Your House and Mine

Preface

Introduction
Map of Frieth
Moor End
   Bramblings
   Astrea
   Merrydown Cottage
   Corner Cottage
   Moor's End Cottages
   Moor Gate House
   Underwood
   The Copse
Fingest Road
   The Forge
   Folly Cottages
   The Willows
Perrin Springs Lane
   Perrin Springs
   West's Cottages
Ellery Rise
   Hilliers
   Lynden Cottage
Frieth Hill
   Hillside Cottage
   Rowleys
   Pear Tree Cottage
   Hillside View
   The Platt
   Little Barlows
   Cutlers Cottage
   Yew Tree Cottage
   Little Cottage
   Barlows
   Birch Cottage
   Tedders / Rose Cottage
   The Old Stores
   The Yew Tree Inn
   Fairfield House
   Flint Cottage 1
   Flint Cottage 2
   Inglenook
   Middle Cottage
   Sunny Corner
   The Gables
   The Orchards
   Hilltop
   Cattons
   Mallards
   Hillswood
   The Old Parsonage
   White Gates
   The Laurels
   The Cottage
   The Firm
   Marlstone
   Westwood
   Bradstone
   Haylescroft
   The Niche
   Rivendell
   Summerhill
   Ashcroft
   Selborne
   The Ranch House
   Sara's Cottage
   The Cherries
   The Old School House
Innings Road
   Collier's Farm
   Innings Gate
   Down the Lane
   Sunset Cottage
   Fermain
   Chilterns
   Rowan Cottage
   Creighton Cottage
   Apple Tree
   Old Well Cottage
   The Cottage
   Flat Roof
   Whitsun
   Backlins
   Red Kites
   Maidenscraft
Spurgrove Lane
   Maidencraft Cottage
   September Cottage
   Spurgrove Cottage
   Gable End
   Willems
   Elder Barn
   Sunnydale


The Village Shop circa 1920

[ See also the previous page "Tedders" ]

From 1849 on The Old Stores was developed into a shop selling not only bread but bacon and pig meat - pigs were slaughtered behind the shop and the sides cured in the cellar below. Other useful commodities stocked were salt, flour, tea and dried goods, candles and soap etc and as they came available a full range of groceries.

Charles Webb and Edward Collier leased the shop from Ephraim Webb in 1877.


The bakehouse opposite was built between 1845 and 1849 and remained in use until 1957 (It stood where Druce's garages are today, see Cattons )

[ Cover of an account book, undated and sadly with no content.
I take "R. Webb" to be "Bob the Baker", Ephraim's grandson.
There is a picture of Bob in "Frieth - A Chiltern Village"
]

Picture taken by Mrs Busby of her garden (before 1966) showing the old bakehouse in the background. Picture contributed by Roger Druce


The old bakehouse in 1936 on the left and the Old Stores behind the lorry on the right

[ Christopher Hogan of the Post Office Vehicle Club http://www.povehclub.org.uk writes :

The vehicle in the photograph is CXN 274, a Post Office Telephones Albion B118 30cwt Utility with Harrington bodywork bought by the GPO in June 1936. These Albions lasted a long time, right through the war until the 1950s. Another from the same batch (CXN 247) survives in preservation at the Amberley Working Museum in Sussex http://www.amberleymuseum.co.uk  So I can date the view as being no earlier than June 1936. The kiosk looks like a K3  and these were superseded by the K6 in 1936, so this suggests the photograph was taken when the Albion Utility was brand new, in 1936.

John Harris commented that he worked as a ganger for the GPO for a short time using these vehicles just after WWII - they carried the ladders on the side of the vehicle and had places for all the tools, pickaxes and shovels, and room inside for the men to sit and eat their sandwiches ! ]

In 1895 the shop became the Post Office as well and remained so until 1935 when Mr Latham took over at Ashcroft.

During the early 1960s the shop was always known as "Sacketts"

(Image donated by James Bowley)

After that just "The Stores" or "Frieth Stores"


The Stores in 1969

[ The K6 phone kiosk can be seen on the left of the picture ]

It finally closed as a grocer's shop during the 1980s and for a short while became Country Furnishings run by Mr Stevens before reverting to a dwelling house.

One amusing story concerns Mr Stevens who was not aware that the property he had bought had a cellar once used for bacon curing - he opened it up and modernised other parts of the premises. On uncovering an old fireplace he was horrified to find bones behind it. Knowing of my interest in local history he rang me up and asked if there had ever been any unsolved mystery connected with the house. On examining the 'evidence' I told him I was 90% sure that what he had found were pig bones.  Just to be sure he took some of the bones down to Marlow Police Station where the Police Surgeon assured him that indeed they were pig remains. Mr Stevens heaved a sigh of relief.

At some time during the 1800s the shop premises were enlarged by the addition of a wing on the upper side between the original building and the footpath beside the church.

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