Reprinted from Gloucestershire History N0. 6 (1992) pages 2-4 AN OLD HOUSE IN LEONARD STANLEY by F P Meadows There is an old house in The Street, Leonard Stanley, which EARLY BUILDING had its origin in the 14th century, and which still contains portions The original building was an open hall of three bays of cruck of the original fabric. It is the oldest recorded house in the village. framed timber construction with wattle and daub infilling. One Having undergone several stages of enlargement, alteration and cruck bay and the foot of another still survive. In what was for- restoration, surviving a great town fire in 1686, and narrowly merly the eastern external wall there are preserved two original escaping demolition in 1957, it is now a complex building of unglazed windows with diagonally set and closely spaced wooden differing dates and architectural styles, and in a good state of mullions. They are among the finest examples of their kind in the preservation. country. Today they can only be seen from inside the ‘Weaver's The original building is thought to have been built for some Cottage‘. The house became L-shaped by the addition of a two important person, probably connected with the wool trade. The storied cross wing at the northern end. A room and a porch were weaving industry, which started in Leonard Stanley in about 1550, later added in the angle. This room later became ‘The Weaver's had already been established on the premises when Richard Comell Cottage‘, and the porch could have been the double decker one that (Cornwell or Cornwall) purchased the property in January 1560. was removed when the building was renovated in 1958. At the During the following two hundred years, the house was almost period when the said room and porch were built, an upper floor continuously owned and occupied by weavers or mercers, first by was added to the remainder of the house. The next extension was the Cornell family and later by other families to whom the house in the 16th century when a wing of close-studded timber framing had passed by marriage. with a jettied upper storey was built, projecting from the rear of the original block. This is believed to have been in existence in '11" ~~ - .. »~ . 1559, when the house was leased for sixty years to a weaver named ‘£..°.*~>i° -.t..- .=- ...»~ t .' :- awn 3 -1..-’. *1 ". ._¢-*““.- ,;:w-..?- , “_.- , v~t___a_‘,_-;' 3* .. . __== - e _:-2;» William Taylor. The lease gave the following description:- ‘one _ . . "$1 _ug- _.;f':7 -;__.:,_‘§ _; -5 \j@;‘$ ;. zr‘- ‘§‘ _.j... J.” -v, _ -- __ "-E31; 8' .-» - _ ‘- - _;- -ah‘ »~- -1-. {(‘_*~_:. <4. ’ :..-ah . -gv '-W.- Kg g;-..». f .-\_.. -. tenement, a backsyde with one weaving shoppe in the said ' ‘i-“*9, '=,""> _. I ' "fr ' .‘.. ii" -?_‘ '___,, '-‘.~: :-- If ‘-‘c -,,__ . t,_____ F \.,q.¢' -j ¢'_‘>~}_’;,,,,,g_~ .1 -?-"\Q:?- _ ,___ 7 " . .--1...“; __:_:_ "’‘E “““““§""‘**.5‘-gw .r_*;~;.>"Q-‘.34, = - --‘ _- 33- ..,= 3-><-=5 " .‘;;:-*1-’*“ ‘“"~".--.‘i ,- _ ;=_.§_- ‘_."‘?""'”‘;lM . ~ - C4.‘'§§5‘?‘¢,____“§--11.»:_\__. "*T“" backsyde, the dwelling house containing iii rooms tyled and the -:__'-*1» -s- =-=§*.,_1.‘€::‘-"--="-.jIq=~=“.‘,r _Y\3- "- _ -‘ " -1'31 $_:Ar_:\{3 _ ‘Q. *- .5 ‘pqIlIW<"'°;‘-"..'-_.-~ >~—::!.*~I I‘. ._-1~ =.'. = s . 2;. ag ..-; _. _. __ G ’_- ‘K_ ‘Y- -.as-. A '-’é‘ .12 '- “‘ ' ’+~ Q M ‘i =5 t " ':=>'~'=; " i ii *1‘-'- said weaving shoppe contenying ii rooms thatched.‘ The weaving t“"-?E:~~ 5.; - "““"Ti" 3'25-» ' -'' $5’ -' ...§1~~&—.?l..-.Fr ~*'" . t "“*I...I’*"&i‘ E1E . --I*" ._i...-..__:~>*-3 -_: 2 - ___ ~<__‘_a_’fi, :_‘;_ - 0. “CT. _: - E gig- , ‘I . : _ ' , _ flu shop was on the ground floor and housed two looms, and above __ . Tr’.-, .-;.; _ .,-: {'3}.', ..‘r~*é“"\' '<- -.-4 ‘ti ~- -. - 4 * '-. at- . ‘ jflt;-_ ' II- __ " ':"'._l.--5-; _ 4-" ,~ Q“ ._ I;_ i- rum~rffif‘,1.‘ , . ' ~" 9. , ”'§¢~‘;.-.-32--" ~.11! ""“ ‘it; ..$19‘. 3‘ "‘ Ii. I-7‘ '“¥-\‘+-* “ it was a wool and cloth store. 3‘5".=s :'.='>-’:+i.*'5 ~ '= “:3? ‘iii?-‘ '-‘l.\.i“'*~"*‘=-_‘~'-vi‘ .-"1 §s<' "1.-i" ~ '."'-.'="‘=‘-*5 ~-'R,§*'~.~ §-=<= Another close-studded extension was made on the east side of -I _: -' ' ‘ -‘ ;"- ' ‘. ‘- 13“ . -'.>.'1'"1 - ‘ '.-..i:.."la-'5‘: ~' ‘:1:€'-j'F+' 35». ' §Z?§§"*' 9"““ -to 1 -1 - r.§._,,.-i.l:=.<-5.113;!!!--.*>\g-_ - . at — ,t*.W,__.<-$3-_i@:i= , -‘=:-3k_.'~ star-~_—‘fi- git; ~41, ...=.-,- >q.- .§¥_ ». ,.:,_;._ —=,_-—:.’€ \-,-_-$_. -=- ~. as-- . 1 :___,_.{, \._ %aaaw.-1‘ M 5;:- -. the house to form the existing two-gabled frontage to The Street. I is 1‘ ' 1'29.‘5‘\ .. - ' ~~ -i‘ :.3 : - - ' -r r-Z‘ \ ' - -- ' "V-‘ _- '1.“""41?’. .; | .— 7“? it . —.‘_ - “ ' "-' . "I ‘3\."‘~'H '1 I "Q '2 ". -\'-' 1'-'~"""')." L ~ - “' : I ' I 3» .- A -$9 1 M ‘‘ ~' With this extension the earlier jettied frontage of the upper storey -' "* >1 ‘-‘§§~";.-“:1"‘- 1;. If :4 .- .;=- -= *I?"i;. : " ‘xv at ;=" ~ * ‘ W‘ .~ -$2 Int-_ 3 _ ~*: ='< ‘* , -';.§f-;;-‘<=~.~<*=.§"-"\_ ‘Q-*1 ...-;'jj§-.r:§-;. > .~A - §‘.“=I*‘~'-,3 ~°."‘._.. ' »__’_,' " \_:~ -sIi"I -' -- =-1: . ' - - =-._ _-~3 ~ -' ‘.3: = ' . .- = -‘- -‘ >2°'-“§‘--—<*- ~_ >: - ‘ disappeared. Unfortunately, this small extension was found to have t I iE\\§‘h$~U 1? \\,.+.==-as?1'? \ 3“ in $4 -P“’fl“““ ~ 1‘ ‘ t > .n " 1 "' 1:»-§~ =<**-=- ‘ - ‘¢rsQ"- °‘= ‘a’ \ “‘ 9 Ifr“ ‘ + .. “§‘
- 1592, and his will contained various bequests of household goods ’ typical ofthe period. He had four sons and six daughters at the time of his death. John, the eldest son, received his weaving tools:- a warping bar, a 'scarrowe‘, a 'rathe‘, and a ‘helding board‘. John's _. ‘ 1\'$s$__t= ,_ ~.- .- son, Richard II, received a great chest. It was probably John Cornell nu =‘ " -. top! t‘s .A who added the stonework to the front part of the house. When A modern view of the building. Richard II married Joan Aburge of Dodington in 1624, John settled the house on him, reserving to himself ‘the dwelling house part of Webley‘s daughter, Mary Comell, survived her husband by the premises and such additions of buildings as are added thereto‘. more than forty years, dying in 1707 aged about eighty-five, and In the rentals of the Manor ofLeonard Stanley from 1645 onwards, was the last of the Comell family to live at Leonard Stanley. Her the occupants of the house paid ls. 6d. per annum for an en- younger sister, Hannah, married a man named Scott, who ap- croachment on the waste near the house, which probably refers to parently left her an estate in Spert Hill, Wilts. With the £200 land taken out of the roadway when the front portion was added. realised by the sale of that property she bought the house from her Richard II eventually became a farmer. By 1649 he had set- father in 1667 and leased it to him for the lives of himself and his tled near the home of his wife, Joan, and had become known as wife at the nominal rent of a shilling per annum. The object was ‘of Chipping Sodbury, yeoman‘. In the meantime, the house had probably to prevent a claim on the house by Thomas‘ son, George. been let to tenants like James Englishe and Richard's sister, Joan In 1693, George, released his claims to Thomas Scott, the son of Beere (or Beare). Hannah and then the owner of the house. Thomas Webley‘s widow, In 1649, Richard II sold the house for the sum of £69 15s. 0d.~ Edith, was still living in part of the house when Hannah died in to his cousin John Comell‘s father-in-law, a mercer, named Thomas 1677. Webley. Webley had begun an association with the property in Hannah and Mary carried on their father's business as partners 1626 when James Cornell assigned to him the 1586 lease of until Hannah died. At the court of October 17 1673, the pre- 2'/2 rooms. Although Webley described himself as a mercer, he sentment of the manoiial jury included a reference to their being actually dealt in anything yielding a profit. Something may be involved in the illegal trade practice of forestalling by buying up gathered of his business ability in the depositions taken during a commodities so as to control the market. Mary appears to have lawsuit he brought against Samuel Ball of Stonehouse in 1647. retired from business on Hannah's death; there is no further ref- Ball's wife, Deborah, had been buying clothes from Webley erence in the manor court papers to her illegal practices. without her husband's knowledge, and according to Webley, By her will of 1677, Hannah left ‘the homestead which I now without paying for them. Their cost had been put on her husband's dwell in‘ to her son Thomas; and another house in the village to account, and after a few years it amounted to more than £9. her daughter Hannah. Her personal estate was divided between Deborah alleged that the goods had been paid for and brought them. Two gold rings and four silver spoons were included in the witnesses to prove it. Other deponents claimed to have been will similarly cheated. The most distinguished of these was the Lord of the Manor, John Sandford, of the Priory, Leonard Stanley, who OTHER OWNERS said that his wife had bought cloth, and that two months later, as Thomas Scott, the next owner of the house, described himself she was walking past the shop, Webley demanded payment again. as a mercer, although, like his mother and grandfather, he did not Deponents on behalf of Webley included his three children. The restrict his trading to cloth. In 1689 he and Anne Packer were eldest daughter, Mary, had married into the Cornell family. Her presented at the manor court for forestalling the market with butter. husband was John Comell, a clothier of Stonehouse, grandson of He was a man of some substance, as his will and the inventory of Richard I. Webley‘s other daughter was named Hannah, and the his widow suggest. In 1693 he was able to lend £500 to his cousin, son, George. John Partridge of Leonard Stanley. The house, in his time, was probably at its best, and it was probably the only time at which it THE WEBLEYS was wholly occupied by a single family. He died in September, _ The Webley family seems not to have been a happy one. In his 1693, leaving the house, £540 secured by mortgage, and land at will of 1671, Thomas left his son George ‘one shilling of lawful Brockley Field to his wife Sarah for life, with remainder to his three English money. Also I do give him... all those particular debts that daughters, Anne, Sarah and Mary. His wife survived him by only are owing to me by Doctor Rutherford and Doctor Madocks, a few weeks, and her will, made not more than three days after his Theophilus Cowley, Thomas Blanknett, Thomas Shaa, William death, is a pathetic document. She left all her property in trust for Andrews and Daniel Blanch, which particular sums ley uppon my her three daughters, all of whom were minors, with the proviso that shop booke‘. Hannah received: ‘my chests and boxes which she ‘whereas I, the said Sarah Scott, am at this present tiine bigg with hath notalready of her own belonging to the shop‘, and Mary: ‘the child, if it shall happen through the mercy ofGod that the said child great spice mortar and all scales, weights and measures that are shall be bom alive and live in this world‘ it should receive its share in or belonging to the said shop‘. A house and land that Webley of the property. Though her will was not proved until June 1694, had bought in King‘S Stanley was left to the daughters on condition her inventory is dated November 6, 1693, so it was likely that she that they allowed their mother, Edith, her livelihood and main- died in childbirth. I
The inventory reflects the wealth of Thomas Scott. In the Priory in 1535, and the Great Fire in 1686. Henry VIII with his kitchen chamber (the best bedroom) there were five gold rings, six queen and retinue had travelled from Gloucester to stay overnight silver spoons, a pair of silver buckles and a silver bodkin. In the at the Priory, from whence they proceeded on the next day to same room was a chest of drawers (at that time a recent intro- Berkeley Castle. The King was probably making visits to the duction), a large looking-glass and a brass clock. Mercery and wealthier religious houses that he had already planned to plunder; grocery wares in the shop and warehouse were worth £305-15s. and it is probable that he also wished to be out‘ of London at the 8d., and £165-13s. 9d. was owing in debts. time of Sir Thomas More's execution. There is no doubt that the During the minority of Sarah Scott's daughters, the house was magnificent spectacle of the royal visitors in their elaborate and probably held by John Cam as Trustee. Mary did not marry, but costly clothes, proceeding along the street and disappearing into Sarah married George Barron, a baker of Putloe - and Anne the Priory followed by the royal guard, the attendant ladies and married John Crowther, a local shop-keeper. The Barrons sold their gentlemen and other members of the Court, was something share in the house to the Crowthers in 1741/2. Anne died the previously quite unknown and dumbfounding to the inhabitants. following year, but John Crowther and his son Thomas kept shop The great fire of 1686, that destroyed all the houses and there until their deaths in 1760 and 1761 respectively. The house buildings in the street, except the few stone-built houses, wrought then passed to Margaret and Catherine Crowther, sisters of the a great change in the former market town, which has never since younger Thomas. Both died unmarried, Catherine in 1766 and regained its former importance. Margaret in 1792. Margaret left all her property to her faithful servant, Hammoleketh Baker, who sold the house in 1803 to Thomas Miles, Surgeon. Miles was still resident there in 1834, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS when he owned Chapel House immediately to the north together with the orchard behind it. The author is grateful for information given him by Mr L F There is a memorial tablet to him and his wife and brother in Walrond, Curator of Stroud Museum, and for permission from the Leonard Stanley Parish Church. Gloucestershire County Record Office to make use of informa- tion from P.A. 201/3. THE STREET The author is grateful to Dr G Fisher for the sketch of the The Street itself is not without its history, but no longer is it Mercer's House & The Weaver's Cottage. the main thoroughfare of an important market town; and no longer Books and publications consulted: is it traversed by visitors to the Priory and busy with pack-horses The Victoria County History of Gloucestershire. laden with wool. The most notable events that took place there Anne Ortzen "The Village of Leonard Stanley", The Mu- were the visit of Henry VIII and his queen, Anne Boleyn, to the nicipal Journal, Feb 20 1959.
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