Central Village 1920s - 30s All photos and postcards courtesy John Brooke Flashman July 2025
John Brooke was Box's parish chairmen from 1937 to 1944, taking over from such emininent Boxonians as the quarry-owner, HRN Pictor, and well-known local doctor JP Martin. He was advised to retire from his bakery business in Kingsdown in 1926 and moved to the centre of Box village, living modestly at 2 Mead Villas until his commitment to Box led him to parish duties.
In the photograph above, you can see on the left the petrol pump operated by Percy Chandler from his garage in front of the Manor House stables. We know that this photo predates the installation of a 1926 K2 red box designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The photo is after the building of the Co-operative Society store in about 1925.
Clearly visible between Box School and Hardy House is The Shed, a shop operated by Charles Oatley as a secondhand furniture outlet in the 1920s and 1930s and, after the Second World War, by Mr Killick as a shoe repair shop. Seen behind Box School is the cricket pavilion before it was rebuilt in the garden of the Queen's Head.
Above: a wider view of the village shows six terraced houses at Valens Terrace (the last of which was built about 1932).
Below: Close-up of the High Street.
Below: Close-up of the High Street.
Can anyone help to identify the location below please?
Recreation Ground
The Rec in the centre of Box Village was still in its infancy in the 1930s, having been sold by the Northey Estate to George Jardine Kidston and gifted by him to the parish council in 1926.
The Rec in the centre of Box Village was still in its infancy in the 1930s, having been sold by the Northey Estate to George Jardine Kidston and gifted by him to the parish council in 1926.
Most of the upper Mead Farm field had been grazed by animals except for the area controlled by the cricket club but the view from the back of Mead Villas was still predominantly over farmland bordered by the railway and steam trains hurtling past.
In the garden of 2 Mead Villas with a steam train passing beyond The Rec.
The lower field sloped sharply away down to Box By Brook.
Public access to the The Rec was sufficiently novel for people to use it as part of their personal possession as these family portraits show.
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Because of its use for sports and social activities, the west side of the upper Rec became very popular. Ramblers could walk up to Middlehill Tunnel for the view or along the By Brook, the bowls club developed on that side and an early football pitch before the lower Rec was flattened.
West side of The Rec before Selwyn Hall built and showing where the early football pitch was sited before Lower Mead Field used
New and Old Properties
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The centre of the village was a mix of recent and ancient properties but the difference was obscured by the growth of ivy on the new buildings which gave the appearance of a harmonious development. In the 1930s Mead Villas had been built only a generation previously but looked in keeping with the eighteenth century Blind House.
Churches
John Brooke was a deeply religious man and it is not surprising that his postcards included several of local churches.
John Brooke was a deeply religious man and it is not surprising that his postcards included several of local churches.
The postcard above shows the Methodist Chapel soon after it was built in 1897. To the right of the chapel were cottages demolished to build the Methodist Schoolroom and Hall in 1905. Further down the Market Place is Pontings General Store advertising "Wines & Spirits". Notice the original roof line of numbers of 2 and 4 The Market Place, which were the original agriculatural labourers cottages for Manor Farm.
Although a Methodist, John Brooke was interested in collecting images of the established church, particularly if they showed Box in a favourable light, reflecting his role as Box Parish Chairman. Hence the image above with a clear view of the windows of the south aisle of Box Church, the 19th century extension, and the graveyard railings.
An intriguing photograph of John's wife Virginia Brooke with the stone coffins alleged to have come from the abandoned Hazelbury Old Church.
Other Central Buildings
Other Central Buildings
This postcard of the Box Schools shows the clock installed in 1896 as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the playground divided by walls to separate play areas for girls, boys and infants.
The War Memorial standing prominently at the entrance to the village from the west.