23 Old Post Office Lane
Present-day address: Blenheim Cottage, 23 Old Post Office Lane, Badsey
A detached cottage built on the north side of Old Post Office Lane in about the 18th century. This property was known as Blenheim Cottage certainly as early as 1851, which was most unusual, as most properties in Badsey did not have names at that time. It is likely that it was named after the Blenheim apple tree, which was a popular apple in the area. Arthur Savory, who went to live in Aldington in 1873, wrote: “The Blenheim Orange was the leading apple at Aldington; some kind person had, 60 or 70 years before my time, planted a number of trees which had thrived wonderfully on that rich land.” In the early 1890s, Elijah Crisp, a bricklayer by trade, decided to switch careers and become a postmaster. He opened a Post Office at Blenheim Cottage. In 1897, Elijah built a new Post Office on the High Street and Blenheim Cottage reverted to being a normal house.
Photographer: Wendy Chapman, May 2021; © The Badsey Society
Related images
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2008 photo
1968 photo
Links
- See who lived here at the time of the 1851 census (1 & 2)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1861 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1871 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1881 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1891 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1901 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1911 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1921 census (1)
- See who lived here at the time of the 1939 register (1)
- Details of this property appear in the Land Valuation Survey 1910-1915 (1)