Chapel Lane, Box Alan Payne, December 2020
The rebuilding of the Ebenezer Chapel at the corner of Chapel Lane (courtesy John Harris)
The very name “Chapel Lane” is surprising because the busy route would be more appropriately called “Chapel Road” or
“Chapel Street”. The word “lane” reflects the street’s origins as a narrow rural pathway; a lane, sometimes defined as
“a narrow passageway between fences or hedges”.[1]
“Chapel Street”. The word “lane” reflects the street’s origins as a narrow rural pathway; a lane, sometimes defined as
“a narrow passageway between fences or hedges”.[1]
This is an article that I have been keen to write for a long time because of the fabulous photograph above. The development of Chapel Lane was one of the most eventful changes ever in the centre of Box village linking the A4 and the Devizes Road and avoiding the precarious turn at the War Memorial. But very little if anything has ever been written about this area before. The photo above shows a moment in time with the United Free Methodist Chapel standing alongside the 1834 Ebenezer Chapel which once existed at the foot of Chapel Lane. We can date the photo because the Methodist Hall and School House were rebuilt on the site of the Ebenezer Chapel in the years 1905-06, when Lady Dickson Poynder of Hartham Park laid the foundation stone of the new Sunday school building in 1905 and returned in 1906 to open the said building because her husband was unavailable due to ill health. So, we have a fairly accurate final date of 1905 for the demolishing of the Ebenezer Chapel.
The whole of the Methodist corner was rebuilt by Arthur John Pictor, architect from Bruton but born in Box in 1861, the son of Robert and Charlotte Pictor who owned Clift Quarry Works. Arthur designed the two-storey Methodist Sunday School on the site of the demolished Ebenezer Chapel and oversaw the demolition of the cottage in front of it.[2] The redevelopment of this corner site opened up the expansion of Chapel Lane going south to the new Devizes Road completed 1840-41. But we need to start the history of Chapel Lane much earlier than 1905 to understand its development.
The whole of the Methodist corner was rebuilt by Arthur John Pictor, architect from Bruton but born in Box in 1861, the son of Robert and Charlotte Pictor who owned Clift Quarry Works. Arthur designed the two-storey Methodist Sunday School on the site of the demolished Ebenezer Chapel and oversaw the demolition of the cottage in front of it.[2] The redevelopment of this corner site opened up the expansion of Chapel Lane going south to the new Devizes Road completed 1840-41. But we need to start the history of Chapel Lane much earlier than 1905 to understand its development.
The Allen 1626 map (courtesy Wiltshire History Centre)
The Early Area
A rural road existed in this area before the 19th century but perhaps Chapel Lane wasn’t the only one. Allen’s 1626 map above shows another track, going from near the Queen’s Head site and cutting across the bottom of Queen’s Square to the present Chapel Lane. The Chapel Lane track runs north-south but without much residential development. Perhaps we get an impression of this early route from the lane leading around Pye Corner which meanders south until it bends back, coming out at the side of Lyndale. The house name Byway on Chapel Lane still commemorates the rural nature of the area.
A rural road existed in this area before the 19th century but perhaps Chapel Lane wasn’t the only one. Allen’s 1626 map above shows another track, going from near the Queen’s Head site and cutting across the bottom of Queen’s Square to the present Chapel Lane. The Chapel Lane track runs north-south but without much residential development. Perhaps we get an impression of this early route from the lane leading around Pye Corner which meanders south until it bends back, coming out at the side of Lyndale. The house name Byway on Chapel Lane still commemorates the rural nature of the area.
The pathway at Pye Corner (courtesy Carol Payne)
Impact of the Ebenezer Chapel
The building of the 1834 Ebenezer Chapel changed the way in which the bottom of the lane developed. The Tithe Apportionment map of 1840 (below) shows the corner plot owned by Catherine Rowe with four cottages, occupied by
George Tyler, Noah Norris, Thomas Bath and Worthy Richard (ref 338 in map below). These were probably on the site of the present 1-3 Chapel Lane plus a cottage on the High Street occupied by Robert Manley, probably that shown being demolished in the headline photo.[3] We might suspect that they were all Methodists like Catherine Rowe, one of the principal founders of the Ebenezer Chapel.
Further up on the east side of the lane was a development of buildings owned by William North of the Queen’s Head and occupied by William Greenman, William Pinker, James Hancock and George Hobbs (ref 337 in map below). This was Byway and its outbuildings divided into separate occupation, arguably the oldest surviving cottage in Box dating back to the early 1500s and Grade II listed by Historic England.[4]
The building of the 1834 Ebenezer Chapel changed the way in which the bottom of the lane developed. The Tithe Apportionment map of 1840 (below) shows the corner plot owned by Catherine Rowe with four cottages, occupied by
George Tyler, Noah Norris, Thomas Bath and Worthy Richard (ref 338 in map below). These were probably on the site of the present 1-3 Chapel Lane plus a cottage on the High Street occupied by Robert Manley, probably that shown being demolished in the headline photo.[3] We might suspect that they were all Methodists like Catherine Rowe, one of the principal founders of the Ebenezer Chapel.
Further up on the east side of the lane was a development of buildings owned by William North of the Queen’s Head and occupied by William Greenman, William Pinker, James Hancock and George Hobbs (ref 337 in map below). This was Byway and its outbuildings divided into separate occupation, arguably the oldest surviving cottage in Box dating back to the early 1500s and Grade II listed by Historic England.[4]
1840 Tithe Apportionment map (courtesy Wiltshire History Centre)
Following the death of Catherine Rowe in 1855, the four cottages near the Methodist School were acquired by the church trustees, including Mrs Elizabeth Noble, heir of another staunch Methodist family. Her daughter, Mildred Mary Noble, was the church organist for many years. The buildings were put up for sale in 1919 when the tenants were listed as Messrs Whale, Burchell, Sheppard and Thomas Fisher aged 72, illiterate.[5] Each property was small with 3 or 4 rooms.
The Methodist cottages now renovated as 1-3 Chapel Lane (courtesy Carol Payne)
Twentieth Century Expansion on the East Side
Chapel Lane became ripe for redevelopment at the start of the twentieth century. Work began with the Bingham Hall (pictured below left) built in 1905-06 behind the Methodist Church and accessed from Chapel Lane. It started as a simple wooden shed donated by Daniel George Bingham (1830-1913) of Sunnyside Middlehill at a cost of £650. The Hall was expanded over the years to include a library, village hall facilities and public baths (costing 1 shilling a session). It was demolished in 1969, superseded by the Selwyn Hall.
By 1933 the expansion of the motor car industry encouraged J&G Browning to move their garage from the High Street (now Chemist Shop) to the corner of Devizes Road and Chapel Lane (now The Brownings residential area). The original building suffered a fire shortly after it was finished and it is a second building which is seen below right.
Chapel Lane became ripe for redevelopment at the start of the twentieth century. Work began with the Bingham Hall (pictured below left) built in 1905-06 behind the Methodist Church and accessed from Chapel Lane. It started as a simple wooden shed donated by Daniel George Bingham (1830-1913) of Sunnyside Middlehill at a cost of £650. The Hall was expanded over the years to include a library, village hall facilities and public baths (costing 1 shilling a session). It was demolished in 1969, superseded by the Selwyn Hall.
By 1933 the expansion of the motor car industry encouraged J&G Browning to move their garage from the High Street (now Chemist Shop) to the corner of Devizes Road and Chapel Lane (now The Brownings residential area). The original building suffered a fire shortly after it was finished and it is a second building which is seen below right.
Bingham Hall (courtesy Keith & Carla Pask)
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Brownings Garage (courtesy Richard Browning)
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The two properties at the top of Chapel Lane, Hillview and Hillside, were built on the side of the garage site. Their rear gardens extended right down to the brook in the Market Place.[6] George Browning lived at Hillside in 1939 and Bob and Laurie Hancock moved there in 1976 when the council bought it for £10,500.[7] Thelma and Norman Haines lived in Hillview in the 1980s and afterwards.
Hillview and Hillside (courtesy Carol Payne)
Development of West Side of Chapel Lane
Meanwhile, there was no development on the west side of Chapel Lane, apart from properties fronting onto the High Street, being a shop on the corner and the stables of the Queen’s Head, now the Old Sweet Factory converted into a residential dwelling. Chapel Lane was the east boundary of the front garden of The Queen’s Head pub. We get a vivid description of the garden in 1879 when executors of James Speck, owner of the Queen’s Head, advertised the pub and grounds for sale: The Stable affords accommodation for six horses. There is also a lock-up Coach-house, and very productive garden, well-stocked with fruit trees.[8] It still has prolific plum trees in the Pye Corner continuance of the track.
Meanwhile, there was no development on the west side of Chapel Lane, apart from properties fronting onto the High Street, being a shop on the corner and the stables of the Queen’s Head, now the Old Sweet Factory converted into a residential dwelling. Chapel Lane was the east boundary of the front garden of The Queen’s Head pub. We get a vivid description of the garden in 1879 when executors of James Speck, owner of the Queen’s Head, advertised the pub and grounds for sale: The Stable affords accommodation for six horses. There is also a lock-up Coach-house, and very productive garden, well-stocked with fruit trees.[8] It still has prolific plum trees in the Pye Corner continuance of the track.
Byfield’s shop on the corner of Chapel Lane ready for re-development in 1970s (courtesy John Harris)
An early property to be re-developed on the west side of Chapel Lane was the grocer’s shop of William Ponting on the corner of the High Street. The Ponting Family had owned the Queen’s Head in the late 1800s and various properties were divided between two brothers who inherited on the death of their mother in 1924. William Ponting took over the Queen’s Square shop, whilst the Market Place shops went to his older brother John Edward. By the 1930s this corner site was in an unsatisfactory condition, overgrown and the stables in disrepair. Bill Chaffey, parish councillor and later chairman, agreed to speak to the owners asking them to improve the corner.[9] The matter was partially resolved after World War II when the Calne and Chippenham Rural District Council acquired the stables building and the Box World War II Peace Fund redeveloped it as a public convenience.[10] William Ponting died in 1965 and the shop was taken over as a delicatessen by Leonard Byfield (25 March 1914-2004) who had trained as a grocer with the Co-op Store in Bradford-on-Avon in the inter-war period. The building was pulled down in the mid-1970s to make Queen Square carpark.
Ordnance Survey map of 1889 (courtesy Wiltshire History Centre)
Queens Square Gardens
We can see from the 1889 Ordnance Survey map above that the land between Burtons Lane and Chapel Lane was predominantly garden. The whole of this block of land was called Queen’s Square. In 1871, a few cottages had been built on west side on Burtons Lane. In one lived William Pinchin (1839-1875), clerk and landowner, heir to Box Mill, and in others the Hughes family including Charles Hughes, police officer, and Worthy Richards, master carpenter, and family.
In passing, it may have been William George Burton (14 August 1867-30 March 1947), a stone mason, after whom Burtons Lane may have been named. He probably built Woodland View, Devizes Road, and later moved into it with his wife, Lucy Rose. After her death he moved to Byway Cottage in 1934. William George was a keen member of the Loyal Order of Oddfellows and a fine musician.[11] His father, another William Burton (1833-1920) lived at Queen Square as a stone carter in 1881.
The Queens Square cottages along the line of Burton Lane continued to be privately tenanted in the inter-war period and we get some view of the occupants just before the Second World War:
Number 1: James A Cockell, gardener aged 61, widower, and his housekeeper Agnes H Cooper aged 54;
Number 2: Frederick Aust, journeyman carpenter, 52, and wife Evelyn B together with a boarder Erica J Chapman Webb aged 7.
Number 3: Arthur J Nowell, aged 62 banker mason, wife Florence L and daughter Mabel (b 1907) and son Alfred (b 1912).
Number 4: Charles Pearce (born 1874 at Weavern) 65-year-old gardener, living alone after the death of his wife, Elizabeth Chambers. He was the brother-in-law of William Burton.
Charles Pearce was a fascinating person, one of twelve children whose mother Jane Aust had died in 1893.[12] Charles went to America as a young man and tried his hand at gold mining before returning to Box to become a postman living in the Old Schools (now Springfield House) and ending as a gardener for CJ Pictor at Crossways (Fogleigh House), Captain Stewart of Ashley House and later the Shaw-Mellors at Box House. Tragically, Charles was the first civilian killed in Box during World War II. He was struck by a car in the early days of the night-time blackout whilst crossing the road at the War Memorial. The car that hit him was reputedly going extremely slowly trying to locate the corner at the Devizes Road and A4 corner (now traffic lights) but the driver didn’t see Charles who was wearing dark clothing. The verdict of the inquest was accidental death.
We can see from the 1889 Ordnance Survey map above that the land between Burtons Lane and Chapel Lane was predominantly garden. The whole of this block of land was called Queen’s Square. In 1871, a few cottages had been built on west side on Burtons Lane. In one lived William Pinchin (1839-1875), clerk and landowner, heir to Box Mill, and in others the Hughes family including Charles Hughes, police officer, and Worthy Richards, master carpenter, and family.
In passing, it may have been William George Burton (14 August 1867-30 March 1947), a stone mason, after whom Burtons Lane may have been named. He probably built Woodland View, Devizes Road, and later moved into it with his wife, Lucy Rose. After her death he moved to Byway Cottage in 1934. William George was a keen member of the Loyal Order of Oddfellows and a fine musician.[11] His father, another William Burton (1833-1920) lived at Queen Square as a stone carter in 1881.
The Queens Square cottages along the line of Burton Lane continued to be privately tenanted in the inter-war period and we get some view of the occupants just before the Second World War:
Number 1: James A Cockell, gardener aged 61, widower, and his housekeeper Agnes H Cooper aged 54;
Number 2: Frederick Aust, journeyman carpenter, 52, and wife Evelyn B together with a boarder Erica J Chapman Webb aged 7.
Number 3: Arthur J Nowell, aged 62 banker mason, wife Florence L and daughter Mabel (b 1907) and son Alfred (b 1912).
Number 4: Charles Pearce (born 1874 at Weavern) 65-year-old gardener, living alone after the death of his wife, Elizabeth Chambers. He was the brother-in-law of William Burton.
Charles Pearce was a fascinating person, one of twelve children whose mother Jane Aust had died in 1893.[12] Charles went to America as a young man and tried his hand at gold mining before returning to Box to become a postman living in the Old Schools (now Springfield House) and ending as a gardener for CJ Pictor at Crossways (Fogleigh House), Captain Stewart of Ashley House and later the Shaw-Mellors at Box House. Tragically, Charles was the first civilian killed in Box during World War II. He was struck by a car in the early days of the night-time blackout whilst crossing the road at the War Memorial. The car that hit him was reputedly going extremely slowly trying to locate the corner at the Devizes Road and A4 corner (now traffic lights) but the driver didn’t see Charles who was wearing dark clothing. The verdict of the inquest was accidental death.
Development of Queens Square
Clive Banks’ parents Olive and Sidney, rented 1 Queens Square after the war. As an infant, he has vivid memories of the square before it was redeveloped: The Queens Square cottages were accessed by a path which ran along the front of them (and it still exists). This path eventually swung to the left to join Burtons Lane behind the stables. We would use it to visit Aunt Nelly Bradfield's shop which was up some steps on the opposite corner of the square.
They had a garden that ran along the Devizes Road. In those days our garden was on top of a high wall which ran all the way to Chapel Lane where we overlooked Browning's Garage opposite. At this time the wall seemed quite high to me as a toddler, maybe up to ten feet or so and was quite a vantage point with Brownings garage opposite. This wall continued northwards along the end of other gardens. To reach our long narrow garden there were several steps up to a little lawn and then a vegetable patch all the way to Chapel Lane. A row of hazel bushes bordered the main road in which I used to make dens. Below the wall on the pavement was the communal “Pig Bin” in which people put their vegetable scraps. This was probably a hangover from wartime conservation because it disappeared soon after.
I recall the formidable Mrs Burton who lived in one of the cottages next to the Bingham Hall and was the custodian of its keys.
As a child I wondered why the lane was called Burtons Lane when she lived in Chapel Lane. Queens Square has changed so much since then.
Clive Banks’ parents Olive and Sidney, rented 1 Queens Square after the war. As an infant, he has vivid memories of the square before it was redeveloped: The Queens Square cottages were accessed by a path which ran along the front of them (and it still exists). This path eventually swung to the left to join Burtons Lane behind the stables. We would use it to visit Aunt Nelly Bradfield's shop which was up some steps on the opposite corner of the square.
They had a garden that ran along the Devizes Road. In those days our garden was on top of a high wall which ran all the way to Chapel Lane where we overlooked Browning's Garage opposite. At this time the wall seemed quite high to me as a toddler, maybe up to ten feet or so and was quite a vantage point with Brownings garage opposite. This wall continued northwards along the end of other gardens. To reach our long narrow garden there were several steps up to a little lawn and then a vegetable patch all the way to Chapel Lane. A row of hazel bushes bordered the main road in which I used to make dens. Below the wall on the pavement was the communal “Pig Bin” in which people put their vegetable scraps. This was probably a hangover from wartime conservation because it disappeared soon after.
I recall the formidable Mrs Burton who lived in one of the cottages next to the Bingham Hall and was the custodian of its keys.
As a child I wondered why the lane was called Burtons Lane when she lived in Chapel Lane. Queens Square has changed so much since then.
Queen's Square Cottages (courtesy Carol Payne)
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New Queen's Square development (courtesy Carol Payne)
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The Queens Square area was redeveloped in the late 1970s into 18 separate residences, some new buildings (above right) and the division of older properties into flats (above left). Obviously, this is a difficult site to develop and some might consider the finished result to be perhaps rather unsatisfactory with a small, limited carpark and lacking a sense of community. But residents proved this view entirely wrong in 1981.
Life in Chapel Lane, 1981
The year 1981 was one of huge national disorder: riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side, terrorist murders and hunger-strike deaths affecting Northern Ireland and the British mainland, unemployment at a 50 year high, and race riots in Wolverhampton and Coventry organised by the National Front.
Against this background came the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July. The fairy-tale wedding was a moment of relief from depressing news and was welcomed nationally and in Box. The lower end of Chapel Lane was closed off for a tea party for children and adults organised by the Box Jubilee Youth Centre Summer Holiday Scheme, Andy Jackson, Cath Knight and locals.[13] Unfortunately, it was short-term relief followed six months later by snow and the coldest December for a century, the first incident of AIDS and in 1982 the Falklands War with Argentina.
The early rural Chapel Lane has been totally lost and the road has become a cut-through for cars avoiding the tight Devizes Road turn. It is a great shame because the area has a fascinating history which deserved better, a moral to be learned for other local developments.[14]
The year 1981 was one of huge national disorder: riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side, terrorist murders and hunger-strike deaths affecting Northern Ireland and the British mainland, unemployment at a 50 year high, and race riots in Wolverhampton and Coventry organised by the National Front.
Against this background came the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July. The fairy-tale wedding was a moment of relief from depressing news and was welcomed nationally and in Box. The lower end of Chapel Lane was closed off for a tea party for children and adults organised by the Box Jubilee Youth Centre Summer Holiday Scheme, Andy Jackson, Cath Knight and locals.[13] Unfortunately, it was short-term relief followed six months later by snow and the coldest December for a century, the first incident of AIDS and in 1982 the Falklands War with Argentina.
The early rural Chapel Lane has been totally lost and the road has become a cut-through for cars avoiding the tight Devizes Road turn. It is a great shame because the area has a fascinating history which deserved better, a moral to be learned for other local developments.[14]
References
[1] www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lane
[2] Julian Orbach, notes for revised edition of Pevsner, Architectural Guides: Buildings of England: Wiltshire
[3] 1 Chapel Lane is Grade II Historic Buildings Listed and dated early 1800s
[4] Mary Finch, Parish Magazine, October 2018 From at least 1895 until 1953 Byway was three dwellings. It is Grade II listed and dated to 1500s and early 1600s.
[5] The Wiltshire Times, 18 October 1919
[6] Courtesy Bill Cooper who recalling his childhood in Hill View during World War II
[7] Courtesy Bob Hancock
[8] Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 22 March 1879
[9] The Wiltshire Times, 6 October 1934
[10] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 4 October 1947
[11] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 22 July 1939 and 30 January 1904
[12] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 28 October 1939
[13] Parish Magazine, June 1981
[14] Thanks to Michael Rumsey, long-serving organist at the United Free Chapel for over 54 years, for additional information.
[1] www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lane
[2] Julian Orbach, notes for revised edition of Pevsner, Architectural Guides: Buildings of England: Wiltshire
[3] 1 Chapel Lane is Grade II Historic Buildings Listed and dated early 1800s
[4] Mary Finch, Parish Magazine, October 2018 From at least 1895 until 1953 Byway was three dwellings. It is Grade II listed and dated to 1500s and early 1600s.
[5] The Wiltshire Times, 18 October 1919
[6] Courtesy Bill Cooper who recalling his childhood in Hill View during World War II
[7] Courtesy Bob Hancock
[8] Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 22 March 1879
[9] The Wiltshire Times, 6 October 1934
[10] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 4 October 1947
[11] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 22 July 1939 and 30 January 1904
[12] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 28 October 1939
[13] Parish Magazine, June 1981
[14] Thanks to Michael Rumsey, long-serving organist at the United Free Chapel for over 54 years, for additional information.