E. Huxtable's on Timberscombe's Brook Street, c. 1930's
Title
E. Huxtable's on Timberscombe's Brook Street, c. 1930's
Subject
Description
A photograph, likely in the late 1920's or the 1930's, of a rather dramatic storefront set up on the corner of Timberscombe's Brook Street, as it turns after entering the village from the northeast, to a more southern direction, leading into the centre. The storefront is fronted with a sign, where "E. HUXTABLE" is clearly visible. This was a motor spirit service station and the owner was Eva Huxtable, the wife of Frank Huxtable. The house that Frank Huxtable had grown up in and where Mr. and Mrs. Huxtable lived (and which had been the home of the Huxtable family from at least 1841) is behind this storefront (1). By the time of this photograph, the Huxtable home was called Pump Cottage and indeed petrol pumps can be seen to the left of the photograph, along with various other containers and items.
Eva Huxtable, born Eva Buttle in 1886 at Hemyock, Devon (2), was living in Minehead by 1901 (3). Born in 1889 (4), Frank Huxtable worked as a carpenter, a wheelwright (5) and the village undertaker (6). Eva and Frank Huxtable married in 1911 (7), having a son, Dudley Frank, born the same year and a daughter, Muriel Annie, born in 1913 (8). On the 1939 England and Wales Register, Eva's occupation is listed as "unpaid domestic duties". Nevertheless, in the 1931 and 1935 Kelly's Directories of Somerset, "Huxtable Eva (Mrs.)" is listed as the owner of this service station. Another petrol garage had been built by Mr. Henry Phillips down the road at Cowbridge Mill in 1920, replacing a cider house and stables. In 1936, Mr. Phillips died and his widow passed the ownership of this station onto Eva Huxtable and it is likely she closed the Brook Street station in a couple of years, concentrating the business at Cowbridge. In 1959, she gave the business to her son, Dudley (9). The pumps in front of Pump Cottage remained in place, probably until the later 1980s. After their removal, the house was renamed Tiki Cottage (10).
In 1998, schoolchildren at the Timberscombe School were working on a project entitled "A Village History" (11). Interested in the old storefront, the children discovered it had once been run by Eva Huxtable. Marion Fewlass, the great grand-daughter of Frank and Eva Huxtable was living at Tiki Cottage and told the children that Eva, who had died in 1975, aged 88, had sold nails, pyrex dishes, oil and paraffin. After closing as the service station, the storefront was at various times a place to make model airplanes or to sell antiques, sweets and later carpets and other floor coverings. It was demolished around 2009 (12).
The cottage seen to the left, would be known as Berrowcote at the time of this photograph and was the original post office of Timberscombe, from 1844 to around 1935 (13). The white sloped rooftop, behind it, is over the area where coal was stored. After 1977, when Berrowcote was renamed Burrow Cottage (14), it was remodelled as a kitchen extension and breakfast room (15). The white render, on the facing walls, will be removed, exposing the cottage's red sandstone and rubble foundation. In 2022, Burrow Cottage's name was changed back to Berrowcote.
The building visible in the centre background (with a large chimney, later removed) was part of the Huxtables' house. It was later remodelled and converted to two semi-detached cottages, Rose Cottage and Bamboo Cottage (16).
This photograph was donated by the Timberscombe School in 2019, originally featured in "A Village History".
Eva Huxtable, born Eva Buttle in 1886 at Hemyock, Devon (2), was living in Minehead by 1901 (3). Born in 1889 (4), Frank Huxtable worked as a carpenter, a wheelwright (5) and the village undertaker (6). Eva and Frank Huxtable married in 1911 (7), having a son, Dudley Frank, born the same year and a daughter, Muriel Annie, born in 1913 (8). On the 1939 England and Wales Register, Eva's occupation is listed as "unpaid domestic duties". Nevertheless, in the 1931 and 1935 Kelly's Directories of Somerset, "Huxtable Eva (Mrs.)" is listed as the owner of this service station. Another petrol garage had been built by Mr. Henry Phillips down the road at Cowbridge Mill in 1920, replacing a cider house and stables. In 1936, Mr. Phillips died and his widow passed the ownership of this station onto Eva Huxtable and it is likely she closed the Brook Street station in a couple of years, concentrating the business at Cowbridge. In 1959, she gave the business to her son, Dudley (9). The pumps in front of Pump Cottage remained in place, probably until the later 1980s. After their removal, the house was renamed Tiki Cottage (10).
In 1998, schoolchildren at the Timberscombe School were working on a project entitled "A Village History" (11). Interested in the old storefront, the children discovered it had once been run by Eva Huxtable. Marion Fewlass, the great grand-daughter of Frank and Eva Huxtable was living at Tiki Cottage and told the children that Eva, who had died in 1975, aged 88, had sold nails, pyrex dishes, oil and paraffin. After closing as the service station, the storefront was at various times a place to make model airplanes or to sell antiques, sweets and later carpets and other floor coverings. It was demolished around 2009 (12).
The cottage seen to the left, would be known as Berrowcote at the time of this photograph and was the original post office of Timberscombe, from 1844 to around 1935 (13). The white sloped rooftop, behind it, is over the area where coal was stored. After 1977, when Berrowcote was renamed Burrow Cottage (14), it was remodelled as a kitchen extension and breakfast room (15). The white render, on the facing walls, will be removed, exposing the cottage's red sandstone and rubble foundation. In 2022, Burrow Cottage's name was changed back to Berrowcote.
The building visible in the centre background (with a large chimney, later removed) was part of the Huxtables' house. It was later remodelled and converted to two semi-detached cottages, Rose Cottage and Bamboo Cottage (16).
This photograph was donated by the Timberscombe School in 2019, originally featured in "A Village History".
Creator
Anonymous
Source
Date
c. 1930s
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Eva Huxtable's motor spirit service station / Timberscombe / Brook Street
Acquisition Date
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Shops / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Thomas Sperling
Condition Date
2019
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
10 X 16.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) 1841 England Census and 1939 England and Wales Register (2) 1939 England and Wales Register and 1891 England Census (3) 1901 England Census (4) 1939 England and Wales Register (5) 1939 England and Wales Register and Kelly's Directories of Somerset, 1919, 1923, 1931 and 1935 (6) as recalled in 2019 by Marion and Roger Fewlass of Tiki Cottage and as printed in the West Somerset Free Press, March 15th 1947 (7) England and Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index (8) 1939 England and Wales Register and England & Wales Civil Registration Birth Indexes, 1837-1915 (9) as recalled in 2019 by Maurice Huxtable of Ye Olde Malthouse, son of Dudley Huxtable and TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (10) as recalled in 2019 by Marion and Roger Fewlass (11) "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 (12 ) as recalled by Marion and Roger Fewlass, 2019 (13) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ History of the Post Office, written by Tom Sperling (14) 17th October 1977, Bridgwater Building Society, Legal Charge of Burrow Cottage, when the cottage was purchased by Geoffrey and Ann Toze, in possession of Alan Hines and Thomas Sperling, 2020 (15) the alterations took place after 1995, when Burrow Cottage was purchased by Malcolm and Judy Passmore, as recalled around 2016 by Ann Toze (16) as recalled in 2019 by Roger Fewlass
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-026
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous, “E. Huxtable's on Timberscombe's Brook Street, c. 1930's,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 18, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3270.
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