History of Building
No.12 Ock Street
Number 12 is possibly the
oldest building on the south side of Ock Street. Beneath the existing
tiled roof are the remaining timbers of an earlier 15th century roof
behind a partition in the east gable (on the left in the picture),
showing that this was once a twin-gabled house, probably thatched, like
other Abingdon houses at this time. The higher roof enabled an attic
room to be inserted in the west gable. The staircase to the first floor,
the attic room and to an extension at the back is probably 18th
century, suggesting that this was when the house was altered to provide
more up to date living space. A passage way at the side leads to a long
yard, now occupied by “Appledore Cottage”, where there were once
workshops and further dwellings.
The Amyce Survey conducted in
1554, which lists Abingdon properties following the Dissolution of the
Abbey, shows that George Moore, a shoemaker, occupied the premises. He
died three years later, owing rent to Christ's Hospital, and his widow,
Margaret, died in 1558, the year of Elizabeth's accession. To the east
on the corner of Winsmore Lane was a tenement later known as “The
Chequers” and to the west “one tenement... called the sign of the Bear”.
Both the “Bear” and number 12 were leased to Thomas Orpwood in 1562; he
served as Mayor three times and was Master of Christ's Hospital in
1570-1. He may have sublet number 12.
Both “The Bear” and number
12 came into the possession of the Wrigglesworth Charity set up in 1647
to provide a preacher and alms for the poor. The preacher was John
Pendarvis, Presbyterian vicar of St Helen's during the Civil War, who
left St Helen's to lead the newly formed Baptist community. In 1653
number 12 was leased by Alice Wise, widow of Thomas who may also have
leased “The Bear”. She paid tax on three chimneys in 1663.
William
Jarrett,”Trumpetter” of the City of Oxford signed a lease in 1681
though may not have lived in the property himself. A member of a well
established Abingdon family, he also rented a house in Oxford where he
belonged to the Oxford Waits, a group of musicians who performed on
ceremonial occasions. Andrew Etty signed leases in 1693 and 1703. A
Sergeant-at-Mace, he was appointed to be in charge of the Gaol in
Abingdon in 1689 but moved to Oxford Castle as Keeper of the Prison in
1700 though he continued to lease and sublet property in Abingdon. His
son, Charles, may have been the carpenter who worked on the Brick Alley
Almshouses and the Council Chamber and perhaps also the alterations at
number 12.
Benjamin Tomkins, wealthy maltster and a leading
Baptist leased “The Bear” and number 12 in 1735. Both were held and
sublet by his family, together with much property in Ock Street, until
the death of John Tomkins in 1845. The lease of 1754 refers to number 12
as “a messuage now divided into three tenements now in the several
occupations of John Pink, William Tyrell the Younger, and Joan Green
widow”. Similarly in 1822 the lease included “a messuage divided into
three tenements now Martha Lassar, Abraham Poole and Ann Hohnden”. Most
of these names are those of Baptist families.
Later Census
Returns also show three separate tenancies at number 12. John Burry,
shoemaker, was living in the house in 1851 with his wife, Elizabeth, a
nephew and a servant; he employed five men. The two properties at the
back were occupied by Jane Giles 75, a widow, and Richard Rose 81, a
pauper shopkeeper, and his wife, Harriet 74. The next three censuses,
1861, 1871 and 1881 show Samuel Gardiner, master shoemaker from Tetbury,
living in number 12 with his wife, Ann, a son and a daughter and in
1881 with John Burry's widow, Elizabeth, as a boarder. In the yard were
Martha Holinder 69 a “late” dressmaker in 1861, two Buckle brothers each
with a wife and infant in 1871 and a painter ...? Steane's family and a
widow, Hannah ...?, in 1881. Abingdon Directories suggest that Samuel
may have carried on his business across the road at number 7 and later
at number 5 Ock Street. In 1891 he was living, a widower, with his
unmarried daughter, a music teacher, at number 1.
The 1891 census
shows the occupants of number 12 to be Robert Gawler 34, a plumber,
glazier and painter born in Wantage, his wife, Jane, a confectioner, and
their 7 month old son, Alfred. The 1894 Vale of White Horse Directory
lists Robert Gawler as a “painter and refreshment room proprietor”. At
the back were the family of Alfred Turner 35, a bricklayer's labourer,
and Adam Couldrey 26, an insurance agent and organ blower.
I have not
looked in detail at the 20th century occupancy of the property nor do I
know when it ceased to belong to the Wrigglesworth Charity whose records
are held at Christ's Hospital, but I am told that the premises were
used by a chiropodist and later an antique dealer. Recently it was a
Video shop and is now once more Refreshment Rooms.
The “Bear” had
ceased trading as an inn by 1822 and was largely rebuilt during the
19th century. The former “Chequers” on the corner of Winsmore Lane was
also leased and sublet by the Tomkins family from 1722-1837 eventually
becoming a butcher's shop, but the Christ's Hospital Ledger in 1880
records, “Tenant insolvent with no assets. Butcher's shop closed,
premises being dilapidated and unfit for business. House continues to be
occupied as a cottage”, and three years later, “a new house and
premises built on these sites”. The occupant in 1901 was Alfred
Albright, a draper and outfitter. Today it is an Indian restaurant.
Members
of the Abingdon Buildings Record are grateful to Christ's Hospital for a
list of leaseholders. Other information was mostly obtained from books
and records held by the Local Studies Library in Abingdon where a longer
version of the above is available.
