26 Castle Street

We have been told by a recent owner of the house  that this is a very old property with particularly thick walls and that it may date back to 1702/3. 

The 1840 Tithe Map shows number 26 had the plot numbers 275 and 276.  This property and the house next door (plot number 274) were both owned by John Leonard.  This house had a large garden at the back which was attached to the house  by a narrow strip of land.

We have been told that there was still no bathroom in the house when the Matthews family moved in in 1946 and they had a an annexe with a corrugated iron roof built on to the house to form a bathroom.

Previous owners of number 26 were also surprised to find a well on the property which may have supplied both this and number 24 with water.  The well was at least 12 feet deep and lined with bricks.  A notice of sale dated 1852 says that number 24 had a passage which was also a right of way for both houses.  The right of way may have been associated with access to this well.  The boundaries between the properties appear to have changed at different times in their history.

The house appears to have had the same owners as 24 Castle Street throughout its known history until 1954 when it was bought by Dennis and Annie Matthews.  It was later acquired by Mr and Mrs Black who also owned 24 until it was sold to be used by the Roman Catholic Church as a presbytery.  For this reason the owners of the two houses have been dealt with together.

Click here to see the owners of the houses

Click here to see the occupiers of number 26

This page was last updated: 16/07/2010