Fogleigh House Research documents Alan Wright September 2021
Modern Fogleigh House (courtesy Carol Payne)
Alan Wright wrote to us asking for information about the Pictor family and the fabulous Box residential property built by Cornelius James Pictor. He was able to add enormous amounts of information himself to fill in the details of when and how the house was built. We start by tracing the name of the area on Box Hill before any residence was considered.
Mentions in Late Medieval Period
The word Fogham (various spellings) is mentioned in Box’s early history but these references aren’t particularly insightful. Fogham was said to derive from a person called Focgan but there is no knowledge of who this individual was.[1] The Box author GJ Kidston refers to several uses of the word Fogham (or Foggome). He says that Thomas Tropenell of Great Chalfield bought land in Hazelbury Quarries in 1465.[2] Part of the land documentation refers to a grant by Laurence de Foggome to his daughter Matilda and her husband Jordan le Knyght of Aissheley (Ashley) in about 1346 of a house and land in the vill of Foggome which Richard le Brid had held of him. The Placenames of Wiltshire adds a reference to the name Vaggome
in 1348.[3]
The word fog is believed to mean subject to mist. This wasn’t necessarily a pejorative term, more an attribution that damp air encouraged better grass growth and enabled husbandry on fields which lacked natural springs. There is also anecdotal evidence that an early name was Fogham Bottom. The use of the word Bottom to describe valleys in Box is not unusual (compare Box Bottom and Hungerford Bottom) but there is documentation to confirm this name.[4]
The word Fogham (various spellings) is mentioned in Box’s early history but these references aren’t particularly insightful. Fogham was said to derive from a person called Focgan but there is no knowledge of who this individual was.[1] The Box author GJ Kidston refers to several uses of the word Fogham (or Foggome). He says that Thomas Tropenell of Great Chalfield bought land in Hazelbury Quarries in 1465.[2] Part of the land documentation refers to a grant by Laurence de Foggome to his daughter Matilda and her husband Jordan le Knyght of Aissheley (Ashley) in about 1346 of a house and land in the vill of Foggome which Richard le Brid had held of him. The Placenames of Wiltshire adds a reference to the name Vaggome
in 1348.[3]
The word fog is believed to mean subject to mist. This wasn’t necessarily a pejorative term, more an attribution that damp air encouraged better grass growth and enabled husbandry on fields which lacked natural springs. There is also anecdotal evidence that an early name was Fogham Bottom. The use of the word Bottom to describe valleys in Box is not unusual (compare Box Bottom and Hungerford Bottom) but there is documentation to confirm this name.[4]
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Early History of the Area GJ Kidston also refers to the purchase of land by lord of the manor Hugh Speke in 1603. It consisted of two plots of land called Fogham and Long Mead from Richard Gough.[5] This is confirmed by the 1626 Allen maps of the Speke Estate, which shows Foggam as a field area stretching up from the By Brook to a track approximately on the line of the current A4 road. There is no sign of a property on the plot and the area wasn’t important enough to be specifically mentioned in Hugh Speke’s will of 1623. |
Allen's 1626 map (courtesy Wilts History Centre)
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In 1727 the area underwent a significant change of ownership when it was acquired for the Box Church Charity School established at Box Workhouse, Church Lane by the Rev George Miller. Using the funds accumulated, the trustees bought land in Box to generate an income for the school, acquiring whole sections of the south side of the By Brook including The Bassets and Fogleigh. There is no indication of a house on the sites at that time; rather that it was agricultural land because the trustees built a stone barn there to increase their income.
Extract of Tithe Apportionment map of 1840 (courtesy Wilts History Centre)
Thomas Strong, Quarryman
In the early 1800s the area was of increasing interest to the quarry trade because of the abundant building stone being found on sections of Box Hill, which made a nearby property very convenient. The area was occupied firstly by William Brewer (a well-known quarryman); then James Wyburd (1756-1819), a London land surveyor; following him Richard Ford (-1856). Afterwards it was acquired by Thomas Strong and his son Robert Strong, both notable quarry owners on Box Hill.[6] Quarrymen often mixed socially (in 1843 a large quantity of brasses the property of William Brewer and Thomas Strong was stolen at Box).[7] These people sometimes married other quarry families, including Thomas Strong himself who married the daughter of William Rawlings, an early stone mason.[8]
The Tithe Apportionment map in the years immediately prior to 1840 confirms these details. The workhouse Trustees still owned the Charity Lands of Box, part of which they let to Thomas Strong. The lands comprised: Barn, barton and roadway (Reference 100), Fogham arable (102), Fogham Mead (104), Fogham half brook (104) and Fogham pasture (105). They let different areas to William Wiltshire, including Fogham Wood (95). This name continued on the other side of the turnpike road (374) and Fogham Mead (375), both of these last two references being owned and occupied by Wiltshire. The premises on the roadside (99) was owned and occupied by Thomas Strong and comprised dwelling house, outbuildings, garden and cottage adjoining. Thomas Strong (1781-1851) lived at Box Hill in 1841 with his wife Rowena, his son Robert and his brother and sister-in-law and leased a 2-acre quarry nearby from at least 1832.[9] He became extremely wealthy, building cottages on rough pieces of land between the new turnpike road and the old track.[10]
The location of Thomas Strong’s house isn’t certain. It is his monumental epitaph outside the north door of Box Church which describes him as: Thomas Strong of Fogleigh, died 1851 and the 1840 Tithe Apportionment documents show them at Reference 99. We know that his house was an earlier property on this site because the current Fogleigh House was built for quarry-owner Cornelius James Pictor.
In the early 1800s the area was of increasing interest to the quarry trade because of the abundant building stone being found on sections of Box Hill, which made a nearby property very convenient. The area was occupied firstly by William Brewer (a well-known quarryman); then James Wyburd (1756-1819), a London land surveyor; following him Richard Ford (-1856). Afterwards it was acquired by Thomas Strong and his son Robert Strong, both notable quarry owners on Box Hill.[6] Quarrymen often mixed socially (in 1843 a large quantity of brasses the property of William Brewer and Thomas Strong was stolen at Box).[7] These people sometimes married other quarry families, including Thomas Strong himself who married the daughter of William Rawlings, an early stone mason.[8]
The Tithe Apportionment map in the years immediately prior to 1840 confirms these details. The workhouse Trustees still owned the Charity Lands of Box, part of which they let to Thomas Strong. The lands comprised: Barn, barton and roadway (Reference 100), Fogham arable (102), Fogham Mead (104), Fogham half brook (104) and Fogham pasture (105). They let different areas to William Wiltshire, including Fogham Wood (95). This name continued on the other side of the turnpike road (374) and Fogham Mead (375), both of these last two references being owned and occupied by Wiltshire. The premises on the roadside (99) was owned and occupied by Thomas Strong and comprised dwelling house, outbuildings, garden and cottage adjoining. Thomas Strong (1781-1851) lived at Box Hill in 1841 with his wife Rowena, his son Robert and his brother and sister-in-law and leased a 2-acre quarry nearby from at least 1832.[9] He became extremely wealthy, building cottages on rough pieces of land between the new turnpike road and the old track.[10]
The location of Thomas Strong’s house isn’t certain. It is his monumental epitaph outside the north door of Box Church which describes him as: Thomas Strong of Fogleigh, died 1851 and the 1840 Tithe Apportionment documents show them at Reference 99. We know that his house was an earlier property on this site because the current Fogleigh House was built for quarry-owner Cornelius James Pictor.
Cornelius James Pictor
On 28 December 1867 Robert Strong, Wilts Free Stone Merchant, sold an area called Fogleigh to Cornelius James Pictor (1842-1916) for the sum of £850.[11] Cornelius was 25-years-old and had been appointed as a partner in Pictor & Sons by his older brother in 1863.[12] It is probable that Cornelius planned to build a residence on the land when he bought it but his house wasn’t completed until 1881. We might imagine that the delay of over a decade enabled him to think about the style of his property with the most elaborate of High Victorian Gothic embellishment, including the fine western window shown below.
On 28 December 1867 Robert Strong, Wilts Free Stone Merchant, sold an area called Fogleigh to Cornelius James Pictor (1842-1916) for the sum of £850.[11] Cornelius was 25-years-old and had been appointed as a partner in Pictor & Sons by his older brother in 1863.[12] It is probable that Cornelius planned to build a residence on the land when he bought it but his house wasn’t completed until 1881. We might imagine that the delay of over a decade enabled him to think about the style of his property with the most elaborate of High Victorian Gothic embellishment, including the fine western window shown below.
The west window (courtesy Pritchards, Estate Agency) and below close-ups of the windows (courtesy Carol Payne)
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The reason for the delay relates to the unusual ownership of adjacent plots of land, held by the trustees of the Box Charity School. It took several years from 1867 until 1879 to find the whereabouts of the trustees, the line of succession of those who had died, and to get Charity Commission authorisation for the sale of the land.[13] By 1879 the trustees comprised Rev George Edward Gardiner, newly-appointed vicar of Box; William Speke the younger from Ilminster; Fitz Ameline Maxwell Anketell of Spa House, an Irish nobleman from near Dublin; William Adair Bruce, barrister of Ashley House and lawyer for the Northey family; George Pargiter Fuller of Neston Park; and William Henry Poynder of Hartham Park, who had replaced Cornelius’ father Robert Pictor after his death on 11 February 1877. Eventually the trustees were authorised to sell the freehold for the sum of £2,350 (today worth about £280,000) on 26 December 1879.
The "hive of industry" motto above the main entrance door (courtesy Carol Payne)
Cornelius must have thoroughly enjoyed designing the property with his architects James Hicks of Redruth. Every set of lintels and capitals on the south and west façades is different. Above the main entrance is a motif of the phrase a hive of industry and a monogram of the Pictor name. Illuminating the main staircase window declaring Labor est Pax (Work is Peace) and the depiction of a stonemason at work.
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The fireplaces are also individual. The dining room has a magnificent Victorian fireplace with cast iron grate, tiled hearth and surround. The Billiard Room has a marble surround and the Drawing Room an ornate wooden mantel with slate surround. Cornelius never married and built the house as his personal residence where he was able to entertain his many relatives. For many years this was his widowed sister Mary Pay and her daughters Lilian Mary and Violet Louisa Pay. He delighted in playing the role of a benevolent uncle and regularly wrote to his nephews and nieces.
The main entrance (courtesy Pritchards Estate Agents)
Cornelius was the second adult son of the great Pictor quarry dynasty and, on the sudden death of his elder brother Robert in 1877, he took over the running of Pictor & Sons and their headquarters at Clift Quarry, Box Hill. He became the first chairman of a larger group when Pictors merged into The Bath Stone Firms in 1887. He resigned suddenly in 1898 at the age of 55 after a dispute between the Firms’ directors and the resignation of George Hancock, general manager. Thereafter he lived a quiet life as the family benefactor at Fogleigh.
After his death on 22 February 1916, Cornelius’ executors were Alfred Taylor, chief clerk to the Bath Stone Firms Limited, Vernon Samuel Pictor, his nephew, and Norman Wilson Pictor (husband of Louisa Violet Pay) of Spa House. His estate was valued as £148,853.12s.7d (today’s value £15 million), which he left to be divided between his 39 nephews and nieces and £400 in trust for Christmas gifts for 40 poor and deserving male and female persons residing at Box.[14] We don’t know the condition of the house at that time but it may have deteriorated towards the end of his 35-year occupancy. The facilities expected in a house had also altered considerably during that period with modern properties having interior plumbing and electric lights. His will gave some interesting details, including that the original turnpike route from Corsham to Box ran down the line of the tramway (now called Beech Road) and that it was the new turnpike road (the A4) which bisected the Fogham land, separating Foggam Barn from the rest of the site. The tramway was described as 12 feet in width, let to the Bath Stone Firms Limited for a period of 42 years from January 1888.
After his death on 22 February 1916, Cornelius’ executors were Alfred Taylor, chief clerk to the Bath Stone Firms Limited, Vernon Samuel Pictor, his nephew, and Norman Wilson Pictor (husband of Louisa Violet Pay) of Spa House. His estate was valued as £148,853.12s.7d (today’s value £15 million), which he left to be divided between his 39 nephews and nieces and £400 in trust for Christmas gifts for 40 poor and deserving male and female persons residing at Box.[14] We don’t know the condition of the house at that time but it may have deteriorated towards the end of his 35-year occupancy. The facilities expected in a house had also altered considerably during that period with modern properties having interior plumbing and electric lights. His will gave some interesting details, including that the original turnpike route from Corsham to Box ran down the line of the tramway (now called Beech Road) and that it was the new turnpike road (the A4) which bisected the Fogham land, separating Foggam Barn from the rest of the site. The tramway was described as 12 feet in width, let to the Bath Stone Firms Limited for a period of 42 years from January 1888.
Map of the area showing The Old Turnpike Road and Tramway in red and the new road, now the A4 (courtesy Carol Payne)
After Cornelius’ death, Fogleigh House and its land was acquired by many different families, acquired a totally different name and witnessed extremes of success and deterioration. We look at this story in the next issue of the website at Fogleigh Residents..
References
[1] Parish Magazine, August 1932
[2] George Jardine Kidston, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, 1936, Methuen & Co Limited, p.127-28
[3] JEB Gover, Allen Mawer and FM Stenton, The Placenames of Wiltshire, 1939, Cambridge University Press, p.468
[4] JEB Gover, Allen Mawer and FM Stenton, The Placenames of Wiltshire, 1939, Cambridge University Press, p.468 and 86
[5] George Jardine Kidston, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, 1936, Methuen & Co Limited, p.183
[6] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[7] Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 9 February 1843
[8] David Pollard, Digging Bath Stone, 2021, Lightmoor Press, p.31
[9] The Bath Chronicle, 1 March 1832
[10] See article Alma Cottage
[11] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[12] The Bath Chronicle, 15 October 1863
[13] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[14] The Shepton Mallet Journal, 2 June 1916
[1] Parish Magazine, August 1932
[2] George Jardine Kidston, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, 1936, Methuen & Co Limited, p.127-28
[3] JEB Gover, Allen Mawer and FM Stenton, The Placenames of Wiltshire, 1939, Cambridge University Press, p.468
[4] JEB Gover, Allen Mawer and FM Stenton, The Placenames of Wiltshire, 1939, Cambridge University Press, p.468 and 86
[5] George Jardine Kidston, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, 1936, Methuen & Co Limited, p.183
[6] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[7] Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 9 February 1843
[8] David Pollard, Digging Bath Stone, 2021, Lightmoor Press, p.31
[9] The Bath Chronicle, 1 March 1832
[10] See article Alma Cottage
[11] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[12] The Bath Chronicle, 15 October 1863
[13] Abstract of Title for the will of CJ Pictor, 1917
[14] The Shepton Mallet Journal, 2 June 1916