Edington Monastery Gardens

We know from previous posts that Edington Monastery Gardens was a popular destination from Market Lavington. We have seen photos of the Congregational Church treats at this venue. You could click here or here or even here to see posts about the gardens

In one of the posts we featured a card of the gardens, but here we’ll look at that in more detail.

Edington Monastery Gardens were a popular day out venue for Market Lavington folk

First of all, we’ll look at the credits on the card.

The card was produced by Burgess and Sons of Market Lavington

Our very own Mr Alf Burgess (or his sons) took the photos and made the card. A chap called F S Marsh owned the gardens.

 

F S Marsh was the proprietor

Certainly a Frederick Sugden Marsh lived in the area. He was a shop keeper.

Mr Burgess has taken a variety of photos in and around the gardens.

Here we have the 1^st class pavilion

This photo was taken on one of the Market Lavington Congregational Church outings.

Edington Priory Church – these days a venue for concerts as well as services.

Once again we see our Alf Burgess with an eye to the main chance. Presumably this card could be sold to visitors from elsewhere.

 

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Another charabanc in Salisbury

Today we look at another of the many charabanc photos we have at Market Lavington Museum.

Fred Sayer had a substantial fleet of vehicles, based in Market Lavington and he ran trips to all sorts of tourist destinations during the 1920s. If trips were heading to the seaside they were almost bound to pass through Salisbury where a ‘comfort break’ was made. An enterprising photographer took photos of the party on the outward journey and had prints for sale on the return. So, as per usual, the location is Salisbury but certainly quite a few of the people come from Lavington.

A Charabanc carrying Market Lavington people photographed in Salisbury in about 1922

The driver, in white coat and cap is Percy Notton and amongst those on the vehicle we have Ivy Pomeroy, Jack Plank, W Trotter senior,  Harry Merritt, Mrs Gye and baby Tom Gye and also Mrs Ross and her son.

Standing by the bus we have Joe Gye and Charles Ross.

The charabanc is a Commer Car and has a registration, partly hidden by the starting handle of A? 9868.

The photo can be dated by the age of Tom Gye, the baby, to about 1922 or 23.

As ever, any tales about these people, or identities of others in the photo would be very welcome.

In a Monastery Garden (3)

Edington Monastery Gardens was a place deemed fit for a day out for groups of Lavington folk. In two previous instalments headed ‘In a Monastery Garden’ we have seen outings from the Congregational Church in Market Lavington enjoying grand days out before the outbreak of the First World War. Today we are moving into the 1920s and see another group of people from our parish enjoying a row on the lake.

People from Lavington enjoying a day out at Edington Monastery Gardens in the 1920s

We know next to nothing about these gardens, except that they were a popular venue.

The photographer has captured a lovely shot of Lavington people enjoying what would still have been a rare day out. Sadly, we do not know who the people are.

Reverend Sturton

John Anthony Sturton was Vicar of Market Lavington for more than thirty years at the start of the twentieth century. It seems amazing that we know so little of this man.

He was born in Little Bedwyn  in 1874 so he was a Wiltshire man.  His Father was Vicar of Little Bedwyn. In fact church service seems to have been a norm in the Sturton family. Certainly John Anthony followed in his father’s footsteps and on the 1901 census we find him as a clergyman in Lyme Regis, living in lodgings, so probably a curate. He became Vicar of Market Lavington in 1906.

By 1911 he was in Market Lavington with his mother and a brother who was also a member of the clergy.

John Sturton married in 1916. He and his wife, Iva, had no children.

We have a couple of photos of Reverend Sturton and this is one of them.

Reverend John Sturton, Vicar of Market Lavington, on his motorbike at Salisbury.

This is said to be a charabanc trip from Market Lavington in the 1920s. The picture was taken in Salisbury. It looks as though Reverend Sturton has joined the party on his motorbike. He has a youngster in his sidecar.  The bike, by the way, is a BSA. The lamp on the sidecar looks as though it might be an acetylene one. We have a lamp like it in the museum.

We have not positively identified any of the people on the charabanc but we wonder if the large man sat next to the driver might be Fred Sayer who owned the bus company.

After he retired in 1940, John lived in Easterton. He died in 1945. He is buried in Market Lavington churchyard. Iva joined him there in 1958 and his brother, Thomas, followed in 1960.