1955 Cyclists at The Old Forge and St. Petrock's Church, Timberscombe
Title
1955 Cyclists at The Old Forge and St. Petrock's Church, Timberscombe
Subject
Description
A detail of a 1955 photograph used as a Francis Frith postcard, reference numbered T335011. It depicts two cyclists, at rest in front of the stone wall at the back of the Old Forge in Timberscombe. This building appears on the Tithe Map of 1843, possibly built on the foundations of earlier smithies at this site, going back to the 1100's (1). In 2019, current residents of the forge believe it was built or at least renovated around 1841, at the same time the village public house, Lion Inn (which is directly across from the front of the Old Forge) was reestablished on the site of The Boot, an earlier pub (2).
It has been recorded that the last blacksmith that worked at the Old Forge was Robert John Grabham, born in Timberscombe in 1884 (3). He was listed as the village blacksmith in the Kelly's Directory of Somerset of 1919. Mr. Grabham, who died in 1941 (4), was the son of Mr. William Grabham, born c. 1855 (5). William Grabham worked as a blacksmith in Timberscombe at least since 1889 (6) and lived here until his death in 1911 (7). William Grabham' s cousin, Sam Grabham (1887-1971) started blacksmithing around 1911 at Cowbridge Mill , on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe (8). Sam's son, Kenneth Grabham (1920-2007), joined his father at Cowbridge when he was 18 years old, working until his retirement in the 1993 (9)--at least 38 years after this photograph was taken.
When the 1921 Census was made public in January 2022, 18-year old Edwin Thorne, living with his widowed mother, Bessie Thorne, at Corner Cottage on Great House Street, was listed as "Blacksmith", employed by "H. Phillips, Blacksmith" and working at Cowbridge and Timberscombe. "H. Phillips" would have been Harry Phillips, owner of Cowbridge Mill and its forge and is pictured in the front of the Old Forge, standing beside a young man, in a photograph seen at SP-012. A sign over the door reads "C. PHILLIPS & SON GENERAL SMITHS". "C. Phillips" would be Charles Phillips, the father of Harry Phillips and the young man in the photograph was subsequently identified as Edwin Thorne (10).
It would appear that Mr. Thorne may indeed have been the last working blacksmith but it is not clear how long this may have lasted into the 1920's. The Old Forge was not listed on the Kelly's Directory of Somerset of 1923. Edwin Thorne died at a young age in October 1929 (11). By the 1930's, the Old Forge was converted into three residential cottages (12). The young cyclists in the photograph seen here, are parked behind No. 3 Old Forge.
In the centre of the photograph is St. Petrock's Church, likely built at this site in the 1100's, on an open space near the ford, where a north to south route crossed the Timberscombe stream that runs through the village. In 2020 archaeological discoveries, followed by carbon dating, offered incontrovertible evidence of a previous Saxon settlement on this site, likely religious, that was dated to 777 A.D. (13). The church's yew tree (the darker foliage to the left) is believed to have been here since c. 1400 (14). The tower, the part of the church most clear in this photograph, was rebuilt, replacing an earlier tower and made possible by the generosity of the 16 year-old Richard Elsworth (variously seen as Ellsworth or Elsworthy) of the Bickham Manor House- who died at the age of 22. At it's peak is a weathervane (faintly seen here), inscribed with "1708" (the year the tower was completed) and an "RE", for Richard Elsworth (15).
Past the tower, is the roof and back of The Knapp and Higher Ledge, semi-detached cottages. The Knapp was built by Edward Cording, c. 1836, at the same time that he and his brother, James Cording had completed building a Bible Christian Chapel which later became the Timberscombe Methodist Chapel (16). Higher Ledge was completed shortly afterwards.
The photograph was donated in 2019 by Maurice Huxtable, whose family has lived in Timberscombe for generations.
It has been recorded that the last blacksmith that worked at the Old Forge was Robert John Grabham, born in Timberscombe in 1884 (3). He was listed as the village blacksmith in the Kelly's Directory of Somerset of 1919. Mr. Grabham, who died in 1941 (4), was the son of Mr. William Grabham, born c. 1855 (5). William Grabham worked as a blacksmith in Timberscombe at least since 1889 (6) and lived here until his death in 1911 (7). William Grabham' s cousin, Sam Grabham (1887-1971) started blacksmithing around 1911 at Cowbridge Mill , on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe (8). Sam's son, Kenneth Grabham (1920-2007), joined his father at Cowbridge when he was 18 years old, working until his retirement in the 1993 (9)--at least 38 years after this photograph was taken.
When the 1921 Census was made public in January 2022, 18-year old Edwin Thorne, living with his widowed mother, Bessie Thorne, at Corner Cottage on Great House Street, was listed as "Blacksmith", employed by "H. Phillips, Blacksmith" and working at Cowbridge and Timberscombe. "H. Phillips" would have been Harry Phillips, owner of Cowbridge Mill and its forge and is pictured in the front of the Old Forge, standing beside a young man, in a photograph seen at SP-012. A sign over the door reads "C. PHILLIPS & SON GENERAL SMITHS". "C. Phillips" would be Charles Phillips, the father of Harry Phillips and the young man in the photograph was subsequently identified as Edwin Thorne (10).
It would appear that Mr. Thorne may indeed have been the last working blacksmith but it is not clear how long this may have lasted into the 1920's. The Old Forge was not listed on the Kelly's Directory of Somerset of 1923. Edwin Thorne died at a young age in October 1929 (11). By the 1930's, the Old Forge was converted into three residential cottages (12). The young cyclists in the photograph seen here, are parked behind No. 3 Old Forge.
In the centre of the photograph is St. Petrock's Church, likely built at this site in the 1100's, on an open space near the ford, where a north to south route crossed the Timberscombe stream that runs through the village. In 2020 archaeological discoveries, followed by carbon dating, offered incontrovertible evidence of a previous Saxon settlement on this site, likely religious, that was dated to 777 A.D. (13). The church's yew tree (the darker foliage to the left) is believed to have been here since c. 1400 (14). The tower, the part of the church most clear in this photograph, was rebuilt, replacing an earlier tower and made possible by the generosity of the 16 year-old Richard Elsworth (variously seen as Ellsworth or Elsworthy) of the Bickham Manor House- who died at the age of 22. At it's peak is a weathervane (faintly seen here), inscribed with "1708" (the year the tower was completed) and an "RE", for Richard Elsworth (15).
Past the tower, is the roof and back of The Knapp and Higher Ledge, semi-detached cottages. The Knapp was built by Edward Cording, c. 1836, at the same time that he and his brother, James Cording had completed building a Bible Christian Chapel which later became the Timberscombe Methodist Chapel (16). Higher Ledge was completed shortly afterwards.
The photograph was donated in 2019 by Maurice Huxtable, whose family has lived in Timberscombe for generations.
Creator
Francis Frith's
Source
Date
1955
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Village Street / Timberscombe / village centre
Acquisition Date
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Village Streets / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2019
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
10 X 15
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
The Francis Frith reference number for this postcard is T335011. (1) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park (2) Victoria County History.ac.uk (3) 1881 England Census (4) Family History Resources, forebears.co.uk/Deaths (5) 1861 and 1871 England Census (6) Kelly's Directory of Somerset (1889) (7) Family History Resources/Deaths and TIMBERSCOMBE 1910 LIST OF RESIDENTS, minehead-online, co uk (8) TimberscombeVillage.com/ The History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (9) as recalled in 2018 by Sarah Hill, at Minehead, the daughter of Kenneth Grabham and Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, SEM8425 (10) 1901 England Census and in February 2022, Mr. Philip Thorne, the grand-nephew of Edwin Thorne believed the young man photographed in SP-012 could certainly be his great-uncle, citing family resemblances (11) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (12) as recalled in 2020 by Joy Booth of The Knapp, Timberscombe and as depicted on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1921-1943 (13) VCH and "The Parish Church of St. Petrock, Timberscombe, Somerset, The Results of Archaeological Monitoring": Ref. 18-30/2000, April 2021, by James L. Brigers, PA PROSPECT ARCHAEOLOGY, Middlezoy, Somerset (14) "St Petrock's Church Timberscombe", church pamphlet, written by Marion Jeffrey, 2017 (15) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" by B.L.K. Henderson and G.O.E. Henderson, printed by E. Goodman & Son, Ltd., The Phoenix Press, Taunton, 1955 (16) "Welcome!", church pamphlet of Timberscombe Methodist Church, donated in 2018 by Joy and Martin Booth, of The Knapp, Timberscombe
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-013
Technique
Copy
Citation
Francis Frith's, “1955 Cyclists at The Old Forge and St. Petrock's Church, Timberscombe,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 3, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3171.
Comments