The View (Norton Cash Stores)
In 1806, at the time of the Inclosure Act, there was a building directly opposite Wainlode Lane. It was then Plot No 375, described as being a house and garden, owned by Thomas Rudge, and measuring 0-1-17. Thomas Rudge owned a number of plots around Cold Elm, and the village in general, at this time.
[1806]
Norton is lucky inasmuch as it has a surviving ‘Terrier and valuation of the messuages, lands, and other hereditaments liable to poor rate in the parish of Norton’ dating from 1838 which gives a reliable record of the properties in the village. At this time the site in question was still described as Plot No 375, 0-1-17 in area, but had become a commercial property being a beerhouse and garden, owned by Thomas Margrett and occupied by Hannah Baylis, an 80 year old widow. The beerhouse had a gross estimated rental or annual value of £6 and a rateable value or net annual value of £5. In 1841 Hannah was recorded as a publican with Henry White a 15 year old agricultural labourer, and Mary White, 9 years old, also in residence.
John Baylis had married Hannah Morris at St Mary’s, Norton, in 1782 but there is no reference to the family at the time of the 1806 Inclosure Act. John died, aged 77 years, in 1832 and Hannah, aged 87 years, in 1845. Hannah’s death was reported in the Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Fashionable Weekly Gazette newspaper of 28 July 1845; "July 23 - Mrs Baylis, of the Cold Elm public house, Norton, near Gloucester, aged 86".
In 1871 it is likely that George, Elizabeth Trigg and family were here.
The following photo is dated 1900, and features a horse drawn cab operated by G Symonds Ltd, job masters and cab proprietors of Hare Lane, Gloucester, waiting outside the shop. Perhaps one of the ladies stood by the gate is Harriet ? Unfortunately, when the photo is enlarged it is not clear enough to read the signs on the shop.
[Norton Cash Stores, c1900]
In 1901 Edward T and Harriet James were here and it was still serving as a shop. Edward was employed as a labourer and it was Harriet that was the shopkeeper. Edward Thomas James had been born at Norton in 1850, a son of William James of Dunsworth Villa who ran the successful chairmaking enterprise in the village, and Edward himself grew up as a chairmaker. Edward married Harriet Farmer of Stourport, Worcs, at Aston, Warks, in 1886, and they settled at Norton. It is not clear when they took on the shop and whilst Edward died at Gloucester in 1925, again, it is not clear when they left Norton.
In 1909, William Green was a carpenter and grocer at Cold Elm, possibly at this shop, when he was declared bankrupt with his affairs showing a deficiency of £95 9s 5d. The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 6 February 1909 notified; “The first meeting of the creditors of William Green, carpenter and grocer, of Cold Elm, Norton, was convened for Wednesday morning at the office of the Official Receiver … statement of affairs, already published, shows a deficiency of £95 9s 5d”. He alleged that the causes of his failure was his inability to obtain work as a carpenter and bad trade at the shop. I can find no record of William Green at Norton either before or after this date so his time here must have been brief. By 1911, however, the shop at Cold Elm was in the hands of Esther Hughes and this must mark the beginning of her time here, taking on the business when William Green moved on.
Esther remained at the shop, ‘Norton Cash Stores’ until 1935 and the following article from The Gloucester Journal of 16 November details the reason for her departure; “Norton Home Burned Out. Well-Known Resident’s Misfortune. An elderly woman was rescued from her bedroom in the nick of time when her cottage and shop at Norton caught fire early on Saturday. Well known for her generosity in the district, Miss Esther Hughes, the owner of the shop at Cold Elm, Norton, has lost her home, her place of business, her stock and a considerable sum of money in the fire, and it is understood the property was not insured. The shop, which was a general store, is situated on the old main road at Norton, and formed part of the cottage in which Miss Hughes lived. About 5:30 on Saturday she was wakened by the smell of burning. Opening her bedroom door, dense volumes of choking smoke fumes forced her to shut it quickly. Her exit from the cottage by the stairs was barred, for the whole of the ground floor was filled with smoke. She rushed to her window and shouted as loudly as she could for help. At the end of her garden is a row of cottages. Mr Albert Stephens, who lives in one of these, heard Miss Hughes’ frantic cries for help, and immediately got up and went to her aid. Meanwhile his wife had wakened Mr and Mrs Joseph Hughes, who live in another of the cottages, and Mr Hughes also went to help in the rescue. They could see that Miss Hughes, who is Mr Hughes’ aunt, was trapped, and the only way to rescue her was from the bedroom window. A ladder was placed against a low roof and Mr Stephens climbed to the window and dragged Miss Hughes from the bedroom. She was still in her nightclothes and it was raining hard. Together Mr Stephens and Mr Hughes carried her across the garden to the safety of Mr Hughes’ cottage. Apart from shock Miss Hughes was unhurt. Her dog and cat were still in the blazing building, however. The dog was barking frantically in the kitchen and Mr Stephens attempted to rescue the animal by breaking the window but in the end had to bash open the door with an axe, and the dog was brought out uninjured. By breaking down the door of a shed attached to the cottage, Mr Stephens also rescued the cat. Mr Hughes went to the Post Office and telephoned for the Gloucester Fire Brigade who found the cottage well alight on their arrival. The fire had spread upstairs and the roof, which was blazing, later collapsed. Under Superintendent Windebank, the brigade were quickly at work pumping from a well. The supply of water in the well was soon exhausted, and they had to shift and draw their supply from about a quarter of a mile away. While they were moving the hoses fire broke out again in the places where they had extinguished it, and by this time it was obvious that little could be saved. The stock, including groceries and tobacco, and the furniture was also burned. It is understood that Miss Hughes had a considerable sum of money in the house, which was also destroyed. Some silver and copper money in the shop was found intact by the firemen and returned to Miss Hughes. All that remained a few hours afterwards were the walls and smouldering debris inside. The fire is thought to have been started either by overheating of the kitchen hearth or by a spark falling from the fire. Miss Hughes, who is 78 years of age, has been a benefactress to the parish for many years. Recently she gave two bells to Norton Church which were dedicated only last month. Members of her family have been bell ringers of Norton. She also gave to the church a silver chalice. Apart from her generosity to the church, many Norton people in poor circumstances have cause to be grateful to her for many kindnesses, especially in connection with her business”.
The shop actually burnt down on the night of 2 November 1935 but that wasn’t the end of things. For many years the burnt shell of the cottage remained on the site causing concern to the parish council. 3 December 1937; “The County Council should be asked to do what they could to have the burnt out shop and cottage formerly occupied by Miss Hughes demolished as it was an eyesore and infested with rats”. 17 February 1938; “As demolition of the burnt out cottage on the old main road formerly occupied by Miss Hughes had commenced the meeting decided to take no further action”. This must have been a false alarm as on 28 September 1938; “… write to the Rural District Council about the ruin of the burnt out cottage formerly occupied by Miss Hughes and request that this eyesore may be speedily demolished”. 16 November 1938; “As nothing had been done about the burnt out cottage formerly occupied by Miss Hughes the clerk was instructed to write again to the Rural District Council on this matter”.
The following was written by Margaret Wilkins who grew up in the middle of the three cottages to the rear of the shop; “Auntie Tessie Hughes was my father’s aunt and kept the local shop which was opposite Wainlode Lane. Selling everything from bootlaces to bread including all groceries. She originally owned all three cottages behind the shop, she distrusted banks and kept all her money on the premises. When the shop burnt down my dad and uncle (Mr Bert Stephens) rescued her by ladder from her bedroom window. She lost everything in the fire, silver and bronze coins being found fused together in great lumps. She then went to live with Linda and Sam Hughes another nephew of hers, at ‘West House’, opening another shop there”.
Esther died on 18 January 1943 in her 86th year. It is not known when the remains of the cottage were cleared but possibly just after the end of the Second World War a new property was erected on the site and became a shop again also hosting the village post office.
The first occupants of the new premises were Harry and Irene Hollis who were here between 1947-1955 and possibly a year or two either side of this. Harry Bernard Hollis had married Irene F Colbrook in 1939 at Lambeth, London. Born in 1913, Harry died in 1984 at Stroud. In 1949/50 Florence Colbrook and her son Reginald were also in residence at the post office. Florence Emily Cheeseman had married Frederick William Colbrook in 1903 at Lambeth and were Irene's parents. Fred Colbrook had died in 1938.
In 1958 Henry P and May R Neatham were living in a caravan at the post office.
The next occupants were Francis Trevor and Ivy May Tubb who are known to have been here between 1962-1976 and, again, likely for a year or two before this. Francis had married Ivy Freeman in 1936 at Cardiff. Francis, born in 1910 at Hereford, died 14 August 1976 and has a memorial in the churchyard at St Mary’s. Ivy, born in 1902 at Cardiff, died in 1982 at Gloucester.
The post office closed prior to 1976 but it was 10 years later when the Gloucester Citizen newspaper of 13 November 1986 advertised; “This property at Norton is likely to create a lot of interest and keen bidding when it comes under the hammer at the Kings Head Inn, Norton, on December 9. Graham and Son are the auctioneers. The cottage, formerly the village Post Office, is quite spacious and has three bedrooms. It does require some modernisation and improvement. The gardens are very large – so large that they have been divided to provide a superb adjoining building site and this is included in the sale as one Lot. Planning permission has already been obtained for one detached dwelling on the site which has a road frontage of 12 metres and a minimum depth of 26 metres”.
At some time after the sale this shop, only here for some 30 years, was also demolished and replaced by a bungalow that was named ‘The View’.
In approximately 2000, Denis Williams who, with his wife Lily, had lived in several houses at Cold Elm from the early 1950s wrote the following; “The next property was the Post Office and general stores opposite Wainlode Lane. Built of concrete block under an asbestos roof. The story of the fire, which destroyed the original building, is well told in Canon Evans Prosser’s write up. I did however meet up with the fire officer in charge at the time and in the course of conversation he well remembered retrieving the buckets in which Tess Hughes had kept her coins. It was always a well-stocked shop, at the time owned by Mr and Mrs Hollis, later by Mr and Mrs Tubb who had one daughter. They were the last shopkeepers. With the motor car being more generally available and the rise of the supermarkets the village shop and Post Office no longer became a viable proposition. Like so many village shops it closed down. After its closure the shop was rebuilt and converted into a private residence (‘The View’)”.
The View was advertised for sale by Coles Estate Agents in September 1986; "Cold Elm, Norton, a most attractive and substantial 3-bedroomdetached bungalow in secluded gardens of 1/2 acre. Large lounge/dining room, superbly fitted kitchen/breakfast room, conservatory and bathroom, gas central heating and detached garage. Reduced to £72,500"
The first known occupants of The View were Paul A and Susan Handley who were here in 1985 and were still here in 2002.
[2002]
