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McColl’s Building
Alan Payne February 2019 A reader of the website noticed something that most of us pass by regularly and don’t appreciate. He wrote: I noticed the other day as I was walking along the High Street that there’s a stone brick embedded in the wall above the McColl’s sign on the shop. Do you happen to know the history of this building? This is a fascinating enquiry and encompasses a lot of Box’s history. The stone is the datestone of the construction of this curious, little infill building in 1925. Most of us recall that the building was the old Co-op shop but that is only part of the story and we need to go back earlier to understand the development properly. Right: Insignia just above alarm box (courtesy Carol Payne) |
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The road was very different in the early 1800s, reflecting the old contours still evidenced by the low-lying garden of the Old Dairy and the dips and slope of the Market Place. This area was the access of the Box Brewery onto the main highway. Reputedly it had an archway for the Brewery dray horses to enter the main road carrying their loads of beer up a steep slope.
Box Brewery
In this area, the Brewery had a tall chimney to heat each batch of beer to extract the colour and taste required. It was usual to heat the brew to 150 degrees for up to an hour in a preliminary extraction process, then cook again with malt and hops for another hour. Thereafter hot water was needed to sterilise the utensils for the next batch. You can see the chimney and almost sense the beer-smell coming from it in the photo below, taken after the building of the Methodist Schoolroom in 1907.
Box Brewery
In this area, the Brewery had a tall chimney to heat each batch of beer to extract the colour and taste required. It was usual to heat the brew to 150 degrees for up to an hour in a preliminary extraction process, then cook again with malt and hops for another hour. Thereafter hot water was needed to sterilise the utensils for the next batch. You can see the chimney and almost sense the beer-smell coming from it in the photo below, taken after the building of the Methodist Schoolroom in 1907.
View of central Box (courtesy Box Parish Council)
The building immediately to the right of the chimney was the office of the manager of the Manor of Box and Ashley Estate Offices where the agent of the estate would deal with tenants and problems in the absence of the Northey family, lords of the manor. Could it be that the horse and cart seen moving on the road was a dray cart for the Brewery?
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Next to the Estate Office is a private residence called Clock House and the timepiece clearly seen on the front of the building. The clock was a visual sign of the importance of Box Brewery and the only visible timepiece in the centre of the village before the School clock was installed in the spire to honour Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1896.
Later the building had a more significant use during the Second World War when CH Fildes of Alcombe House moved the Headquarters of the quartermaster stores and Intelligence Section of the Box Home Guard Platoon Command from Kingsmoor House in the Ley to Clock House in early 1942. But back to story of Box Brewery. |
Clock House showing detail of the clock (courtesy Jane Browning)
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Village in 1920s
The Brewery closed in 1924 shortly after the death of Edwin Skeate Pinchin and the buildings were offered at auction in a poor state of repair. Unemployment was extensive in Box, well-documented in the village’s Parish Magazine. In 1923 the vicar, Henry Sweetapple, wrote about the situation: May God stir Box to cast off lethargy and carelessness and awake our higher interests. In January 1924 emigration to Australia was in many young people’s minds. The Parish Magazine reported: We would remind any lads thinking of seeking a career in another land of the splendid opportunities offered by the Australian government to boys between the ages of 15 and 18. A number of quarrymen moved to the coal mines of Wales.
By March 1929, the situation had become even more difficult: The times for many poor in Box are very hard. Donations, large or small, will be welcomed. If you have a comfortable room and plenty of coal, give a thought to those who have, in many cases, only 10s a week Old Age Pension, out of which there have to come rent, fuel and food.
At this moment, the Co-operative movement decided that they should help and this part of the Brewery site was bought by the Bath & Twerton Co-operative Society and redeveloped as a retail shop. It was a bold expansion at the time because Box was suffering in the General Depression of the 1920s, worsened locally by a slump in the stone trade.
The Brewery closed in 1924 shortly after the death of Edwin Skeate Pinchin and the buildings were offered at auction in a poor state of repair. Unemployment was extensive in Box, well-documented in the village’s Parish Magazine. In 1923 the vicar, Henry Sweetapple, wrote about the situation: May God stir Box to cast off lethargy and carelessness and awake our higher interests. In January 1924 emigration to Australia was in many young people’s minds. The Parish Magazine reported: We would remind any lads thinking of seeking a career in another land of the splendid opportunities offered by the Australian government to boys between the ages of 15 and 18. A number of quarrymen moved to the coal mines of Wales.
By March 1929, the situation had become even more difficult: The times for many poor in Box are very hard. Donations, large or small, will be welcomed. If you have a comfortable room and plenty of coal, give a thought to those who have, in many cases, only 10s a week Old Age Pension, out of which there have to come rent, fuel and food.
At this moment, the Co-operative movement decided that they should help and this part of the Brewery site was bought by the Bath & Twerton Co-operative Society and redeveloped as a retail shop. It was a bold expansion at the time because Box was suffering in the General Depression of the 1920s, worsened locally by a slump in the stone trade.
The building when new (courtesy Rose Ledbury)
The Co-op Shop
Above is the earliest known photo of the building probably from the 1930s. The shop was clearly meant to express the unfussy, simple lines of the early Art Deco movement and it still stands out from its Victorian surroundings.
The shop promoted itself to the basic needs of villagers. It offered Weekly supply of grocery, bread, coal and, in the years of hardship, Free Death Benefits and a Convalescent Fund.[1] In 1928 the shop organised a children's fete for 170 youngsters who processed from the shop to a nearby Fete Field led by the Colerne Brass Band where they played hoop-la, cokernut (sic) shy, and flat and sack races.[Bath Chronicle and Herald, 1 September 1928] Mesdames Little and Moody of the Box Women's Co-operative Guild served tea in a marquee and an evening concert was put on in the tent including a Frolics Concert Party from Bath. Great assistance was given by Mr Meads, the manager of the new Co-op store.
This little shop celebrates its centenary shortly. In some respects, we might regard the building as a symbol of the end of the Victorian / Edwardian era and the start of our modern age. It may be that we are on the cusp of a new era of on-line and drone-delivered shopping experience. The future of McColl’s in Box will ultimately tell us. In the meantime, let’s continue to enjoy its facilities, so necessary for many residents to shop locally.
Above is the earliest known photo of the building probably from the 1930s. The shop was clearly meant to express the unfussy, simple lines of the early Art Deco movement and it still stands out from its Victorian surroundings.
The shop promoted itself to the basic needs of villagers. It offered Weekly supply of grocery, bread, coal and, in the years of hardship, Free Death Benefits and a Convalescent Fund.[1] In 1928 the shop organised a children's fete for 170 youngsters who processed from the shop to a nearby Fete Field led by the Colerne Brass Band where they played hoop-la, cokernut (sic) shy, and flat and sack races.[Bath Chronicle and Herald, 1 September 1928] Mesdames Little and Moody of the Box Women's Co-operative Guild served tea in a marquee and an evening concert was put on in the tent including a Frolics Concert Party from Bath. Great assistance was given by Mr Meads, the manager of the new Co-op store.
This little shop celebrates its centenary shortly. In some respects, we might regard the building as a symbol of the end of the Victorian / Edwardian era and the start of our modern age. It may be that we are on the cusp of a new era of on-line and drone-delivered shopping experience. The future of McColl’s in Box will ultimately tell us. In the meantime, let’s continue to enjoy its facilities, so necessary for many residents to shop locally.
Reference
[1] See article about Shops in 1920s
[1] See article about Shops in 1920s