History
Listing:
WTT property that includes three occupied residential cottages and two other curtilage listed outbuildings at 29 – 33 High Street, Shoreham; List Entry Number 1243744, first listed 16 January 1975:
5280 SHOREHAM High Street (West Side) Nos. 29 to 33 (odd) TQ5161 30/1198
No 29 is a C16 or earlier timber framed house with early C19 left addition and front of similar period in red brick. Nos 31 and 33 are C18. All form a continuous front although tiled roofs vary considerably, no 29 showing a hipped end to road with ridges at sides, 1 having C16 or early C17 compound stack. Boarded eaves. Various C19 sashes and casements. Some panelled and some boarded doors. No 29 shows part of a jettied end and framing visible. Beyond this a late C17 or early C18 half hipped extension. Inside no 29 much heavy exposed timber and collar-purline roof. Small 1 storey extension.
WTT property that includes three occupied residential cottages and two other curtilage listed outbuildings at 29 – 33 High Street, Shoreham; List Entry Number 1243744, first listed 16 January 1975:
5280 SHOREHAM High Street (West Side) Nos. 29 to 33 (odd) TQ5161 30/1198
No 29 is a C16 or earlier timber framed house with early C19 left addition and front of similar period in red brick. Nos 31 and 33 are C18. All form a continuous front although tiled roofs vary considerably, no 29 showing a hipped end to road with ridges at sides, 1 having C16 or early C17 compound stack. Boarded eaves. Various C19 sashes and casements. Some panelled and some boarded doors. No 29 shows part of a jettied end and framing visible. Beyond this a late C17 or early C18 half hipped extension. Inside no 29 much heavy exposed timber and collar-purline roof. Small 1 storey extension.
Historical Notes on the Walnut Tree Trust property:
It’s thought the timber-framed left-hand side of the main building dates from at least the 1500s, the right-hand side from the 1700s. The whole was probably encased in brick in the late 18th or early 19th century. This makes the Grade II-listed building among the oldest in the village, excluding the church. The timber-framed barn at the rear of the right-hand side appears to date from the 1600s.
Solomon Mills was shown as the owner of Walnut Tree Cottages on a map of 1809. He occupied one of the two “tenements”, while Thomas Walkling lived in the other. Mills also owned today’s Friars and Pilgrims across the road, plus a plot of land next to Forge Cottage.
It seems that his daughter-in-law, Mary, inherited Walnut Tree Cottages in due course. She ran a butcher’s shop on the premises, according to a valuation survey of 1835, and there may have been a small farm attached. Her son Thomas is given as the proprietor in the Post Office Directory of 1845.
We know that from the early 20th century a butcher’s (and slaughterhouse) still operated from the larger of the two detached buildings off to the left, known as the “annexe”. It was run by William Cheeseman in 1913 and by Mr Geering in the 1920s, when it was shown with meat hanging outside in a picture by Charles Franklin White.
The smaller outbuilding, nearest to the Village Hall, was said to have been a cobbler’s in the 1910s. It was run by John H. Lane, who had moved his boot-making business between various premises.
In the late 19th century, the Shoreham Amicable Benefit Society was based at Walnut Tree Cottages. The Society provided sickness and other benefits to local people, at a cost of a shilling or two a month. It also organized an annual village feast, usually at the end of May, for which school children got the day off.
It’s thought the timber-framed left-hand side of the main building dates from at least the 1500s, the right-hand side from the 1700s. The whole was probably encased in brick in the late 18th or early 19th century. This makes the Grade II-listed building among the oldest in the village, excluding the church. The timber-framed barn at the rear of the right-hand side appears to date from the 1600s.
Solomon Mills was shown as the owner of Walnut Tree Cottages on a map of 1809. He occupied one of the two “tenements”, while Thomas Walkling lived in the other. Mills also owned today’s Friars and Pilgrims across the road, plus a plot of land next to Forge Cottage.
It seems that his daughter-in-law, Mary, inherited Walnut Tree Cottages in due course. She ran a butcher’s shop on the premises, according to a valuation survey of 1835, and there may have been a small farm attached. Her son Thomas is given as the proprietor in the Post Office Directory of 1845.
We know that from the early 20th century a butcher’s (and slaughterhouse) still operated from the larger of the two detached buildings off to the left, known as the “annexe”. It was run by William Cheeseman in 1913 and by Mr Geering in the 1920s, when it was shown with meat hanging outside in a picture by Charles Franklin White.
The smaller outbuilding, nearest to the Village Hall, was said to have been a cobbler’s in the 1910s. It was run by John H. Lane, who had moved his boot-making business between various premises.
In the late 19th century, the Shoreham Amicable Benefit Society was based at Walnut Tree Cottages. The Society provided sickness and other benefits to local people, at a cost of a shilling or two a month. It also organized an annual village feast, usually at the end of May, for which school children got the day off.
(Across the road, at Winslade Cottage, was another welfare body in the late 1800s – the Shoreham Co-operative Society, which provided food and goods to village workers. It had no connection to the Co-op shop which opened further up the High Street several decades later.)
In 1922, the whole Walnut Tree site was bought by a group of prominent Shoreham citizens – including Frank Mildmay, Lord Dunsany, Lady Cohen, Harold Copping, John Dinnis and Sir Roger Gregory – “to preserve it for the benefit of the village”. The buildings were bought for £675.
A trust was set up to administer it, and in 1932 a new deed was signed under which the trust still operates, along with other arrangements imposed by the Charity Commissioners in the 1960s.
In the early 1920s, part of Walnut Tree Cottages was let out to the Walnut Tree Club, also known as the “working men’s club”. The Club had a beer licence, and facilities included a library and a billiard table. The parish magazine noted in 1924 that the Club was “in full swing” in a “really beautiful set of rooms”. Its chairman in 1927 was the local artist Harold Copping and Percy Booker was the secretary. (Not long ago the word “Secretary” could still be seen above one of the doorways inside the cottages).
As for the butcher’s shop at Walnut Tree Cottages, Mr Geering sold his business to Arthur Offen for the sum of £10 in the late 1920s, after which it closed. Offen, who had taken over the butcher’s shop at the corner of Crown Road in 1925, no doubt wanted to dispense with the High Street competition.
The building then became the village fire station until the Second World War. After Townfield Cottages, opposite Orchard House, were destroyed by a delayed-action bomb in December 1940, a new fire station was set up on this site further up the High Street.
In 1922, the whole Walnut Tree site was bought by a group of prominent Shoreham citizens – including Frank Mildmay, Lord Dunsany, Lady Cohen, Harold Copping, John Dinnis and Sir Roger Gregory – “to preserve it for the benefit of the village”. The buildings were bought for £675.
A trust was set up to administer it, and in 1932 a new deed was signed under which the trust still operates, along with other arrangements imposed by the Charity Commissioners in the 1960s.
In the early 1920s, part of Walnut Tree Cottages was let out to the Walnut Tree Club, also known as the “working men’s club”. The Club had a beer licence, and facilities included a library and a billiard table. The parish magazine noted in 1924 that the Club was “in full swing” in a “really beautiful set of rooms”. Its chairman in 1927 was the local artist Harold Copping and Percy Booker was the secretary. (Not long ago the word “Secretary” could still be seen above one of the doorways inside the cottages).
As for the butcher’s shop at Walnut Tree Cottages, Mr Geering sold his business to Arthur Offen for the sum of £10 in the late 1920s, after which it closed. Offen, who had taken over the butcher’s shop at the corner of Crown Road in 1925, no doubt wanted to dispense with the High Street competition.
The building then became the village fire station until the Second World War. After Townfield Cottages, opposite Orchard House, were destroyed by a delayed-action bomb in December 1940, a new fire station was set up on this site further up the High Street.
James Saynor, July 2021
Recent History:
The cottages 29,33 and 31 High St have been privately rented for several decades. Some of the outbuildings have been allowed to fall into disrepair. Sadly in January 2023 the outbuilding known at times as the abattoir adjacent to 29 and backing onto the recreation ground collapsed.
Current Trustees have plans to bring the properties to the highest standards over the next decade and work with specialists in historical refurbishment. The garage was reroofed in 2023 and is now in a condition to rent. The barn is currently being restored and repaired funded by loans from interested individuals.
Under the Trust deeds none of these buildings can be sold unless the Trust fails. Residents can therefore be confident that this beautiful visual amenity will continue to be a graceful addition to the High St aspect as well as serving as period housing for our tenants.
The cottages 29,33 and 31 High St have been privately rented for several decades. Some of the outbuildings have been allowed to fall into disrepair. Sadly in January 2023 the outbuilding known at times as the abattoir adjacent to 29 and backing onto the recreation ground collapsed.
Current Trustees have plans to bring the properties to the highest standards over the next decade and work with specialists in historical refurbishment. The garage was reroofed in 2023 and is now in a condition to rent. The barn is currently being restored and repaired funded by loans from interested individuals.
Under the Trust deeds none of these buildings can be sold unless the Trust fails. Residents can therefore be confident that this beautiful visual amenity will continue to be a graceful addition to the High St aspect as well as serving as period housing for our tenants.
Founding Members
Reverend H D Madge
Born - 1866?
Died 27th January 1945 (approx 79).
Vicar of Shoreham 1908 – 1928, died in his sleep at the Halt, Kemsing during the night of Saturday 27th January. He was described as “a highly cultivated man with a marked bent for philosophic and historical study…He referred to Justice as one of the most precious items in the English heritage. He was very modest and ... much beloved by all that knew him; beneath his unobtrusive manner lay a deep and understanding sympathy, a quiet grasp of the needs of those to whom he ministered and that sense of humour which solves so many of the difficulties and problems of life”.
In parish Gazettes, referred to as Herbert David Madge, but on the Walnut Tree Trust Deed of 1932, is named as Henry David Madge.
Referred to as one of the ‘surviving Trustees’ in the 1932 Indenture document for the Walnut Tree Trust.
Born - 1866?
Died 27th January 1945 (approx 79).
Vicar of Shoreham 1908 – 1928, died in his sleep at the Halt, Kemsing during the night of Saturday 27th January. He was described as “a highly cultivated man with a marked bent for philosophic and historical study…He referred to Justice as one of the most precious items in the English heritage. He was very modest and ... much beloved by all that knew him; beneath his unobtrusive manner lay a deep and understanding sympathy, a quiet grasp of the needs of those to whom he ministered and that sense of humour which solves so many of the difficulties and problems of life”.
In parish Gazettes, referred to as Herbert David Madge, but on the Walnut Tree Trust Deed of 1932, is named as Henry David Madge.
Referred to as one of the ‘surviving Trustees’ in the 1932 Indenture document for the Walnut Tree Trust.
Louisa Lady Cohen
Born February 11, 1850 in Paddington, Middlesex, England. Died November 21, 1931 aged 81. Wife of Sir Benjamin Louis Cohen. Mother of Sir Herbert Cohen, Hannah Cohen, Arthur Cohen and Ernest Cohen. A quote from the biography by Hannah Cohen published 1937, Changing Faces: A Memoir of Louisa Lady Cohen: “No pen-picture can convey the impression of her charm of manner, of the quality of her voice, her ready laugh, and her unfailing courtesy; nor can it do justice to her original mind ranging over the whole field of thought, receptive, detached, observant. She had not a numerous circle, but she occupied in it an exceptional position. She never lost her sense of humour nor her tact, and she was able to intervene successfully in many a little threatened storm in local teacups” |
Harold Copping
Born 25th August 1863 in Camden Town. Died 1st July 1932, aged 68. British artist best known as an illustrator of “Biblical Scenes”. Copping’s 1910 book “The Copping Bible” illustrated by himself became a best-seller. Probably the most famous of Copping's Bible illustrations was 'The Hope of the World' (1915) which depicts Jesus sitting with a group of children from different continents. Harold Copping lived for many years at 'The Studio' in Shoreham in Kent, and when he died he was buried in the local churchyard of St Peter and St Paul. Referred to as one of the ‘surviving Trustees’ in the 1932 Indenture document for the Walnut Tree Trust. |