Nos 2 & 4 Bretforton Road and the terrace that never was

A recent enquiry from the owner of 4 Bretforton Road (pictured right) – “How old is my house?” – led to a study of a number of sources in order to find out the information.  

The deeds did not provide the answer in this instance but, by looking at census returns, Valuation Survey records and newspaper articles, it has been possible to give an approximate answer.  

And, along the way, it has uncovered the story of a failed building business and the tale of a terrace of houses that was never built.

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Early ownership of the land

The pair of semi-detached cottages known today as Nos 2 & 4 Bretforton Road is situated on the south side of Bretforton Road.  Together with the houses on either side (between the road now known as Synehurst and almost to the footpath by Hither Green) they are on land which had never been used for housing until the beginning of the 20th century.

For several centuries, this land was owned by the Wilson family, Lords of the Manor of Badsey.  The 1812 Badsey Enclosure Map shows this plot of land as an old enclosure called Hop Yard and amounted to 3a 3r 12p.  On 23rd July 1866, Edward Wilson (1820-1907), Lord of the Manor, sold this land at an auction at The Northwick Arms Hotel, Evesham, in Lot 7, together with the adjoining land to the east which had been allotted to him in 1815:

Lot 7. All that very VALUABLE, PIECE OF PASTURE LAND AND ORCHARD lying near the toll-gate on the Evesham Road, and having a frontage to the said road, containing 5a 0r 33p and bounded by lands of the Rev Mr Bourlay and Mr Thos Byrd and by Lot 8. This Orchard is now in full bearing, and is one of the most productive in the County. 

It had obviously been used at one stage for growing hops (as it was called Hop Yard at the time of Enclosure), but in 1866 was used as pasture land and orchard.  The land was bought by Thomas Byrd (1836-1919), a farmer whose family had owned land in Badsey and Aldington for several generations.

The Byrds run into financial difficulties – break-up of the land

By the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, the Byrd family was experiencing financial difficulties and began to sell off portions of their land.  Between 1909 and 1915, a nationwide Valuation Survey took place.  The Valuation Survey records for Badsey reveal that gradually, small pieces of this land owned by Thomas Byrd was coming into new ownership.  Firstly, just under a half acre of land was sold for £80 to William George Pethard (he sadly died just four months later, so his wife, Elizabeth, was then named as the owner) on 24th March 1908 on which a detached house was soon built (present-day No 18 Bretforton Road).    

In April 1908, according to the Valuation Survey records, land to the west of that bought by William Pethard was sold to two brothers who were market gardeners.  Thomas and John Sears each bought 20 perches of land for £35.  A pair of semi-detached cottages was built on the land and were known as Hopyard Villas (present-day Nos 14 & 16 Bretforton Road).  

The terrace that never was

The next plot to be sold was that immediately to the west of Hopyard Villas and is the land on which Nos 2 & 4 Bretforton Road were ultimately built.  It is marked on the Valuation Survey map as No 1064.  It comprised 1 acre 4 perches and was bought for £250 on 23rd March 1909 by Sydney Guest Hooper, a solicitor of High Street, Dudley.  The Valuation Survey report of 24th October 1912 described it as follows:

Piece of land 1 acre 4 perches in extent with 171 ft frontage to the Evesham to Bretforton Road. In 1909 this was part of a pasture orchard with very poor turf; only the frontage and side fence were of any value.  

There is no mention of housing at that point.  Its situation was described simply as “land at Hopyard Cottages”.  Badsey at that time was experiencing a boom in market gardening and many new houses were being built.  Presumably Sydney Hooper acquired it as a speculative purchase with the intention of having houses built on the land.  So why, when it was surveyed three and a half years later, had nothing been started?

According to Brian Smith, who grew up at No 4 Bretforton Road in the 1940s and 1950s, family legend had it that the original intention was to build a row of terraced houses there, but the builder got into financial difficulties, so the first two were finished off to settle his debts and the remainder were never built, even though there was sufficient land available to build a row at that time.

The British Newspaper Archive has provided us with answers as to who the builder was.  In August 1909, a notice appeared in The London Gazette for receiving orders for bankruptcy:

Ernest John Watson, lately trading under the style or firm of E J Watson & Co, lately residing and carrying on business at Badsey, but now residing at Botley, lately builder, now commercial clerk.

Who was Ernest Watson?

On Wednesday 1st September 1909, a meeting of the creditors of Ernest John Watson was held at Worcester Bankruptcy Office with the Assistant Official Receiver, Mr Clement Hoult, presiding.  Mr H Lupton Reddish of Rugby attended for the debtor and Mr S G Hooper of Dudley (who had bought the building land in March) for the mortgagees.

Ernest Watson had been born at Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire, in 1885, the seventh of eight children of Charles and Jane Watson.  His father was a builder and brick manufacturer, and Ernest grew up in a home where they were able to employ a live-in servant.

According to the newspaper reports, in July 1907, aged 21, Ernest had commenced business as a builder at Bidford-on-Avon, trading as “E J Watson & Co”, though he never had a partner.  His only capital was £100, borrowed from his father, Charles; he subsequently received another £250 from his father.  In December 1908 he moved his business to Badsey, where he traded up to May 1909.  

It seems that Ernest Watson’s troubles had begun shortly after starting his business.  At the hearing in September 1909, he stated that in July 1907 he entered into a contract to build a house for £520 but a dispute arose.  The proprietor of the contract alleged the work was improperly done and would only pay £350.  In October 1908, Watson took proceedings to recover the balance, but he only obtained judgment for £3 5s and each party had to pay their own costs.  He estimated the loss on this contract, including law costs, to be £250.  The dispute was with Albert William Idiens, solicitor, and his son, John Idiens, a merchant (who was himself later declared bankrupt and emigrated to Canada), both of Evesham.

Watson went on to say that he was first sued in January 1909 and, on 14th May 1909, he executed a deed of assignment to a trustee for the benefit of his creditors.  Some of the creditors would not assent to the deed of assignment, and he was advised to file his petition.  Shortly after this he obtained a situation working as a clerk for a brick manufacturer at 30s a week.  Watson put his failure down to:  loss on contracts, law costs, and loss on horses used in business.  He estimated his gross liabilities at £2,163 8s 4d, of which £1,055 7s 5d were estimated to rank for dividend, with assets available for distribution amounting to £117 6s 2d, leaving a deficiency of £938 1s 3d.

In addition to trading as an ordinary builder, Watson had also to some extent carried on business as a speculative builder, and had acquired the following freehold properties, raising the greater part of the money to build them on mortgage:

• One house on Bretforton Road, gross rental £30 a year; present estimated value £450; amount due on mortgage £384 3s 4d [present-day 12 Bretforton Road]
• Two houses on Chapel Street, gross rental £15 a year, present estimated value £471 19s 10d; amount due on mortgage £471 19s 10d [present-day 14 & 16 Chapel Street]
• Plot of building land, Bretforton Road, Badsey; present estimated value £250; amount due on mortgage £250 [land on which 2 & 4 Bretforton Road were later built]

Another meeting took place on 28th September 1909 at Worcester.  The Registrar concluded that the business was speculative and stated:

You began with nothing, and now find yourself with a deficiency of £938 in two years.

Watson responded that this was the case.  He was ordered to prepare a proper deficiency account and the examination was adjourned for that purpose.

On 8th September 1910, the building land, the nearby house (12 Bretforton Road) and the pair of semi-detached cottages on Chapel Street were put up for sale.  Despite some 40 people attending the property sale at The Wheatsheaf Inn, Badsey, did not attract any buyers and all lots were withdrawn.  The report in The Evesham Standard the following week concluded that, “Under the present unsettling conditions, property investors are evidently not attracted.”

The London Gazette of 26th July 1912 recorded that Ernest Watson of Botley, previously of Badsey, had applied for a debtors’ discharge.  The following year Ernest married and, by 1921 he was described as an employer of a brick manufacturing company at Shotover Brickworks, Headington.  He died at Botley in 1931, aged 45.

2 & 4 Bretforton Road

The building land was eventually sold on 11th December 1912 for £285 to James Billingham of The Limes, Haden Hill, Old Hill, Staffordshire, who had the freehold and leasehold for 1000 years from 14th December 1657.  (No 12 Bretforton Road and Nos 14 & 16 Chapel Street were also sold in 1912.)

Some time between 1913 and 1920, a pair of semi-detached houses was built on the plot of land.  The terrace was never built.  It was not until the 1950s that more housing was built on the land between Nos 4 & 12:  a detached house known as Lanrigg (No 6) and a pair of semi-detached houses (Nos 8 & 10). 

In 1921, Thomas Sears, a market gardener, lived at No 2 with his wife, Grace and two sons.  Next-door at No 4 lived Walter Stewart, a market gardener, with his wife, Frances, and young son. 
 
At some stage, both houses were bought by Tom and Lily Johnson, who came from Dudley.  Thomas Benjamin Johnson had married Lily Buckley in Dudley in 1920, and they still lived in Dudley in 1921.  By the time that the 1924 Electoral Roll was published, they were living in Badsey with an address of Bretforton Road, so they had obviously bought the houses by then.  Was it a coincidence that a couple from Dudley bought the houses?  Sydney Hooper who acquired the land in 1909 was from Dudley and James Billingham who bought it in 1912 was from Old Hill, just a short distance from Dudley.

The Johnsons lived in No 2 and rented out the other half of the pair.  From the mid-1930s, Eustace Thomas (Tom) and Doris Smith rented No 4, probably from soon after their marriage in 1933.  It was the Smiths who gave No 4 the name of “Amberwick”.  House numbers were only allocated to houses in the village in the 1950s, so postal deliveries were a nightmare, especially as there were a number of Smiths in the road.  Tom was well known locally for his dahlias, and Amberwick was the name of one of his favourites, hence the name. 

Tom Johnson died in 1949.  His widow, Lily, remained living at No 2 until moving to Durcott Lodge, Evesham, where she died in 1971.  Tom and Doris Smith then took the opportunity to buy both houses from Lily’s niece, Mrs Benton.  Tom, who was a builder, updated both houses in his spare time.  When their son, Brian, married in 1972, he and Hazel rented No 2 until 1979.  Tom and Doris then moved from No 4 into No 2 and sold No 4.  Tom lived there until his death in 1983 and Doris remained there until moving into Seward House Nursing Home prior to her death in 2000.

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So to get back to the original question, “How old is my house?”, we can’t say for certain, but it seems that the pair of cottages, Nos 2 & 4 Bretforton Road, were built some time between 1913 and 1920.

Maureen Spinks, August 2024

Acknowledgments

With thanks to Brian Smith for supplying information about Nos 2 & 4 Bretforton Road.