Tyning Cottages, Kingsdown Alan Payne April 2024
Postcard from the 1920s (courtesy John Brooke Flashman)
This is the story of an attractive rank of cottages which contribute to the character of Kingsdown and are of historic interest on the Lower Kingsdown Road. Their history has rarely attracted attention but they are some of the oldest properties in the area with residents working in the Kingsdown quarries in the Georgian and Victorian period. The lives of many of these men are matched by their wives who provided stability in overcrowded homes with no internal running water, washing or lavatory facilities. Their story deserves to be better recorded.
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The rank of three properties between Wolwehoek and Corton on the Lower Kingsdown Road is collectively called The Tyning. Individually they are now known as Down Under, Tumble Down and Tyning Cottage. The word Tyning is locally very common but it was used only around Bath and into parts of Wiltshire. Its meaning is uncertain but it is generally believed to refer to an enclosed area, in other words a privately-owned site. The road name Lower Kingsdown Road is very recent. Previously this section was known as Green Lane until after the Second World War whilst the part nearer the Swan Inn was called High Street.[1] The rural name Green Lane was significant in describing its isolated location. This was suggested when The Firs cottages were developed by the Maslen family. They were keen to record that the detour road they built outside the Post Office should be marked as Private Road, not a dusty public highway. Right: The track running from the Lower Kingsdown (courtesy Carol Payne) |
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The Tyning Cottages are not abutting the Lower Kingsdown Road but running parallel to it down a very long sloping pathway.[2] The cottages were recorded in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment details as reference 614 but it is difficult to see how many separate residences existed then because of extensions and in-filling. There were, perhaps, up to six cottages and gardens. They were recorded as owned by the lords of the manor, William Brook and Edward Richard Northey, tenanted (possibly held as copyhold) by George Salmon and others, and sublet to Various (unlisted) occupiers.
The rank of cottages running north-south parallel to road shown only as a track in the 1840 Tithe Apportionment map (courtesy of Know Your Place)
The 1841 census also lacks certainty because the properties were unnamed. We know from later information that George Salmon lived in Tyning Cottage, towards the north of the rank. We might speculate that the next-door cottage (part of Tumble Down) was occupied by Charles Smart (1811-1885), quarryman, and his wife Elizabeth Ann Hancock (29 January 1809-) who married on 24 December 1832 and where they brought up at least five children. From later evidence it appears that George Betteridge occupied part of the property now called Tumble Down.[3] Whilst this is largely guess-work, the curious arrangement of cottages and extensions is still evident in the present-day layout of the rank, seen below.
Left: Down Under; Middle: Tumbledown; and Right: Tyning Cottage (courtesy Varian Tye)
Front entrance to the cottages (courtesy Carol Payne)
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The Cottages The cottages are very different in size and grandeur, at times varying from 1 bedroom at Down Under to 4 rooms at Tyning Cottage. They were unnamed for most of their existence, known only by the names of their owners. This began to change at the start of the twentieth century. In 1901 two were called Garden Cottage and Barton Cottage, both unoccupied. Later the whole rank was called West View, as in the headline postcard. The properties were linked together in adversity by the lack of running water. The nearest source of water for everyday use was beyond Tyning Cottage from a lovely spring of water where all the folk went with their buckets to fetch water for cooking etc. That spring of water was called Cleves and was always an endless supply of water.[4] It meant that families had to socialize by passing each other’s front doors every day. This resulted in local families intermarrying, such as the marriage between James Betteridge in Tumble Down to Mary Smith (nee Shell) who lived at nearby Vine Cottage. We can reconstruct details of the occupiers of these properties from a variety of sources. |
Tyning Cottage with two lower wings either side of main house (courtesy Varian Tye)
Tyning Cottage
It is probable that the present Tyning Cottage was divided into two in the early 19th century. Ann Humphreys (1790-1857) appears to have lived in the northern extension in 1841 and 1851, next to the Salmon family. There is no indication of Ann’s husband and by 1851 she described herself as a widow. In the censuses, her occupation was described as herb gatherer, foraging in the woods and on commonland to collect medicinal herbs for selling in Bath and to medical practitioners locally.
She also held the tenancy of a herb garden (part of Bunget Coppice) at plot 597 in the woods adjoining the quarry opposite the Swan Inn. It was probably a precarious existence for her to bring up two children but she also occupied part of an orchard
(ref 573) and a ruinous cottage (ref 574), now known as Cleeves Wood.
In the 1841 census George Salmon (1797-1874) was recorded living at an unspecified cottage in Kingsdown and working as a quarryman. This was probably the main part of Tyning Cottage. George was listed along with his wife Elizabeth Pillinger (1799-1871), two children William (1837-), and Edward (1840-) and his mother Ann (1777-) who may well have had the tenancy in her name. The 1851 to 1871 censuses largely continue the same, except that his mother had died by 1851 and George and Elizabeth had an additional child Henry (baptised 28 January 1844-1907).
On George’s death in 1874, the tenancy of the house was taken over by the youngest child, Henry (1844-1907), quarryman, and his wife Annie Prophet (1850-1917) who he married in 1875. She wasn’t local but was a servant for the family of Henry Shebbeare, retired doctor, who lived at Mead Villa (now The Vicarage). They had five children including Gilbert George (known as Buff) Salmon, a gardener, and his sister Ada, who married Bill Ashley and lived in Hundred Acres Cottage, Wormcliffe Lane.[5] Henry died in 1907 and Annie continued to live in the house. To survive, Annie let out rooms to three teenage children, possibly paid for by the parish authorities, and her son William George stayed with her. When Annie died in 1917, the house was called Tyning View, which is the first time that the name of their house can be identified. Her probate record listed her assets as just £75.
It is probable that the present Tyning Cottage was divided into two in the early 19th century. Ann Humphreys (1790-1857) appears to have lived in the northern extension in 1841 and 1851, next to the Salmon family. There is no indication of Ann’s husband and by 1851 she described herself as a widow. In the censuses, her occupation was described as herb gatherer, foraging in the woods and on commonland to collect medicinal herbs for selling in Bath and to medical practitioners locally.
She also held the tenancy of a herb garden (part of Bunget Coppice) at plot 597 in the woods adjoining the quarry opposite the Swan Inn. It was probably a precarious existence for her to bring up two children but she also occupied part of an orchard
(ref 573) and a ruinous cottage (ref 574), now known as Cleeves Wood.
In the 1841 census George Salmon (1797-1874) was recorded living at an unspecified cottage in Kingsdown and working as a quarryman. This was probably the main part of Tyning Cottage. George was listed along with his wife Elizabeth Pillinger (1799-1871), two children William (1837-), and Edward (1840-) and his mother Ann (1777-) who may well have had the tenancy in her name. The 1851 to 1871 censuses largely continue the same, except that his mother had died by 1851 and George and Elizabeth had an additional child Henry (baptised 28 January 1844-1907).
On George’s death in 1874, the tenancy of the house was taken over by the youngest child, Henry (1844-1907), quarryman, and his wife Annie Prophet (1850-1917) who he married in 1875. She wasn’t local but was a servant for the family of Henry Shebbeare, retired doctor, who lived at Mead Villa (now The Vicarage). They had five children including Gilbert George (known as Buff) Salmon, a gardener, and his sister Ada, who married Bill Ashley and lived in Hundred Acres Cottage, Wormcliffe Lane.[5] Henry died in 1907 and Annie continued to live in the house. To survive, Annie let out rooms to three teenage children, possibly paid for by the parish authorities, and her son William George stayed with her. When Annie died in 1917, the house was called Tyning View, which is the first time that the name of their house can be identified. Her probate record listed her assets as just £75.
The present name Tumble Down is relatively modern (courtesy Carol Payne)
Tumble Down
The middle cottage, now called Tumble Down, was occupied by George Betteridge (9 February 1805-1883), agricultural labourer, and his wife Ann Gibbons after their marriage in 1831.[6] By 1841, George was working as a quarryman and he continued as such until 1881, when his age meant that he could no longer earn a living in the quarries and he returned to picking up occasional work, labouring on farms when needed.
George and Ann’s life in Box was typical of Kingsdown residents. They brought up at least nine children in the house, seven boys most of whom tried their hand at quarrying, followed by two daughters. As well as managing this, Ann took in laundry to supplement their income. When the children married and left the home, George and Ann appear to have let out rooms or part of the property to an elderly woman Elizabeth Tye in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. By 1881, that space was needed for their eldest son James Betteridge, who had been widowed after his wife had died in the Devon County Asylum. He lodged with his parents and his children lodged with Mary Shell in next-door Vine Cottage. The Betteridge family appear to have given up the cottage after George’s death in 1883 and a new family took up the tenancy, the Fords.
The Ford family were long-term residents in the Kingsdown area. It was James Ford (1847-), usually called Jimmy, stone mason for the Bath Stone Firms, who came to Tumble Down in the 1890s.[7] Jimmy married Sarah Ragbourne (1852-1890) in 1873 and, after her death in 1890, he lived with his children in the three rooms of Tumble Down between at least 1891 and 1911. His eldest son George (1879-1947), also a quarryman for the Bath Firms, married Frances Beatrice Merrett (3 June 1884-) in 1907 and George and his family lived with James until the latter’s death around the Great War years. In 1921 George, his wife Frances and several of the children were still in the cottage which was known as 2 Tyning Cottages. By 1939 George Ford had moved a few doors away to 3 The Firs, Kingsdown and he died there in 1947.
The middle cottage, now called Tumble Down, was occupied by George Betteridge (9 February 1805-1883), agricultural labourer, and his wife Ann Gibbons after their marriage in 1831.[6] By 1841, George was working as a quarryman and he continued as such until 1881, when his age meant that he could no longer earn a living in the quarries and he returned to picking up occasional work, labouring on farms when needed.
George and Ann’s life in Box was typical of Kingsdown residents. They brought up at least nine children in the house, seven boys most of whom tried their hand at quarrying, followed by two daughters. As well as managing this, Ann took in laundry to supplement their income. When the children married and left the home, George and Ann appear to have let out rooms or part of the property to an elderly woman Elizabeth Tye in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. By 1881, that space was needed for their eldest son James Betteridge, who had been widowed after his wife had died in the Devon County Asylum. He lodged with his parents and his children lodged with Mary Shell in next-door Vine Cottage. The Betteridge family appear to have given up the cottage after George’s death in 1883 and a new family took up the tenancy, the Fords.
The Ford family were long-term residents in the Kingsdown area. It was James Ford (1847-), usually called Jimmy, stone mason for the Bath Stone Firms, who came to Tumble Down in the 1890s.[7] Jimmy married Sarah Ragbourne (1852-1890) in 1873 and, after her death in 1890, he lived with his children in the three rooms of Tumble Down between at least 1891 and 1911. His eldest son George (1879-1947), also a quarryman for the Bath Firms, married Frances Beatrice Merrett (3 June 1884-) in 1907 and George and his family lived with James until the latter’s death around the Great War years. In 1921 George, his wife Frances and several of the children were still in the cottage which was known as 2 Tyning Cottages. By 1939 George Ford had moved a few doors away to 3 The Firs, Kingsdown and he died there in 1947.
Down Under entrance (courtesy Carol Payne)
Down Under
The smallest of the present-day division of the terrace is Down Under, also dating back to the 1840 Tithe Apportionment, its age is evidenced by the stone mullion windows. It is very difficult to identify the early occupants of the cottage but we can hazard some guesses based on their location to better recorded residences.
In the 1841 census Charles Smart (1811-1885), quarryman, from Melksham and his wife Elizabeth Ann Hancock (29 January 1809-about 1883), usually known as Ann, were listed next door to George Salmon. Charles and Ann married on 24 December 1832. Between 1851 and 1871 they lived in the area but not the same precise location, where they brought up at least five children. In 1881 Charles and his wife were on their own and their house was most probably Down Under. They both died a few years later.
In 1911 Edwin Ford (1846-), labourer general, lived alone as a widower in Down Under next to his nephew George in Tumble Down. The cottage comprised just two rooms, fine for a person on his own after the death of his wife Eliza in 1909. He did not stay there long and in 1921 a young widow, Mabel Matilda Fletcher, nee Smith, (1894-) lived in the property then called 1 Tyning Cottages with her two infant daughters. She was the daughter of a Twerton corset-maker and had married Albert Edward Fletcher (1892-1921) in 1914. Albert had been an errand boy for a Bath butcher’s shop until he stole money from his employer by keeping cash receipts when making deliveries in 1907.[8] The magistrates heard of his childhood in a Bournemouth Children’s Home and bound him over as a first-time offender. Albert died in 1914, leaving Mabel and the children to manage the best they could.
The smallest of the present-day division of the terrace is Down Under, also dating back to the 1840 Tithe Apportionment, its age is evidenced by the stone mullion windows. It is very difficult to identify the early occupants of the cottage but we can hazard some guesses based on their location to better recorded residences.
In the 1841 census Charles Smart (1811-1885), quarryman, from Melksham and his wife Elizabeth Ann Hancock (29 January 1809-about 1883), usually known as Ann, were listed next door to George Salmon. Charles and Ann married on 24 December 1832. Between 1851 and 1871 they lived in the area but not the same precise location, where they brought up at least five children. In 1881 Charles and his wife were on their own and their house was most probably Down Under. They both died a few years later.
In 1911 Edwin Ford (1846-), labourer general, lived alone as a widower in Down Under next to his nephew George in Tumble Down. The cottage comprised just two rooms, fine for a person on his own after the death of his wife Eliza in 1909. He did not stay there long and in 1921 a young widow, Mabel Matilda Fletcher, nee Smith, (1894-) lived in the property then called 1 Tyning Cottages with her two infant daughters. She was the daughter of a Twerton corset-maker and had married Albert Edward Fletcher (1892-1921) in 1914. Albert had been an errand boy for a Bath butcher’s shop until he stole money from his employer by keeping cash receipts when making deliveries in 1907.[8] The magistrates heard of his childhood in a Bournemouth Children’s Home and bound him over as a first-time offender. Albert died in 1914, leaving Mabel and the children to manage the best they could.
The 19th century residents of these ordinary Kingsdown properties are fascinating for the dignity of their lives despite their poverty. The continuity of the tenancies of the Betteridge and Ford families shows how close they were to their neighbours and landlords the Salmon family. As well as recording the lives of these quarrymen, the labours of the remarkable Kingsdown women deserves to be recognised.
Census Details in the order listed
(CAPITAL letters = my guess about the cottage name)
(CAPITAL letters = my guess about the cottage name)
- 1841 George Betteridge, Charles Smart (1811-1885), quarryman, and his wife Elizabeth Ann Hancock (29 January 1809-) m 24 December 1832 brought up at least five children, George Salmon, Ann Humphreys, herb gatherer, William Filer, ag lab, William Jones thatcher
- 1851: Charles Smart, Unoccupied, Mary Smith, George Beatridge (sic), Thomas Comley carpenter, George Salmon, Ann Humphreys (1790-) widowed herb gatherer, William Jones, thatcher
- 1861: Unoccupied, Joseph Tye, John Filer, Thomas Comley, George Salmon, Elizabeth Tye, George Beatridge (sic), John Gay, Charles Smart
- 1871: John Filer, George Betteridge, Elizabeth Tye, George Salmon, Thomas Gullis (1838-1919), ex-shepherd from Henley who changed to be a quarry labourer and married Mary Gale (1836-) on 5 May 1859 and later Sarah Betteridge. (He moved to Bath area by 1901 and returned to shepherding), John Harris, Richard Fletcher, Charles Smart
- 1881: Thomas Gullis quarryman, DOWN UNDER Charles Smart (1811-) ag lab who married Ann (1811-), TUMBLE DOWN George Betteridge ag lab, TYNING Henry Salmon quarryman, James Brokenbrow ag lab, John Filer ag lab
- 1891: John Filer farm labourer, James Brokenbrow general labourer, Henry Salmon, James Ford stone quarryman, William Brooks stone quarryman, John Gullis stone quarryman
- 1901: Ann Filer, James Brokenbrow labourer, Henry Salmon mason, Garden Cottage (unoccupied), Barton Cottage (unoccupied), James Ford, mason, Alfred Helps quarryman, Mary Gullis, George Betteridge, quarryman
- 1911: DOWN UNDER Edwin Ford, TUMBLE DOWN James Ford quarryman, TYNING Ann Salmon (4-roomed house), Annie Brokenbrow, laundress, William Harwood, postman
- 1921: 1 Tyning Cottages: Mabel Matilda Fletcher nee Smith (1894-), widow born Bath with two small children, Florence Olive (1918-) and Lilian May (1916 OR 17-) wife of albert E Fletcher (1892-1921) who she married in 1914
- 1939: John Pratt, Kingsdown Post Office, Emma Ash, George Betteridge (1862-), WOLWEHOECK Charles Miles, George Pritchard 66 Kingsdown, Mary Tiley at Rock View
References
[1] Courtesy Ara Krikorian and Peggy Butt
[2] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[3] See Kingsdown Residents - Box People and Places
[4] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[5] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[6] See Jane Hussey, Kingsdown Residents - Box People and Places
[7] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[8] The Bath Chronicle, 12 December 1907
[1] Courtesy Ara Krikorian and Peggy Butt
[2] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[3] See Kingsdown Residents - Box People and Places
[4] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[5] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[6] See Jane Hussey, Kingsdown Residents - Box People and Places
[7] Victor Painter, Kingsdown Memories, http://www.choghole.co.uk/victor/victor1.htm
[8] The Bath Chronicle, 12 December 1907