ST MARY STREET

The photo above was taken in the late 1960's just before the row of cottages was pulled down.  There were four cottages on the West side of the street, comprising two groups of two.  The lower two cottages and the adjoining coach-house were owned by the  Corporation of Thornbury and from the 1890's by the Thornbury Town Trust, the other two cottages were privately owned.  Further up the street you just see a sign outside Hawkins's shop and the tall building with the pointed roof which is the back of Town's cinema called 'The Picture House'.

The house which became number 8 was the house on the right with the brown door.  The house on the left with the green door was number 10.

The earliest reference we have of these houses is 1580 when they were given, with other land and property in Thornbury, by Thomas Slimbridge for the benefit of the poor of the Borough.  They were thus vested in the Corporation of Thornbury and managed by the Mayor and the twelve aldermen of the town.

We know from the Mayors Accounts Book that the Corporation still owned the houses in 1820 and we can trace most of their tenants since that time.  In the 1840 Tithe Survey number 8 was Plot 166, a house, slaughterhouse and garden occupied by Joseph Walker.  Number 10 was Plot 165 occupied by Benjamin English.  Plot 167 was the coach-house and garden (next door to number 8) which was unoccupied at the time of the survey.

In 1963 the Trust were informed that they could not let the buildings for housing purposes as they were unsuitable for habitation.  The Trust sought alternative tenants who used the premises for storage purposes.  In 1969 the houses were acquired by Thornbury Rural District Council under a compulsory purchase order as part of the Town Centre re-development.  They were replaced by a modern shop unit now used by the Heart Foundation.

Click here to read about the OCCUPANTS of number 8

Click here to read about the OCCUPANTS of number 10

This page was last updated: 31/03/2012