, bay window, poly-tiled floor and power point. Back Kitchen … being brick and wooden built lean-to with slate roof with twin power points, gas point, sink with Ascot Geeser, and fluorescent light with door to adjoining coal house. Bathroom with bath (only cold water). Pantry with fitted shelves and cold slab. Hall with poly-tiled floor and cupboard under the stairs”. Upstairs were a landing, 4 bedrooms and a toilet “with low flush WC and hand basin (cold only)”. Outside was a dairy “with fitted bucket rail and two cold water taps” and a WC. The farm buildings comprised of a “brick built with tiled roof garage and workshop … Lean-to meal house and 2 pig sties … concrete block with asbestos roof calf shed with part rendered inside wall and loose box, with hay rack adjoining … concrete block and asbestos roof double cow shed with tie-ups for 18 … timber and galvanised built barn … with concrete block and board/felt roof with lean-to tractor shed … 2-bay timber and galvanised fodder cover”. The associated “level productive pasture land within a ring fence” at OS Nos 307 – 310 inc totalled 26.629 acres.
I believe it was the Wildings that bought the property at the 1970 sale and in 1985 Jeremy C and Victoria K Wilding were in residence and they were still here in 2002.
In June 1986 the farm staged a car boot sale on behalf of Norton CofE School.
[2002]
