Hazelbury Cottage Claire Dimond Mills, October 2025
Hazelbury Cottage at the top pf Hazelbury Hill (courtesy Carol Payne)
Once an area has been developed, it is hard to recall the original scene and the atmosphere of the area. That is, until a vague memory pops up when confronted with something from earlier, such as an old house or pathway. That is especially true of Hazelbury Hill where Hazelbury Cottage sits at the very top of the developed road just before it becomes a track leading to the woods surrounding Hazelbury Manor. The cottage is to the west of the track and is now surrounded by modern houses but for most of its history it sat alone.
Introduction
The track that runs alongside the house is known as Wyres Lane and was once an arterial thoroughfare from Hazelbury Manor to the centre of Box, and then down to Box Mill. This road is thought to be medieval and was once an important route because it gave access between a Saxon settlement near Hazelbury and mills on the By Brook, vital for residents to grind corn to make bread. The route was used for centuries and a hoard of Stuart gold coins were found around the track hidden during the English Civil War.[1]
The track that runs alongside the house is known as Wyres Lane and was once an arterial thoroughfare from Hazelbury Manor to the centre of Box, and then down to Box Mill. This road is thought to be medieval and was once an important route because it gave access between a Saxon settlement near Hazelbury and mills on the By Brook, vital for residents to grind corn to make bread. The route was used for centuries and a hoard of Stuart gold coins were found around the track hidden during the English Civil War.[1]
The Allen map of 1630 (courtesy Wiltshire History Centre)
The Allen map of 1630 shows no houses at all on the pathway (now called Wyres Lane) until the junction with The Ley / Glovers Lane / Bulls Lane. At this time the track was the route from Hazelbury House, the home of the Speke family, lords of the manor, down to the centre of the village.
Tithe Apportionment map (courtesy Know Your Place)
Hazelbury in 1836
In 1836 the maps produced for the Tithe Commutation Act enable a view of who owned and who tenanted the site of Hazelbury Cottage. The site was plot 486b owned by the then lords of the manor Edward Richard and William Brook Northey. It was described as Garden (out of road), tenanted by Robert Carter (who was called the owner) and 11 perches in size. It is the long strip of land at the bottom right of the map. There was no building here at this time. Robert Carter appears in the 1841 Box census as a miller living in Wadswick with his wife Emma. Robert was born in 1771 in Box and died at the age of 77 in 1848.
The adjacent plot 486a was also owned by the Northeys, and rented by John Gibbons, again as a garden. Narrow strips running alongside a footpath give a clear indication of the Northeys’ intention. They had been cut out of the highway for possible development along the road. By so doing, they created an income out of land which would otherwise have been wasteland along a public highway. The reference to Robert Carter as owner implies that he had more rights than just an annual tenancy. It is probable that the Northeys had sold him the right to build on the plot subject to the payment of an annual ground rent.[2] Another clue about potential development also exists in the light blue line at the bottom right of the map, a spring. Notwithstanding how isolated this area was, it had a water supply for domestic cooking, washing and the disposal of effluent
In 1836 the maps produced for the Tithe Commutation Act enable a view of who owned and who tenanted the site of Hazelbury Cottage. The site was plot 486b owned by the then lords of the manor Edward Richard and William Brook Northey. It was described as Garden (out of road), tenanted by Robert Carter (who was called the owner) and 11 perches in size. It is the long strip of land at the bottom right of the map. There was no building here at this time. Robert Carter appears in the 1841 Box census as a miller living in Wadswick with his wife Emma. Robert was born in 1771 in Box and died at the age of 77 in 1848.
The adjacent plot 486a was also owned by the Northeys, and rented by John Gibbons, again as a garden. Narrow strips running alongside a footpath give a clear indication of the Northeys’ intention. They had been cut out of the highway for possible development along the road. By so doing, they created an income out of land which would otherwise have been wasteland along a public highway. The reference to Robert Carter as owner implies that he had more rights than just an annual tenancy. It is probable that the Northeys had sold him the right to build on the plot subject to the payment of an annual ground rent.[2] Another clue about potential development also exists in the light blue line at the bottom right of the map, a spring. Notwithstanding how isolated this area was, it had a water supply for domestic cooking, washing and the disposal of effluent
Ordnance Survey of about 1875 (courtesy Know Your Place)
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Who Built the House?
There is no actual record of who built the original property but again we can speculate. After Robert Carter, the plot of land was occupied by James Wotton and, after him, by James and Rosina Bolwell.[3] James Wotton senior (1804-1867) was born in Box, married Susanna Bath in 1827, and was living in Box village in 1851 with his four children, the eldest of whom was James junior (1832-possibly 1902). Both father and son were described as quarrymen journeymen, a well-paid career installing stone windows and repairs on site where needed. James and Susanna moved to Middlehill by 1861. James junior married Ellen Bradfield from Monkton Farleigh in 1857, and they were living in Box in 1861 before moving to Bathford by 1871. It is possible that Wottons, father and son, built the original Hazelbury Cottage as a speculative build and then sold it to make a profit. Whoever built the original house, we know it was there by 1875 as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of that date. There is also a shed in the garden which was knocked down at some point, probably when the house was extended. The small piece of land opposite the house contained a well (W) also belonged to the house. |
The cottage seems to have been built in three phases. The original building running parallel to the track was built in the mid-1800s. According to a 1921 planning application, it was a simple cottage with a large room downstairs and bedrooms upstairs.
The front door was next to the dining room window and the stonework by the guttering shows the outline of the old doorway. This doorway led into one room with a fireplace to the left where the family lived and cooked. The stairs up to the first floor were along the back wall. A separate room accessed from outside was used as a coal store and a wash house.
The front door was next to the dining room window and the stonework by the guttering shows the outline of the old doorway. This doorway led into one room with a fireplace to the left where the family lived and cooked. The stairs up to the first floor were along the back wall. A separate room accessed from outside was used as a coal store and a wash house.
Original front door behind guttering (courtesy Claire Mills)
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End section was separate coalshed & washroom (courtesy Claire Mills)
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Bolwell Family
We know from the conveyance document mentioned above that James Bolwell (1850-1900) and his wife Rosina (1847-1919) were the next occupants of the house. James was born in Winsley to parents James Bolwell, labourer from Murhill, and his wife Mary. Murhill was a quarrying area, and James senior was probably a quarry labourer. In 1871, James junior was living and working at Combe Down in Bath, another quarrying area. While in Bath, he met Rosina Crew, who was working as a servant in Green Park. They married on 22 November 1874 in Box Parish Church, when James was identified as quarryman, later called stone miner. Together they had six daughters – Thirza, Florence, Alice, Laura, Bertha and Agnes, all of whom were born in Box.
In an 1880 court case, we get details of life in the house when James Carter who worked as a groom for the Fullers was charged with trespass in the Bolwell garden.[4] In the middle of the night Carter had broken into the fowl house where there were 15 birds. The constable, PC Hughes took him to the village lockup where Carter claimed to have been led astray by two men in the Bear Inn who then fled the garden over a wall 4 foot 8 inches high. In the 1891 census, their house was called Hazelbury Hill Cottage, its first official mention.
On 31 August 1900, James died, aged 50 in the RUH. According to his death certificate, he died from acute nephritis which is an inflammation of the kidneys. Now it can be treated but was usually fatal in this period. This left Rosina on her own, without a main wage earner. She was able to stay in the house with her two younger daughters, Florence and Agnes.
We know from the conveyance document mentioned above that James Bolwell (1850-1900) and his wife Rosina (1847-1919) were the next occupants of the house. James was born in Winsley to parents James Bolwell, labourer from Murhill, and his wife Mary. Murhill was a quarrying area, and James senior was probably a quarry labourer. In 1871, James junior was living and working at Combe Down in Bath, another quarrying area. While in Bath, he met Rosina Crew, who was working as a servant in Green Park. They married on 22 November 1874 in Box Parish Church, when James was identified as quarryman, later called stone miner. Together they had six daughters – Thirza, Florence, Alice, Laura, Bertha and Agnes, all of whom were born in Box.
In an 1880 court case, we get details of life in the house when James Carter who worked as a groom for the Fullers was charged with trespass in the Bolwell garden.[4] In the middle of the night Carter had broken into the fowl house where there were 15 birds. The constable, PC Hughes took him to the village lockup where Carter claimed to have been led astray by two men in the Bear Inn who then fled the garden over a wall 4 foot 8 inches high. In the 1891 census, their house was called Hazelbury Hill Cottage, its first official mention.
On 31 August 1900, James died, aged 50 in the RUH. According to his death certificate, he died from acute nephritis which is an inflammation of the kidneys. Now it can be treated but was usually fatal in this period. This left Rosina on her own, without a main wage earner. She was able to stay in the house with her two younger daughters, Florence and Agnes.
Bertha stayed in Box, working as a servant for the Perrens who lived at Villa Rosa on the London Road. She married Ernest Betteridge and they became the landlords of the Swan Inn at Kingsdown.[5] Ernest was more interested in cars though, and after serving in the Royal Army Service Corps in the First World War, he became a chauffeur, like his brother-in-law, Fred Fletcher. Bertha and Ernest moved to Wroughton where he drove for Mr Barker of Wroughton Hall. They did not have children and moved around a lot, ending up in Norfolk in 1939 but retiring to Rode, Somerset, where Bertha died in 1974. Florence also stayed in Box, she married Alfred Hayes in 1905, and they lived in Wadswick where Alfred was a horseman on a farm. However, like two of his brothers-in-law, he too moved to cars and in 1921 was a motor driver for the Bath engineers, Stothert & Pitt who made cranes. They also did not have any children and by 1939 they were running a petrol garage in Bath. Florence died in 1944 in Bath.
Rosina stayed in Hazelbury Hill Cottage and worked as a laundress. Enid Lambert wrote her memories of living in Box. As an eight-year-old she remembered a washerwoman called Mrs Bolwell came on Mondays to do the large amount of washing in the scullery where a fire was lit under a huge copper of boiling water. Bed linen and towels were always given a boil after being washed and were always as white as snow. This old woman (she seemed old to me) wore a man's cap and a huge apron and boots. She was haunted by the thought of dying and her one wish was to die in her sleep when her time came.. and she did![6] Rosina died in 1919. John Pinnock was named as a tenant after Rosina's death.
Rosina stayed in Hazelbury Hill Cottage and worked as a laundress. Enid Lambert wrote her memories of living in Box. As an eight-year-old she remembered a washerwoman called Mrs Bolwell came on Mondays to do the large amount of washing in the scullery where a fire was lit under a huge copper of boiling water. Bed linen and towels were always given a boil after being washed and were always as white as snow. This old woman (she seemed old to me) wore a man's cap and a huge apron and boots. She was haunted by the thought of dying and her one wish was to die in her sleep when her time came.. and she did![6] Rosina died in 1919. John Pinnock was named as a tenant after Rosina's death.
Change of Ownership
Albert George Head (1890-), mason, took a mortgage to buy the property in September 1921, according to the conveyance document. Albert was born on 18 September 1890 to parents Giffard and Fanny Head. The family were living in The Roses next to the Quarryman’s Arms, which they had owned for nearly hundred years by this point. Albert served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers during the First World War He was discharged in March 1919 but had returned to Box in July 1918 to marry Alice Ingram who was from Bedfordshire. On 6 August 1919 he took out a mortgage to buy the house, borrowing from his stepmother, Julia Head, whom his father, Gifford, had married in 1916 after his first wife, Albert’s mother, Fanny, died in 1914.[7]
On the 1921 census which was carried out in June of that year, Albert said he was a mason but was currently out of work. He had been working for Hayward & Wooster, builders based in Bath. Hayward and Wooster’s offices were at 108 Walcot Street. The firm was started by Jesse Hayward and Edgar William Wooster in the early 1890s and did extensive work in the Bath area. But by the 1920s the building industry was in recession and this s why in September 1921 Albert sold the house to Edward Shaw Robson.
Albert George Head (1890-), mason, took a mortgage to buy the property in September 1921, according to the conveyance document. Albert was born on 18 September 1890 to parents Giffard and Fanny Head. The family were living in The Roses next to the Quarryman’s Arms, which they had owned for nearly hundred years by this point. Albert served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers during the First World War He was discharged in March 1919 but had returned to Box in July 1918 to marry Alice Ingram who was from Bedfordshire. On 6 August 1919 he took out a mortgage to buy the house, borrowing from his stepmother, Julia Head, whom his father, Gifford, had married in 1916 after his first wife, Albert’s mother, Fanny, died in 1914.[7]
On the 1921 census which was carried out in June of that year, Albert said he was a mason but was currently out of work. He had been working for Hayward & Wooster, builders based in Bath. Hayward and Wooster’s offices were at 108 Walcot Street. The firm was started by Jesse Hayward and Edgar William Wooster in the early 1890s and did extensive work in the Bath area. But by the 1920s the building industry was in recession and this s why in September 1921 Albert sold the house to Edward Shaw Robson.
Proposed Improvements
Edward Shaw Robson (1861-1944) bought the house for £180 with £11 5s of the money going to Julia Head to pay off Albert’s mortgage. The plot consisted of the land, messuage and buildings lying to the west of Hazelbury Hill, adjoining the road leading from Box to Hazelbury, and the piece of garden land to the north side attached to the first piece (now an allotment) as well as the piece of land on the other side of the road that contained the spring of water. This was so valuable for survival on the hill that he had to pay an annual rent of 2s 6d to Sir Edward Northey.
Edward Shaw Robson was born in Durham in 1861 to a family of coal miners. He was clever and was able to stay in education and become a school teacher. He married Mary Richardson and they had one son, Moses. They moved to the Kentish Town area of London where he worked as a teacher and Moses became a civil servant. The house had traditionaally been a quarryman’s cottage, close to various different quarry faces but after 1921 the house appears to have been purely residential, even a retirement investment. The Robsons decided to extend the building by adding a single storey extension, see plan. This enabled a new sitting room and the existing house became the pantry, scullery and kitchen.
Edward Shaw Robson (1861-1944) bought the house for £180 with £11 5s of the money going to Julia Head to pay off Albert’s mortgage. The plot consisted of the land, messuage and buildings lying to the west of Hazelbury Hill, adjoining the road leading from Box to Hazelbury, and the piece of garden land to the north side attached to the first piece (now an allotment) as well as the piece of land on the other side of the road that contained the spring of water. This was so valuable for survival on the hill that he had to pay an annual rent of 2s 6d to Sir Edward Northey.
Edward Shaw Robson was born in Durham in 1861 to a family of coal miners. He was clever and was able to stay in education and become a school teacher. He married Mary Richardson and they had one son, Moses. They moved to the Kentish Town area of London where he worked as a teacher and Moses became a civil servant. The house had traditionaally been a quarryman’s cottage, close to various different quarry faces but after 1921 the house appears to have been purely residential, even a retirement investment. The Robsons decided to extend the building by adding a single storey extension, see plan. This enabled a new sitting room and the existing house became the pantry, scullery and kitchen.
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Left and Above: The plan of extension proposed by Edwarad Shaw Robson (both images courtesy Wiltshire History Centre)
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To extend the house, he needed more land so on 16 February 1922 he bought a piece of land from the Northeys that ran next to the house, costing £16. But Edward did not go ahead with his planned extension and in fact decided to sell the house, preferring to live in The Bungalow, Ashley.
The next owner was Joseph James Divers from Richmond, Surrey, who bought the house for £235 on 19 September 1922. Joseph was a cabinet-maker and he retired with his wife, Annie, to Wiltshire but again, they did not stay long in this cottage as on 12 May 1925 they sold it to George Jardine Kidston, owner of Hazelbury Manor.
The next owner was Joseph James Divers from Richmond, Surrey, who bought the house for £235 on 19 September 1922. Joseph was a cabinet-maker and he retired with his wife, Annie, to Wiltshire but again, they did not stay long in this cottage as on 12 May 1925 they sold it to George Jardine Kidston, owner of Hazelbury Manor.
Environmental Changes
The whole of Hazelbury Hill was altered in the years between the First and Second World Wars.[8] The Northey family sold the fields opposite Hazelbury Cottage on the east side of the trackway to Ben Vezey in 1923 as part of a general disposal of their Box Hill properties. Ben’s sudden death without making provision in his will in 1930 caused the situation to change again and the land was sold in individual plots for development. This opened the opportunity for development of houses on both sides of the previously rural trackway.
On the west side of the trackway, George Jardine Kidston, owner of Hazelbury Manor, bought Hazelbury Cottage for £325 to be used as an employee’s tied accommodation. On the west side the parish council built council houses on level ground at the foot of the hill in 1953 and Ivan Brickell developed the east side with private houses in 1961.
The whole of Hazelbury Hill was altered in the years between the First and Second World Wars.[8] The Northey family sold the fields opposite Hazelbury Cottage on the east side of the trackway to Ben Vezey in 1923 as part of a general disposal of their Box Hill properties. Ben’s sudden death without making provision in his will in 1930 caused the situation to change again and the land was sold in individual plots for development. This opened the opportunity for development of houses on both sides of the previously rural trackway.
On the west side of the trackway, George Jardine Kidston, owner of Hazelbury Manor, bought Hazelbury Cottage for £325 to be used as an employee’s tied accommodation. On the west side the parish council built council houses on level ground at the foot of the hill in 1953 and Ivan Brickell developed the east side with private houses in 1961.
George Jardine Kidston
Kidston’s contribution to the development of the area was a two-storey extension to Hazelbury Cottage in 1939, the second phase of the construction of the building. GJ Kidston was a retired diplomat who bought Hazelbury Manor from the Northeys in 1919. He was fascinated by the history of the manor and wrote the book, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, which is still the source of much historical information today. He was also heavily involved in the restoration of historical buildings most notably the chapel at Chapel Plaister.[9] Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall can trace his family back to GJ Kidston's daughter, Janet Hamilton Campbell Kidston.
GJ Kidston bought the house from the Divers in 1925, which he wanted as accommodation for staff working in the Manor. In 1939 George applied for planning to extend the cottage. Interestingly, the cottage is called Moody’s Cottage on some of the planning documents, so it could be that the family living in the cottage were the Moodys.
Kidston’s contribution to the development of the area was a two-storey extension to Hazelbury Cottage in 1939, the second phase of the construction of the building. GJ Kidston was a retired diplomat who bought Hazelbury Manor from the Northeys in 1919. He was fascinated by the history of the manor and wrote the book, A History of the Manor of Hazelbury, which is still the source of much historical information today. He was also heavily involved in the restoration of historical buildings most notably the chapel at Chapel Plaister.[9] Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall can trace his family back to GJ Kidston's daughter, Janet Hamilton Campbell Kidston.
GJ Kidston bought the house from the Divers in 1925, which he wanted as accommodation for staff working in the Manor. In 1939 George applied for planning to extend the cottage. Interestingly, the cottage is called Moody’s Cottage on some of the planning documents, so it could be that the family living in the cottage were the Moodys.
Extension by GJ Kidston (courtesy Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre)
As we can see from the plan above, it was at this point that the middle section of the house was built and a new staircase installed. The correspondence associated with the plans was about drainage as the closest mains drain was down at Townsend. So a septic tank was installed fifty feet from the house.
Ivor Ball (centre) at Hazelbury Manor (courtesy Annette and Mike Wilson “Around Corsham and Box in Old Photographs)
The first occupants of this newly improved cottage were newlyweds, Ivor George Ball and his wife Agnes. They married in October 1939, and the plans were submitted in January 1939, so it took almost a year to do the work. Ivor was born in Abergoed, Monmouthshire, in 1911 but later moved to Wormwood Farm where his father was employed as a cowman. By August 1939, Ivor and his parents were living at 8 The Ley. Agnes was also from Wales but was also working at Hazelbury Manor where she met Ivor who had already started work as the second gardener at Hazelbury Manor. On Mr Kidston’s death in 1954 Ivor’s knowledge and eye for landscape design resulted in a promotion to Ornamental Gardener at Corsham Court. Ivor died in 1995. On GJ Kidston’s death the house passed to his son John, and daughter-in-law, Patricia Ann Kidston, inherited the property.
Patricia Kidston sold it to Christopher and Carol Sawyer from East Tytherington on 2 July 1979 for £30,000. They only stayed eighteen months and sold to Russell and Susan Walker from Neston in November 1980 for £42,000. They built the third phase of the cottage which now contains the living room and the master bedroom, as well as a single storey extension along the side. They sold Hazelbury Cottage to the Neales and it was sold again in 2024.
Patricia Kidston sold it to Christopher and Carol Sawyer from East Tytherington on 2 July 1979 for £30,000. They only stayed eighteen months and sold to Russell and Susan Walker from Neston in November 1980 for £42,000. They built the third phase of the cottage which now contains the living room and the master bedroom, as well as a single storey extension along the side. They sold Hazelbury Cottage to the Neales and it was sold again in 2024.
Conclusion
We often look at areas and imagine their appearance has always been constant or, if altered, that there was some linear progression through time. This isn’t true. Most alterations are short term, just for the immediate needs of the owners, or national government requirements on local councils. Sometimes this produces unsatisfactory results distorting the long term, natural basis of areas. This makes the story of locations even more important to record.
We often look at areas and imagine their appearance has always been constant or, if altered, that there was some linear progression through time. This isn’t true. Most alterations are short term, just for the immediate needs of the owners, or national government requirements on local councils. Sometimes this produces unsatisfactory results distorting the long term, natural basis of areas. This makes the story of locations even more important to record.
References
[1] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/hazelbury-hoard.html
[2] This seems to be a common method of the family to exploit their ownership – see Woodland View & Rosebank - Box People and Places
[3] Conveyance dated 30 September 1921
[4] The Bath Herald, 24 September 1880
[5] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/kingsdown-social-life.html
[6] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/enid-daymond-lambert.html
[7] Indenture of the sale mentioned in the conveyance document dated September 1921
[8] Hazelbury Hill - Box People and Places
[9] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/chapel-plaister.html
[1] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/hazelbury-hoard.html
[2] This seems to be a common method of the family to exploit their ownership – see Woodland View & Rosebank - Box People and Places
[3] Conveyance dated 30 September 1921
[4] The Bath Herald, 24 September 1880
[5] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/kingsdown-social-life.html
[6] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/enid-daymond-lambert.html
[7] Indenture of the sale mentioned in the conveyance document dated September 1921
[8] Hazelbury Hill - Box People and Places
[9] http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/chapel-plaister.html