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AFTER my attention was drawn to the fact
that 100 Welsh Row was on the market (in 2008) - by
Paul Simpson - I asked Nantwich historian Andrew Lamberton what
he knew about the property.
A silly question really as Andrew has
the knack of getting into all manner of interesting Nantwich
buildings and having a look around. No 100 was no exception - and he
found an old pictures of the garage that stood next to Townwell
House while he was at it.
He told me: "Yes, the building is
quite interesting. I was lucky enough about six months ago to be
able to look round it while it was up for sale.
"The joint owner was Heather
Threadgold, together with her brother, John Munro. Mrs Phipps had
lived there for many years and had recently died, hence the house
going up for sale
"What was nice about it was that it
still had many of the old fixtures and fittings inside, although in
poor condition. It was actually built as a back-to-front house. That
is, the front door is at the back and at one time - when it was
built some 200 years ago - |
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had an uninterrupted view over an extensive
garden leading down to the river Weaver.
"Since then, of course, various
additions at the rear have altered that view, but a look at the 1850
map on the wall in Nantwich Museum (Joseph Heler Room) will give you
an idea of what it was like then."
Andrew added "Robert Munro, the
solicitor, lived there between 1939 and 1953." See
this page for another member of the Munro
family.
"The only photos that Heather and
John could show me of the house were in an album of black and white
photos which were taken in the late 1950s / early '60s, when the
family were getting up a petition to prevent Grocott's garage
(below) being built virtually next door to them on the site of
the old Townsend House.
Right: The house in 2011
when it had been "done up". The picture was taken through an open gate at the front of the house off King's
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The garage family tried to stop
THIS is Watson's Garage which used to
stand between Townsend House (that's the wall of the house next to
the garage) and the old Police Station (the railings, right
foreground). The gable end of Townsend House can be seen top right
of the picture, and No 100 can just be seen to the left of the trees
that are masking it. The garage and Townsend House have now made way
for a gated housing complex, called King's Court. The development
was built in the garden of Townsend House which was visited by King
James I
in
1617 when he saw
the old walled garden.
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