Oh to have records which were perfect in every detail. The photo below is described as one of nine photos dating from 1957-60 of the Market Place and surrounding areas during demolition of old buildings to make a council estate.

Photo dating from about 1960 showing Ivydene and the old Vicarage in Market Lavington
This description hardly fits the bill for this picture. We have an aerial view with some of the new housing in place. There’s a line of chimneys along the bottom edge. A little bit of the Market Place shows at the bottom left corner but essentially we have a view of an area to the north-east of the Market Place.
Let’s start with the Ivydene area. Ivydene had once been the home of Bus proprietor, Fred Sayer and during World War II it became the HQ for a search light battery. To a large degree, though, it is now off local radar. Well, it vanished 50 or more years ago so most people never knew the place. But here it is in this photo.

Ivydene – former home of Fred Sayer
As we can see, there is a terrace of buildings. We think Fred Sayer had the larger building at the right hand end.
Further left we can see the pair of cottages on The Terrace.

Cottages on the Terrace. The Blakes and the Wilkins lived here
Less than a month ago we featured the wedding of Mary Cooper and William Blake. They made their married home in one of the cottages and when their daughter married she and her husband (Percy Wilkins) lived there.
At the time of this photo the agricultural engineers had the yard and sheds behind Ivydene. Behind them was the former vicarage which became, in recent years, a part of the nursing home.

The old Vicarage. In Victorian times the Reverend Edward Blackston Cokayne Frith held sway
We can see the big sweep of the drive in front of the house. That drive leads out onto High Street and at the top right of the photo we can see some of the houses at the far end of High Street, towards the old Congregational Chapel.

A part of the High Street in Market Lavington
It is unusual for a photo not to leave us with more questions. Just behind the old Vicarage there are two large barns.

Does anybody know anything about these barns?
Does anybody know any of the history of these buildings? It looks as though access was from the Vicarage.