The Old Dunster Road, Becoming Brook Street, Coming into Timberscombe, c. 1930 (possibly 1936)
Title
The Old Dunster Road, Becoming Brook Street, Coming into Timberscombe, c. 1930 (possibly 1936)
Subject
Description
This photograph (seen twice here) is basically the same view as seen at SP-021, which is dated c.1909 and SP-024, dated c.1989. The photograph seen here is undated but is likely c. 1930, possibly taken in 1936.
The three photographs feature the old Dunster Road, on northeastern edge of the village and the western end of a row of four semi-detached buildings, likely erected in the late 18th/early 19th century (1). The road was formerly a section of the Minehead Turnpike, sanctioned in 1795 to run from the Minehead harbour to Bampton (2).
The dating of this photograph seemingly would be the 1930's as it depicts changes that occurred during that decade. On the right foreground, petrol pumps are visible, part of Mrs. Eva Huxtable's motor spirit service station, as listed on the 1931 and the 1935 editions of Kelly's Directory of Somerset. In the centre of the photograph is a power line, with an extended sign attached to it, pointed toward the east. The sign is difficult to read but the first line seems to be "Minehead". This same sign appears to be in the background of SP-027, a photograph dated c. 1928.
Eva (nee Buttle) Huxtable, born the 4th of July 1886 at Hemyock, Devon (3), was living in Minehead by 1891 (4). In 1911, she married Frank Huxtable (5), a carpenter, wheelwright and the village undertaker, who was born at Timberscombe on 25 March 1989 (6). At least since the 1843 Tithe Map, the Huxtable family had lived at the house where petrol pumps are in front. Not visible in the photograph, by this time the house had unsurprisingly been named Pump Cottage. (Around the 1980s, when the pumps are removed (7), the house was renamed Tiki Cottage.) Another petrol station had also been built in 1920 by Mr. Henry Phillips, down the road at Cowbridge Mill. He died in 1936 and his widow gave its ownership to Mrs. Huxtable. In 1959, she passed the business on to her son, Dudley Huxtable (8). His son, Maurice Huxtable donated the upper version of photograph in 2019. Frank Huxtable died in 1962 and Eva died in 1975. They are buried together at St. Petrock's Church in Timberscombe. Maurice passed away in the summer of 2021 and is buried nearby.
Past the pumps, the rendered wall is the right side of Berrowcote, the first cottage on the row. This is possibly still the Timberscombe Post Office, as it was from 1844 to the early to mid 1930's. If still here, soon the post office will relocate and in this photograph, its new location is just visible. On the left side of the photograph, further down the road, a gabled roof top and chimney are seen over foliage. This is Little Farthings, where the post office was operating by 1935 (9).
In the 1960's, the render on the right wall of Berrowcote will be removed, exposing the red sandstone and rubble evident on the rest of the row and throughout Timberscombe. Around 1977, the old post office was renamed Burrow Cottage (10) but on 26 July 2022 reverted to Berrowcote.
Not clearly seen at this angle, to the left of Berrowcote, is the cottage called The Retreat, lived in by John and Elizabeth Mary (nee Lyddon) Coles at the time of this photograph (11). It is later renamed Ivy Cottage. Also not well seen, the next building is the former Rose and Crown Inn, a Timberscombe pub, in operation by 1825. On the 1909 photograph, a pub sign is evident and the metal post the sign hung from was still there in 2022--it is visible here with a sign attached but rather darkly. The Rose and Crown's license was not renewed in 1915 and after a brief period of serving non-alcoholic refreshments, it closed (12). It soon became an apartment house known as Rosemont, then becoming a private residence and sometimes a Bed & Breakfast called Wellum from at least the 1990's to about 2012 and then becoming Game House (13). In the summer of 2022, Game House was renamed Rosemont House, a salute to the property's history.
At the end of the row is a house, later called The Linhay. In the 1909 photograph, this is a stables and barn, likely at the service of the Rose and Crown. A wide arch over the front door is an indication of the previous stable door. Past this building is a small gabled building, likely a shed that will later be replaced by a semi-detached garage.
It appears that the shed (or one very similar) survived to 1989. It is visible on SP-024, the c. 1989 photograph. On the 18th of November 1987, after years of effort by Timberscombe, the Old Dunster Road was finally closed at the end point of the road as seen in this photograph, where it curves to the left just past the shed (14). Construction was begun on a bypass to be connected to the A396 (15), allowing traffic to travel outside the village. This same point-- where the old road was closed-- becomes the beginning of Brook Street. The former Old Dunster Road, as seen here, remains but will be narrowed, with a pavement added in front of the western buildings. After the pumps, this section of Brook Street turns to the left, running parallel to the Timberscombe stream that flows through the village, to a junction with Great House Street and Jubilee Terrace at the village centre. The hedge, as seen in this photograph on the north side of Brook Street, looks much as it does in the 1909 photograph. After 1989, it will be mowed and this area will become Timberscombe's village green, named Brewers Green, after the family that donated the land (16).
A more precise dating of 1936 for this photograph is probable because it is labeled "TIMBERSCOMBE, T 1443" It was likely taken by Alfred Vowles, the renown Somerset photographer. Mr. Vowles is credited with taking other photographs around this same time that are labeled in much the same style. An example is at SP-211, a photograph of Duddings, the 16th or 17th century farmhouse in Cowbridge, basically just up Old Dunster Road from Brook Street. The Duddings photograph, attributed to Vowles, is labeled in the same style and numbered "T1463". It is thought to have been taken in 1936 .
In September 2022, the second version of the photograph seen here was discovered and donated by James Bowley of Buckinghamshire and the current owner of Yew Tree Cottage on Church Street in Timberscombe. Lighter and tonally different, both versions are presented.
The three photographs feature the old Dunster Road, on northeastern edge of the village and the western end of a row of four semi-detached buildings, likely erected in the late 18th/early 19th century (1). The road was formerly a section of the Minehead Turnpike, sanctioned in 1795 to run from the Minehead harbour to Bampton (2).
The dating of this photograph seemingly would be the 1930's as it depicts changes that occurred during that decade. On the right foreground, petrol pumps are visible, part of Mrs. Eva Huxtable's motor spirit service station, as listed on the 1931 and the 1935 editions of Kelly's Directory of Somerset. In the centre of the photograph is a power line, with an extended sign attached to it, pointed toward the east. The sign is difficult to read but the first line seems to be "Minehead". This same sign appears to be in the background of SP-027, a photograph dated c. 1928.
Eva (nee Buttle) Huxtable, born the 4th of July 1886 at Hemyock, Devon (3), was living in Minehead by 1891 (4). In 1911, she married Frank Huxtable (5), a carpenter, wheelwright and the village undertaker, who was born at Timberscombe on 25 March 1989 (6). At least since the 1843 Tithe Map, the Huxtable family had lived at the house where petrol pumps are in front. Not visible in the photograph, by this time the house had unsurprisingly been named Pump Cottage. (Around the 1980s, when the pumps are removed (7), the house was renamed Tiki Cottage.) Another petrol station had also been built in 1920 by Mr. Henry Phillips, down the road at Cowbridge Mill. He died in 1936 and his widow gave its ownership to Mrs. Huxtable. In 1959, she passed the business on to her son, Dudley Huxtable (8). His son, Maurice Huxtable donated the upper version of photograph in 2019. Frank Huxtable died in 1962 and Eva died in 1975. They are buried together at St. Petrock's Church in Timberscombe. Maurice passed away in the summer of 2021 and is buried nearby.
Past the pumps, the rendered wall is the right side of Berrowcote, the first cottage on the row. This is possibly still the Timberscombe Post Office, as it was from 1844 to the early to mid 1930's. If still here, soon the post office will relocate and in this photograph, its new location is just visible. On the left side of the photograph, further down the road, a gabled roof top and chimney are seen over foliage. This is Little Farthings, where the post office was operating by 1935 (9).
In the 1960's, the render on the right wall of Berrowcote will be removed, exposing the red sandstone and rubble evident on the rest of the row and throughout Timberscombe. Around 1977, the old post office was renamed Burrow Cottage (10) but on 26 July 2022 reverted to Berrowcote.
Not clearly seen at this angle, to the left of Berrowcote, is the cottage called The Retreat, lived in by John and Elizabeth Mary (nee Lyddon) Coles at the time of this photograph (11). It is later renamed Ivy Cottage. Also not well seen, the next building is the former Rose and Crown Inn, a Timberscombe pub, in operation by 1825. On the 1909 photograph, a pub sign is evident and the metal post the sign hung from was still there in 2022--it is visible here with a sign attached but rather darkly. The Rose and Crown's license was not renewed in 1915 and after a brief period of serving non-alcoholic refreshments, it closed (12). It soon became an apartment house known as Rosemont, then becoming a private residence and sometimes a Bed & Breakfast called Wellum from at least the 1990's to about 2012 and then becoming Game House (13). In the summer of 2022, Game House was renamed Rosemont House, a salute to the property's history.
At the end of the row is a house, later called The Linhay. In the 1909 photograph, this is a stables and barn, likely at the service of the Rose and Crown. A wide arch over the front door is an indication of the previous stable door. Past this building is a small gabled building, likely a shed that will later be replaced by a semi-detached garage.
It appears that the shed (or one very similar) survived to 1989. It is visible on SP-024, the c. 1989 photograph. On the 18th of November 1987, after years of effort by Timberscombe, the Old Dunster Road was finally closed at the end point of the road as seen in this photograph, where it curves to the left just past the shed (14). Construction was begun on a bypass to be connected to the A396 (15), allowing traffic to travel outside the village. This same point-- where the old road was closed-- becomes the beginning of Brook Street. The former Old Dunster Road, as seen here, remains but will be narrowed, with a pavement added in front of the western buildings. After the pumps, this section of Brook Street turns to the left, running parallel to the Timberscombe stream that flows through the village, to a junction with Great House Street and Jubilee Terrace at the village centre. The hedge, as seen in this photograph on the north side of Brook Street, looks much as it does in the 1909 photograph. After 1989, it will be mowed and this area will become Timberscombe's village green, named Brewers Green, after the family that donated the land (16).
A more precise dating of 1936 for this photograph is probable because it is labeled "TIMBERSCOMBE, T 1443" It was likely taken by Alfred Vowles, the renown Somerset photographer. Mr. Vowles is credited with taking other photographs around this same time that are labeled in much the same style. An example is at SP-211, a photograph of Duddings, the 16th or 17th century farmhouse in Cowbridge, basically just up Old Dunster Road from Brook Street. The Duddings photograph, attributed to Vowles, is labeled in the same style and numbered "T1463". It is thought to have been taken in 1936 .
In September 2022, the second version of the photograph seen here was discovered and donated by James Bowley of Buckinghamshire and the current owner of Yew Tree Cottage on Church Street in Timberscombe. Lighter and tonally different, both versions are presented.
Creator
Anonymous
Date
c. 1930 (perhaps 1936)
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Brook Street / Timberscombe
Acquisition Date
2019
2022
2022
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Village Streets / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2019
2022
2022
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
10.5 X 17.5
11 X 18.5
11 X 18.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park (2) Victoria County History.ac.uk (3) The 1939 England and Wales Register(4) 1891 England Census (5) England and Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1858-1995 (6) The 1939 England and Wales Register, Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1919 and Joy (nee Land) Booth's account of the death of her grandmother, Florence Bertha Burnett , where Mr. Huxtable went to extraordinary efforts during a snow storm, donated in 2018 to PERSONAL HISTORIES OF TIMBERSCOMBE, St. Petrock's History Group Archive (7) as recalled by Marion and Roger Fewlass of Tiki Cottage in 2019 (Mrs. Fewlass was born Marion Huxtable) (8) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (9) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ History of the Post Office, written by Tom Sperling (10) as recorded on the 17th October 1977 Bridgwater Building Society, Legal Charge of Burrow Cottage, Timberscombe, Minehead, Somerset, in the possession of Alan Hines and Thomas Sperling, 2020 (11) 1939 England and Wales Register (12) VCH (13) the former Rose and Crown was written about as "Wellum" in "A Village History", a booklet researched, written and compiled by Richard Kelsey, Vicky Long, Megan Evans, Joseph Dare, Jade Webber, Tom Lamacraft, Joanne Fuller, Emily Catford, Joshua Smith and Christine Rich, schoolchildren at The Timberscombe School, 1998 / about when Wellum became Game Cottage, as recalled in 2020 by Tom Sperling of Burrow Cottage (14) as written on the Ordnance Survey's map issued by the Somerset County Council, County Hall, Taunton, dated 23/5/86 on LICENCE No. LAO7683 X, prepared for The Linhay (15) VCH and as recalled in 2018 by Wendy Hellewell of The Bracken, Hole's Square, Timberscombe and a member of the village council in 1989 (16) as recalled in 2018 by Sarah Hill, of Minehead and who grew up in Timberscombe
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
2022
2022
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-023
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous, “The Old Dunster Road, Becoming Brook Street, Coming into Timberscombe, c. 1930 (possibly 1936),” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 6, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3162.
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