The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
116 Duke Street
116 Duke Street 2020
We are grateful to Maurice & Elizabeth Storey for providing the following details.
Construction
The cottage was built around 1770 as a timber framed building with brick infill that has been rendered in the past and remodelled in the 1960s. The attached cottage 115 may have been added on at a later date because of the difference In height of the ridges. Originally the cottage had a large garden where numbers 118 and 118a were built in 2012.
The following is taken from British Listed Buildings, History in Structure. Grade 2 listed in 1983.
A pair of cottages. C17 & C18 remodelled c.1960.Timber-frame and brick with pebbledash, roof thatched. 6 window range, 3 in long 116, 1½ & 2 storeys. C20 door and porch to 116 between right end and 2nd right. C20 steel window. Above are 3 eyebrow dormers irregularly spaced with C19 2-light casements. To left 115 with door and tiled gabled porch between centre and 2nd left 1 & 2-light casements, to left another casement. Above windows C19 2-light casements. Roof of 116 higher with lower eaves, hipped ends, ridge piece with stack to 115 at inner end of left bay and stack to 116 above the door.
It lies within the Conservation area and acquired Grade II listing in 1983. It was re-thatched in 2020 with water reed and straw ridge as previously.
Former Occupants
In the 1911 Census a William Pumphrey (General labourer, born in East Stratton in 1875) lived here with his wife, Alice (born in West Stratton) and 6 children plus brother-in-law George Wheeler(woodman labourer).
However, in 1901 the householder was Thomas Ball, a woodman & born in 1828, living with his daughter Mary Anne Stewart. The address is now 116 Duke Street.
As we go further back in time in the census records, the addresses for the village are less clear. They could be the same house every time or another house in the same street.
In 1891, the same Thomas Ball is living at 103 Duke Street. His occupation is listed as a general labourer. He is living there with his wife Eliza, daughter Mary Anne Stewart, grandson Charles Stewart, age 4 & another grandson Sydney Mansbridge, age 5. Both grandsons were born in Streatham Common, Surrey.
In 1881, Thomas Ball's address is Duck Street Cottage (there are 10 houses given the same address!). His occupation is woodman. The other occupants are his wife Eliza, and 3 sons, Harry, 21 a wood sawyer, Alfred, 14 a woodman & Edwin, 12 also a woodman.
In 1871, the address was simply Southbrook along with 66 other households. Southbrook included all the houses in what are now Winchester Road, Duke Street, Church Street & Rook Lane. Thomas, still a woodman, lived there with his wife & 6 children, Charles, 17, Harry, 11, both agricultural labourers, plus Alfred, 9, Mary Anne, 7, Alfred, 4 (all scholars) and Edwin, 2.
In 1861, there is no address at all and the family consists of Thomas, woodman, wife Eliza and children Charles aged 7, a scholar & Harry, aged 1.
In 1851, there are no addresses at all for the village. Thomas was living with his parents, Charles & Sarah Ball & he is the eldest of the 5 children living at home. Charles, Sarah & Thomas are listed as thatcher & farmer; the farm being 27 acres.
In the first census of 1841, Charles, then a wood dealer, is living in the village with his wife Sarah & 7 children, one of whom is the said Thomas.
If we follow Charles Ball through to the census of 1861 we find him living very close to Thomas, if not next door even, as both households are listed on adjoining Schedules, namely 83 & 84. Charles works as a woodman & his household includes wife Sarah, 2 daughters & a nephew.
By 1871, Charles, wife Sarah & daughter Sarah, single aged 35, son Richard, a widower aged 32 & grandson William aged 5 are living together in a Highway Cottage.
In 1881, there is no mention of Charles, Sarah & Sarah, but Richard has remarried. His wife is Eliza. William is now 15 and works as an agricultural labourer as does his father. Interestingly, the address is Duck Street Cottage schedule 75. Thomas Ball & family, also in a Duck Street Cottage, are schedule 77.
In 1891, Richard & Eliza Ball, aged 50 & 56 respectively, are living in Church Street & Richard is a farm labourer. There is no further mention of them in the subsequent censuses.
In the 1939 Register, Henry Whitear, born 1870, lived here with his son Arthur Clarence, born 1915. You can read more about the Whitear Family in Local Characters. Arthur Clarence died in an explosion in 1941, see War Memorial WWII.
Cottage being rethatched 2020
Rethatching complete 2020
1999
Cottage being rethatched 2020