Winchester St. Thomas Street
Nos. 14- 20
Below is a thumbnail of Nos. 13 - 17. Click to see a larger image.
panoramic view click to enlarge
Adjoining to No. 13 are cottages, Nos. 14, 15, 16 and 17, which provide an interesting comparison in scale with No.13, having a minimum room height on three floors, with hipped dormers for attic use. There is a built-in wall tablet dated 1695 but there were alterations and additions in the 19th century.
The Roman town collapsed in the 5th century and before the Norman Conquest a new street plan was laid out, St. Thomas Street being called Calpestret in the Middle Ages, Calpe being a Saxon word for silver.
Towards the close of the 16th century the south west corner of the street was a garden area reaching to Southgate (Gold) Street belonging to St. John's Charity. In the late 13th and 14th centuries much of this site was held by the Russell family, wool exporters, whose residence was on adjacent property extending to Southgate Street and called `Lion's Hall'. In the 18th century it was part of the garden of Chemocke House stretching from St. Swithun Street to St. Thomas's Passage. This corner site was rented from St. John's Charity by Mr. H.Q. Ludford in 1927. It was used for garage purposes, and in 1946 new workshops were built.
To do so it had been necessary to use some of the gardens of property in Southgate Street, particularly No.49, Winton Court Hotel built in 1860 and closed in 1986. This was later sold back to St. John's Charity, successful negotiations having been concluded with the Green Man public house to gain rear access to the Southgate Street properties.
In 1976 a car showroom was built fronting St. Thomas Street but in 1978 the business was sold by Henly's Motor Company who closed it in 1984.
The site is currently being developed for use as private sheltered housing by Anglia Secure Homes P.L.C.
This new development for buyers aged 55 or over, is built to street boundary limits and to maximum height, with enclosed courtyard and garage facilities. It includes 29 apartments, on lease, at minimum costs from £85,000 to £111,500. This design might have been more attractive if the block had been U-shaped with a landscaped court opening on to St. Thomas Street.
The site adjoining, known as Villiers Court was bought by Mr. H. Bendall in 1972 for housing development. Because of anticipated foundation problems it was re-sold and eventually five town houses were built in 1976 by Wiggins Homes, designed by Evans, Roberts and Partners. This was a successful solution to the familiar problem of high costs of land and building within Winchester calling for maximum development usually with minimum sized rooms.
Chemocke House is now Carlisle House and Lee House, being a remand home and probation centre. Mark Carlisle MP was Under Secretary in the Home Office in 1973 and His Honour Judge A.M.Lee, was Chairman of the Hampshire Area Probation and After Care Committee from 1969-1977. Dr. Matthew Coombs, physician, lived there 1722-1751 and the Reverend Prebendary Sir Villiers Chemocke, a governor of Hampshire County Hospital, bought it in 1758. After his death in 1779 Lady Chemocke left it to Reverend E. Harvey of Aspley Hall, Bedford, who sold it in 1790, after which time it had many owners.
Miss Heathcote bought it in 1803, during the time she was in touch with Jane Austen and found for her lodgings at 8 College Street. She sold the house to Charles Benny, a local builder, who in 1844 pulled down the south wing which had been built on land leased from St. John's Charity.
In 1856 W.J. Wickham bought the house and on his death in 1864 his son, the Reverend H.J. Wickham, Chaplain to St. John's Hospital, sold it to Winchester College prior to 1888 when already a dining hall and fives court had been built.
It was Dr. G. Moberly, Headmaster of Winchester College from 1836-66, who suggested Chernocke House as a boarding house for 'Commoners' partly because St.Thomas Street had a reputation for 'healthiness'. The Reverend W.P. Smith, a college staff member from 1873-1901 added two new galleries, prefects' library and changing rooms.
Before this, from 1894, it had been known as Furley's, after its housemaster 1894-1910, who wrote the 'Annals of Chemocke House from 1859-1909' and later was Mayor and Freeman of Winchester. The house was taken as a military hospital from 1914-1919, converted into an hotel by the Ludford family in the 1920s and from 1939-1942 was a hostel for Bank of England typists working at Laverstoke. From 1945-1969 it was used by night nurses from the hospital, followed by three years occupancy by the Department of the Environment. Squatters were in for another three years prior to the Government spending £600,000 on refurbishment preparatory to its present use.
The appearance of the frontage was not improved when an insensitively designed opening was made to provide car space on the site of the old fives court. The end elevation facing south has mathematical tiles to simulate brickwork at the time of an 18th century tax of 2/6d. per 1000 bricks. Lee House was used, in 1987, by BBC TV as a backdrop for an Agatha Christie novel.
The semi-detached houses to the north of Chernocke House, known as The Laurels and Femlea, were owned by St. John's Charity. These two houses are post 1873 and the tenancy starting 1880, expiring 1979, showed a rent of £6. The tenants' list includes the Reverend Canon Boden, librarian and cathedral precentor, and the Reverend Edwd. Bannister. Since 1979 the property, No.18A, has been owned by Winchester Tutorial College, No.18 being rented to the College.
The detached house marked on Godson's map at the junction of St. Thomas's Passage and St. Thomas Street has been owned by St. John's Charity since 1860. In the last century it was the home of Dr. Chard, cathedral organist. Later Col. A.H. Drummond author of the Eton boating song, who died in 1932, lived there.
Now known as Westway House, it has been used by the Hampshire County Council since 1972. It seems to have had over the years a wide range of occupants, including apartment dwellers, and a variety of office users. Since 1986 the ground floor has been used by Cine Wessex.
St. Thomas's narrow passage leading to Southgate Street is a paved pedestrian route but because of car parking problems partly related to offices in Southgate Street there is unfortunately conflict with cars.
There is a pre-1939 telephone kiosk here, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and given listed building status by the DoE in 1987.
Several references are made to St. John's Winchester Charity established in 1289 by John Devenish, Alderman of the City. In 1558 Ralph Lamb was an important benefactor.
Fronting this passage is a late Georgian house, known as Kitnocks, with 5 bedrooms and attractive garden. It is currently on sale priced at £200,000.
Between St. Thomas's passage and the old site of St. Thomas church is Mason's Yard, a U shaped two storey building of some distinction. No. 20 was changed in 1972 to four houses being possibly a late 18th century stable block for No.9, Mulberry House.
In 1812 the City agreed a 40-year lease at 21 shillings for premises and garden and another similar amount for coach house and garden. In those days the Mayor would accept chickens in part payment.
In 1815 an indenture between Deane and Davidson, wine merchants, refers to cellar vaults and later to wine bins, oak shillings and bottle racks. Charles M. Deane who, in 1815, had received from Davidson £600, died in 1891 and left his son A.E. Deane the freehold. The ownership of the stable block had changed in 1895 when Dr. H.A. Powell of Mulberry House took over.
Godrich and Petman, wine merchants, were tenants in 1905 although R.H. Petman had been there previously. When Mason Bros. bought the property they concreted over the brick vaulted cellars, used as air raid shelters in World War II.
The pleasant open space alongside this old stable block was the site of the former church of St. Thomas, and in the 15th century, of St. Petroc. There is a long history of church building on this site and eventually after the repair bills for St. Thomas's became excessive, it was agreed, in 1826 to build a new church on the same site. But 19 years later a decision was taken to buy land adjoining Serle's House in Southgate Street, at a cost of £340, and to build there, in 1847, a new church double the size of the existing one, at a cost of £8,000.