The Lodge (Kents)
The following is an extract from the Inclosure Awards of 1807 and shows the location of a piece of land then known as Kents. The piece of land in question is Plot Nos 186, 187, 188 and 189 in the top right hand corner of the plan.
It is difficult to identify ownership of lands prior to 1807 but quite often a name used at this time gives an indication as to its previous occupants. In the mid to late 1700s there was a family living at Norton who were called Kent and it is quite likely that they lived here. William and Mary Kent had a daughter Esther baptised at St Mary’s, Norton, on 23rd May 1756. Mary was buried at Norton on 7th October 1767 and was followed shortly afterwards by her husband William on 21st July 1770. An allegation survives from 12th October 1772 in which Hester (Esther) Kent alleged that she was the daughter of William Kent late of Norton yeoman deceased and that her father and mother were both dead. “…but being in her minority to witt of the age of sixteen years or thereabouts and therefore incapable of managing her own affairs … wheretofore she prayed that William Poole of the parish of Norton … carpenter might be recognised as her guardian…”
This was granted and William was charged with making an inventory of the “…goods rights and credits belonging to the said Hester Kent…”. Unfortunately there is no trace of this inventory or any definite record that she was living at the plot of land then known as ‘Kents’.
In 1807 ‘Kents’ had been divided into two parts with two owners. Plot No 186 is described as an orchard (0a-1r-38p), No 187 as a house and garden (0a-0r-30p) and both were owned by Robert Marston. This later became what we now know as The Lodge.
It is not known if Robert Marston was actually living at Plot No 187 in 1807 but he was to die in the village in 1832. By 1838 Robert’s son, Thomas Greening Marston, was in residence and Plot No 186 was then described as an “…orchard and buildings…”. Thomas was baptised at Norton in 1801 and was the son of Robert and Betty Marston. He married Sarah Lewis in Cheltenham in 1837 and perhaps this was when he actually took over occupation of the property. Thomas was to remain here until his death in October 1868 and in his Will he bequeathed “…the dwelling house which I now reside in with the garden, orchard, barn, stable, wagon house, hereditaments…” to his wife. Several years after his death the property was to be sold and Thomas’ sister Harriet Simmons – who was living at Plot Nos 188 and 189 at the time – signed a statutory declaration to the effect that Thomas had had “… uninterrupted possession … of the cottage … for thirty five years prior to his death and prior thereto by her father Robert Marston…”.
In 1861 the property had been put up for sale; “To be sold by auction by Mr Henry Bruton, on Thursday, the 13th day of July, 1861, at the Kings Head Inn, Norton, at five o’clock in the evening, all that valuable freehold messuage or tenement and buildings, with the garden and orchard thereunto belonging, situate in the parish of Norton, in the county of Gloucester, (near to Norton Court,) and called or known by the name of ‘Kents’, containing about an acre and a quarter or thereabouts, (be the same more or less), and now in the occupation of Mr William Simmons, as tenant thereof.” William Simmons was Thomas Marston's brother in law but it is not known what happened at this auction.
In late 1871 Bruton, Knowles & Bruton were instructed by the representatives of the late Thomas Greening Marston to sell by auction several pieces of land and his cottage at the Kings Head Inn, Norton, on 15 November; "Lot 3. a brick built and newly thatched cottage, situate near to Norton Green, and opposite to Mr Weaver's farm, containing sitting rooms, kitchen, back kitchen, and two bedrooms together with barn, stable and coalhouse, a very productive piece of garden ground, and a valuable pasture orchard, well stocked with choice young fruit trees, lately in the occupation of Mrs Marston, and containing together 2r 28p (more or less), and bounded by the Norton meadow lane, the road leading to Deerhurst, and lands of Charles Walker Esquire, and the Rev Edward Hawkins".
In December 1871, presumably as a result of the auction, Thomas Long and Thomas Bainbridge (the executors of Thomas Greening Marston’s Will) conveyed “… a cottage and garden and orchard … together with all buildings etc…” to Charles Walker and the property became part of the Norton Court Estate. A record of the rental of the Norton Court Estate in 1877 records that James Weaver held Green Farm as a tenant and also the “…cottage etc bought of Marston…” but it does not say who actually lived there at this time.
It is not clear what happened to either of the premises (Plots 188 & 189 and Plots 186 & 187) after becoming part of the Norton Court Estate and it is not always easy to identify which of the two properties are being referred to by later documents.
The original house was pulled down at some time, it does not appear to have been standing in 1910, and was replaced by The Lodge that is there today in 1914. On 24 August 1914 the Rural District Council approved plans submitted by W L Buller Esq for the construction of a new entrance lodge to Norton Court. The outline specification produced on 22 May 1914 by Stephen Salter, architect of Oxford & Sons, Gloucester, stated;
“The building will be constructed of brickwork in mortar (part in cement) as drawings, roughcast externally with concrete as shown. Solid floors to scullery &c the remainder of ground floor being boarded on joists with ventilating air bricks under. The first floor joists are 7x2 with 1“ boarded floors and the roofs are tiled. All rooms plastered except scullery and offices. The sanitary arrangements comprise earth closet as shown and sink with lead trapped waste discharging into open trapped gulley and drain as shown. Water supply will be obtained from well dug on the site by owner”.
The following are my rough copy of the architects plans.
The new cottage that was rebuilt in 1914 was named The Lodge although records between 1900 and 1950 have many variants of the name and it is confusing that there was also a Lodge at Norton Court Farm in Priors Norton. The Lodge here, near The Green at Bishops Norton, was for a time the residence of the butlers at Norton Court and it is supposed that this was the occupation of many of the following.
In 1915 George William Newstead was at Norton Court Lodge. In the village electoral rolls, George Newstead is listed as living in a dwelling house at Norton Court stables. George William Newstead was born in December 1879 at Wickmere, Norfolk. He married Kate Louise Green at Zion Chapel, Tisbury, Wilts, in April 1904, and over the coming years they had three children whose places of birth tells the story of their frequent movements; Cecil Francis George(1904) at Fonthill Gifford, Salisbury, and Dorothy Kathleen(1910) at Hall Court, Botley, Hants. In 1911 George and family were living at Calne, Wilts, where George was a butler. Their last child, Edith Mary, was born in 1915 at which time the family had arrived in Norton, were living at The Lodge, Norton Court, father George was employed as the butler and Edith was baptised at Norton. On 31st August 1916 George's time as a butler was cut short when he enlisted into the 4th Royal Berkshire Regiment as Private No 7029 for the ‘duration of the war’. From his army records it would appear that he had previously been rejected for service and on 13th September 1916 he underwent a medical examination at Gloucester. He was 5ft 4ins tall, weighed 154 lbs, had a 42 inch chest and was diagnosed as being flatfooted but ‘not sufficient to cause rejection’. On 28 October 1916 he transferred to the Oxford and Bucks Regiment and on 3rd March 1917 transferred again to the Machine Gun Corps as Private No 87277. On 6th May 1917 he embarked at Folkestone bound for Boulogne, on 7th May reported to the Machine Gun Corps Base Depot at Camiers, France, and on 1st June he joined No 50 Company in the field. On 1st February 1918 he was appointed Unpaid Lance Corporal and on 1st March was granted leave to go to the UK through Boulogne and upon his return to France he was appointed Paid Lance Corporal on 12th April. On 19th January 1919 he travelled to Chiseldon via Le Havre aboard SS Charles for demobilisation and was struck off the strength of the Expeditionary Force. On 18th February 1919 he was transferred to the Army Reserve Class Z. After the war the family appear to have returned to Wiltshire.
In 1920 William and Amy Crocker.
In 1921 Mary Wilkins, Norton Court Lodge.
In 1924 Fred Hayes The Lodge.
In 1925 Charles Baynham. In November 1946 may have been working for Miss Ada Mary Gillott Weiss of Chambers Court, Longdon, near Tewkesbury, when she died.
In 1926-27 Herbert Gregory was here and had a son, Walter.
In 1927 Ernest White, with daughter Hannah, Norton Lodge.
In 1929-1932, Robert and Gertrude Camp, with daughters May and Grace, were at The Lodge.
In 1933-1935 Alfred and Mary Stevenson, The Lodge, Norton Green.
In 1936-37 Albert and Agnes Woollett were briefly in residence. Albert Joseph Woollett had married Agnes Margaret Oram at Petersfield, Hants, in 1935. In March 1937, Mrs Woollett was appointed the village WIs delegate to the County Annual Meeting. On leaving Norton they moved to the Wokingham, Berks, area.
In 1938 Horton Thomas was living at The Green, Norton, but by 1939, was in residence at The Lodge with his family, employed as a butler. Horton had married Elizabeth Winch at Croydon in 1921 and they had three children Beatrice Lavinia (a confectioner's shop assistant), Norman W Horton (a dental mechanic and ARP messenger) and Grace Cornelia Horton, who were all living at The Lodge.
In the 1940s we have Mr Steerman and later Mr Penny, with daughter Ruth, at The Lodge.
In 2020 I was in contact with Tim Jenkins, the grandson of Charles Jenkins. Tim confirmed that; "My grandparents were Charles William Jenkins (butler) and Ena Muriel Jenkins (cook) who both worked at Norton Court. They lived at The Lodge together with my father and his siblings. Prior to their marriage in 1932 they were both working at Longleat House in Wiltshire which is where they met". I carried out a little research myself to add to their story.
Charles was born on 21 September 1906 at 8 Kepler Mount, Harehills, Leeds, son of Charles, a police constable, and Rose Lizzie (nee Harris) Jenkins. Charles married Ena Muriel Whitwell in 1932 at Warminster, Wilts, and had five children; William A K (1936 Watford), John D (1937 Huntingdon), Tom (1942), Mary E and Susan A (1943 Huntingdon). Ena was born on 21 December 1906 at 4 Lister Street, West Hartlepool, Co Durham, daughter of Thomas, a ship chandler’s assistant, and Eva (nee Bowman) Whitwell. In 1934 they were living at West Lodge, Downing Archway, Downing College, Cambridge, and in 1939 at Stableyard Cottage, Hinchingbrooke, Hunts, where Charles was employed as a butler and valet at Hinchinbrooke House and was also in the Auxiliary Fire Service. Between at least 1946-48 they were at Norton Court Lodge with Charles employed as a butler and Ena as a cook. In February 1946 and October 1948 they had children admitted to Norton CofE School.
Tim was also able to tell me what happened to the family after leaving Norton; "The Jenkins moved to the Lowther estate in Cumbria in 1949 where again my grandfather was butler and Gran was head cook. Sadly, my grandfather died in 1954, so I never knew him".
When the Norton Court Estate was sold at auction in 1952 the following was included in the sale booklet;
"The Picturesque Lodge occupied by the Butler. It is well built of brick, rough cast, with tiled roof and lead glazed windows. It contains two bedrooms, each with a fireplace. Garden with fruit trees, tool shed and coal shed. The water supply is from a pump connected to a well, the drainage is to a cesspit and mains gas is laid on. The Council's main is in the road adjoining the Lodge. The gas stove is not included in the sale".
By 1955 I believe The Lodge was occupied by Anthony and Morfudd Eyres.
Later the Spiers family, also of Green Farm, moved in and were certainly resident from the 1980s with Christopher Roger and Marion Bernice Spiers in residence.
