APPLEDORE

Appledore (Old English for apple tree) is a Grade II listed, thatched house on the village street, originally incorporating four cottages - nos 52, 53, 54 and 55 -constructed in the 17th and early 18th centuries with timber frames supporting wattle and daub walls which were later refaced in brick.

The Savernake Sale Catalogue of 1929 tells us that both cottages nos 52 and 53 comprised a living room with stove, pantry, back kitchen and one bedroom. Outside there was a woodhouse, an earth closet, pigsty and good garden with a right of way that extended along the back of all four cottages.

No 54 had two bedrooms, living room, pantry and wash-house, a similar amount of land and outbuildings, plus a well of water that could be accessed by the other three cottages. No 55 also had two bedrooms, living room, pantry, wash-house and coal cupboard. Outside there was a woodhouse, earth closet and large garden which was let to Mr Hillier as an allotment for 5s per annum.

Appledore appears to be an idyllic, quintessential English country cottage, but in its original form the attractive façade would have been no more than window dressing.

Village properties such as these were built by landlords to a basic design, using locally sourced materials, as tied accommodation for their farm labourers. Front porches wreathed in roses and honeysuckle often concealed appalling conditions, with large families of eight or more children living in cramped, uncomfortable and unhealthy surroundings.

Winter brought extra hardships. The cold and damp harboured a great deal of sickness during bad weather and many did not survive the scourge of such diseases as diphtheria.

For the children who reached maturity, life for the lads held few prospects other than some badly paid job on the land. The village girls fared better, many went off into domestic service to work long hours for poor pay, but at least in most cases they were well fed and learned skills which would help them in later life. Some became dairymaids and were sent on training courses by the farmers to learn how to make cheese and butter.

During the mid-19th century, Wiltshire had the highest incidence of the Poor Rate in England and in Easton it is estimated that a third of families were ‘on the Parish’ – a condition regarded as the ultimate disgrace by most working men. Over some elderly couples loomed the shadow of the Pewsey Union – the dreaded workhouse – where a man and wife were segregated in different wings and allowed to meet for half a day on Sundays.

In around 1950, nos 53 and 54 merged and the name Appledore was given to no 52. At that time, no 55 was in a poor state of repair and demolished.

The occupants, Tim and Ivy Stagg, moved into one of the local authority houses then newly built on Harris Lane- a turning off the village street originally an ancient track joining settlements along the southern side of the Pewsey Vale to Burbage. The end of the track then became a short piece of made-up road linking Copes Cottage, which had stood in splendid isolation for 150 years, with the rest of the village. The name Harris Lane is a derivation of Harry’s Lane or King’s Highway as a reference to Henry IV.

When some forty years later the remaining cottages were converted into one house called Appledore, a matching brick two bay extension with low eaves was added to replace the previous no 55.

Appledore circa 1947

Harris Lane

Copes Cottage