ROSE COTTAGE, 10 CHAPEL STREET, BADSEY
Rose Cottage is a semi-detached cottage adjoining Vine Cottage. Parts of Rose Cottage may date back to the 16th century, but little is known about its early history. It is also difficult to ascertain from the 1841-1901 census records who actually lived in Rose Cottage during the Victorian period. The reason for this is that there were a number of cottages in the vicinity (most since demolished) and no house names were given; perhaps Rose Cottage and its neighbouring Vine Cottage were not named until the 20th century.
At some time in the first few decades of the 20th century, it came into the possession of the Amos and McDonald family, but when is not known. The 1924 Electoral Register for Badsey lists Margaret Ann McDonald as living at Chapel Street. This may have been Rose Cottage, though by the 1930s she was definitely living in a 20th century semi-detached house in Chapel Street. Some documents, in the ownership of the current owner, give some clue to 20th century ownership.
7th May 1932 – Land Charges Search No 126057/32.
12th May 1932 – Mark Edmund Amos and Margaret Ann McDonald sold Rose Cottage to Ethel Narcisse Sladden. It is probable that the name Mark is a mis-typing of the name Frank. Frank Edmund Amos was Headmaster of Badsey Council School from 1913 to 1944. The previous Headmaster had been John Henry McDonald from 1895 to 1913. Frank joined the school as a teacher in 1913, and soon took over as Headmaster after the resignation of John McDonald due to ill-health. Frank married one of McDonald’s daughters, Jean. Margaret Ann McDonald, referred to above, was another daughter, who never married, and was a teacher at the school. Ethel Sladden was one of the unmarried daughters of Sir Julius and Eugenie Sladden. After her parents’ death, she continued to live at the family home, Seward House, along with her unmarried sisters, until her death.
1932-1961 – Rose Cottage was let to tenants. Ted Johnson, the milkman, lived there in the 1930s and 1940s; he had land at Bowers Hill where he kept his cows and delivered milk around the village.
c 1950 – Sharps Cottages, a row of cottages back-to-back with Rose Cottage and Vine Cottage, were demolished.
1951 – Churchyard extension consecrated and the Garden of Remembrance created where Sharps Cottages had been situated
29th January 1960 – Probate granted in the estate of Ethel Narcisse Sladden.
July 1961 – Ethel Sladden died, aged 78
1961 – Rose Cottage was gifted to the church by other members of the Sladden family.
1960s and 1970s – The cottage, and the adjoining Vine Cottage, were both very dilapidated. The Church let them out at a minimal rent and for a time the rents did no more than cover the maintenance.
1982 – The Parochial Church Council of Badsey and The Worcester Diocesan Board of Finance Limited sold Rose Cottage to James and Sylvia Wolstencroft.
1980s - Substantial improvements made by the Wolstencrofts, including the uncovering of an inglenook fireplace in the lounge. The following message was one of the first messages to the website Visitors Book in August 2000: 'We lived in Rose Cottage, Chapel Street in the 80s. We, as mentioned in the book on the history of Badsey, discovered the inglenook fireplace when restoring the cottage. We now live in rural France ...Regards Sylvia Wolstencroft'. Terry Sparrow, in the first edition of "A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington", records the following: Sometimes 20th century restoration reveals evidence of long hidden antiquity, as happened recently when a cottage in Chapel Street disclosed an unsuspected inglenook.
1989 – Sold to Angela Moore.
2001 – Sold to Rob Walker.
VINE COTTAGE, 8 CHAPEL STREET, BADSEY
Vine Cottage is a semi-detached cottage adjoining Rose Cottage. Parts of Vine Cottage may date back to the 16th century, but little is known about its early history. It is also difficult to ascertain from the 1841-1901 census records who actually lived in Vine Cottage during the Victorian period. The reason for this is that there were a number of cottages in the vicinity (most since demolished) and no house names were given; perhaps Vine Cottage and its neighbouring Rose Cottage were not named until the 20th century.
The house was owned by Robert Knight (1806-1875). After the death of his widow, Mary, in April 1889, it was inherited by his youngest two sons, William Knight (1846-?) and Thomas (1855-?). However, by this time, both sons had emigrated to America, so they sold it to their sister, Emma Knight, six months later. On Boxing Day 1889, Emma married Edward Wilson, whose family had owned the Manor House for around 250 years, until it was sold after Edward’s death in 1907. Emma was Edward’s fourth wife, and some 30 years younger than him.
Some documents held by the current owner of Rose Cottage give some clue to 20th century ownership:
March 1932 – Emma Wilson died, aged 80.
7th May 1932 – Land Charges Search against Emma Wilson.
12th May 1932 – Representative of Emma Wilson sold Vine Cottage to Ethel Sladden.
1932-1961 – Vine Cottage was let to tenants. According to the School Registers, the Perkins and then the Batchelor family lived there in the 1930s and early part of the war, as the following children at that address were registered: Hazel Perkins, daughter of J W Perkins (1938); Edna Batchelor, daughter of J M Batchelor (1939-1941). In January 1939, Edna Batchelor had come from Powick. She then left in October 1940 for a short time to go to Abbots Lench School near Bristol, but returned in February 1941, only to leave finally in September 1941 to return to Powick.
At some time during the Second World War, Bertram Jones and his family moved into Vine Cottage. They had been bombed out from a big city. Bertram Jones certainly had a son, R J Jones, who was extremely clever and attended Prince Henry’s Grammar School. No children are listed at Badsey School, so it is assumed his children were above primary school age when they moved to Badsey. Bertram was known as "Ivory Jones" (see Bertram A Jones Ivory Craftsman) and used the first of the by then derelict Sharps Row Cottages (the one which backed directly on to his house) as his workshop.
c 1950 – Sharps Cottages, a row of cottages back-to-back with Rose Cottage and Vine Cottage, were demolished.
1951 – Churchyard extension consecrated and the Garden of Remembrance created where Sharps Cottages had been situated.
July 1961 – Ethel Sladden died, aged 78.
1961 – Vine Cottage was given as a legacy to the church by Miss Ethel Sladden.
1960s and 1970s – The cottage, and the adjoining Rose Cottage, were both very dilapidated. The Church let them out at a minimal rent and for a time the rents did no more than cover the maintenance.
1982 – The Parochial Church Council of Badsey and The Worcester Diocesan Board of Finance Limited sold Rose Cottage to Alan Saunders and Denise Roberts.
Note
The Evesham Journal and Four Shires Advertiser for 15 October 1955 ran a story 'Miss Marjorie Clementi, pianist seeks Muzio's last home'. This claims that Vine Cottage was moved from Badsey to Evesham in the nineteenth century.
Muzio Clementi was born at Rome in 1752 and died at Evesham in 1832. His reputation as a pianist, composer and mentor of Beethoven, was considerable and he was buried at Westminster Abbey. According to Arthur Jones of Badsey 'My father told me many years ago that he (Muzio Clementi) died in a cottage opposite The Elm, where is now the shrubbery belonging to Prospect House (in Evesham). This cottage was afterwards sold to be demolished as being unsightly, and was bought by Mr Robert Knight, of Badsey, who took it down, rebuilt it at Badsey, and lived in it...'. The article claims that this is Vine Cottage, Chapel Street, Badsey.
The Badsey records show that there was a Robert Knight (1806-1875) who moved from Aldington to Badsey between 1861 and 1871 which offers some verification for the story.