Streets through time - Church Street
No 26 Jasmine Cottage
Other Church St Properties:
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No 9 Old Post Office aka The Ramblers
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Nos 10 & 12 aka Swiss or Yew Tree, or Old World Cottage
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Nos 15, 17 & 19 The Village Farmhouse
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No 20 Oak Farmhouse aka Chimo Cottage
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Jasmine Cottage, No 26 Church Street, now a house, was built c. 1800 as an estate cottage.
This building is one of those built or altered by Gregory de Ligne Gregory in the late 18th century and remodelled in a picturesque style by Gregory Gregory in the 19th century.
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It sits next to the site of the old Wesleyan Methodist chapel, built in 1832 to seat 77. The building was closed in 1935 and subsequently demolished. It features a stone boundary wall built c. 1800.
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In the late 1960's, Jack Merrilees lived here. He worked at Aveling Barford and was the church organist and the choirmaster. He was also a keen magician. The annex was built on the back for him to live in after he was confined to a wheelchair following a stroke. Jack married his carer (Miss Merrell) and moved away.
Census records indicate that John and Harriet Steele were in residence in 1921 along with their son Francis Jack Steele.
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In the 1937 Estate sale, Francis is the named tenant of the property and in the 1939 Register, it is Francis (or Jack as he may be known) along with his wife Ethel and their family who are the residents. At the outbreak of war, Francis is an Armaments Fitter.
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