Watercombe House (Grade 2 Listed)
Title
Subject
1 - 17. Watercombe House,c. 1900 - 1905. It occupies the site of two or three dwellings which were listed in C18 will as Watercombs. It lies above the valley of the Holy Brook.
18. Watercombe House - Bee Hives?
19. - 22. 'Roman House' (The 'Summer House') at Watercombe House. Note the delightful gothic windows, the lines of Roman tiles and above the door a stone marked TB1841.
23. Linda Hall's Assessment of the Date and Style of Interior Features of Watercombe House
24. Gloucestershire Buildings Recording Group - Additional Notes on Watercombe House
Description
An older house, it was extensively remodelled in the 1830's. Probably the size and low ceiling heights of the original rooms explain why wooden casements windows were inserted rather than the sash windows that would be expected in a house of this date. A very pretty ironwork porch, including the then owners initials - TB for Thomas Baker - was added in 1841. (Katrina Thacker)
Report on the past ownership of Watercombe House by Oakridge History Group :
By researching the documentary sources on Watercombe House, the families who lived there and other local properties with possible relevance, we have compiled a picture of the status and development of the house and the likely impact of the owners on the development of the house.
The earliest available deed, dated 1620, records the sale by the Duke of Buckingham of Watercombs Farm with 10 acres of land to Samuel Tocknell, a yeoman farmer of Eisley. The Duke, a favourite of James I and Charles I, had been given the manor of Eisley by James I and in 1620 he sold off his estates there. A number of properties have similar deeds. The Duke became Lord High Admiral but such was his unpopularity, especially after he tried to find a Spanish Catholic bride for Charles I, that he was murdered in 1628.
In 1636 George Smart, a clothier, bought Watercombs Farm from Samuel Tocknell - who was now a citizen and armourer of London. Tocknell had invested well, the property was now sold for £100 - a profit of £85 for him. The ten acres of land were divided between a small area around the house and two large holdings in the open fields at Battlescombe and Stancombe with use of the nearby Oakridge Common for quarrying and the grazing of sheep and cattle, a medieval type of land tenure which continued in Eisley until the 18th and 19th centuries.
The cloth industry could bring great wealth which was usually invested in property which in its turn also bought status and the booms and busts of the industry are reflected in the building development at Watercombe House.
Source
Relation
Watercombe House is a Grade 2 Listed Building in The National Heritage List for England, you can see its listing and description here :
http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1091248
Watercombe's Summer House is also Listed, see here:
http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1156057
Gloucestershire Archives holds the following :
1. Auction sale for Miss C. de Freville, photographs, plans, dockets and docket registers, valuation for probate, Client A. Bucknell, 1955 - 1957, ref. D1405/2/536
Files
