Before Bouverie Drive

Market Lavington had quite an expansion of housing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During that period housing was built at Canada Rise, Fiddington Clay and Bouverie Drive. Today we are looking at the Bouverie Drive area when that area was an open field with no housing. The photo dates from the mid 1960s.

Site where Bouverie Drive was built, as seen from Northbrook in the 1960s

We are looking down Northbrook and this is not such a different view from one we showed (here) when the Bouverie Drive houses were new.

The house on the right has been modified, but is still there and the terrace down near the stream looks much the same although two of the four cottages have been merged into one larger house. The field occupying the middle of the photo (with a telegraph pole in it) is where the houses of Bouverie Drive were built. At the top of the hill are houses which get called ‘Market Place’ although really these are set well back from the market square.

The trees alongside the stream have gone. A weeping willow stands near the stream now.

Let us take this opportunity to remind people that local photos are always welcomed at the museum. When taken, this photo would not have been special and one can imagine people wondering why anyone should take it. But now it forms part of the history of the village.

A view from the Church Tower – 1980

By 1980 we were into the world of colour print photography. It was, of course, still film based and exposed film would have been given in at the chemist or photographers for processing, or sent away to a central processor who may have given you your next film as part of the deal.

An unknown photographer climbed the church tower and took a series of colour photos. We show one of them here. This is looking in a generally northerly direction.

1980 view from Market Lavington church tower towards Bouverie Drive and Northbrook

It seems to be a common feature of photos of this era that they are not as sharp as you might like. This was probably due to cheaply made plastic cameras and machine processing to what might be called an average standard. Professional photographers seemed to get good quality pictures.

However we can zoom in and see a little more detail. Let’s start with the Bouverie Drive area.

Bouverie Drive from the church tower

We can see houses and a bungalow on Bouverie Drive here but behind (left side) we are looking at houses on Northbrook, including The Rest which is thatched. In the background we see Drove Lane.

Northbrook and Northbrook Close from the church tower

Here we see Northbrook Close and other houses at the top of Northbrook. Once again, we look to Drove Lane in the background. The barn at Homestead Farm stands out.

But the big changes have taken place nearer the church.

The fields of Grove Farm are now under houses.

Immediately outside the graveyard now you’d see the houses of Roman Way and beyond that, those of Beechwood. This area was once part of Grove Farm so now it all tends to get called the Grove Farm Estate.

Local photographers have used the church tower as a good vantage point over many years. It certainly enables the changes in the village to be seen.

Easterton in 1929

This postcard of Easterton was recently bought on an Internet auction site and given to Market Lavington Museum.

Easterton and Salisbury Plain - a postcard at Market Lavington Museum

Its caption is Easterton Village and Salisbury Plain but it is a rather unusual view, which would not, now, be anything like the same.

Salisbury Plain lives up to its name for it shows up as the flat topped grey area in the background.

The building in the image which fixes the location is St Barnabas Church.

St Barnaba Church, Easterton

This building dates from the late nineteenth century, when Easterton became a separate parish from Market Lavington. We can also see a rather roughly constructed haystack which does appear to be raised off the ground. The wooden shed to the left has the look of a hen house, also raised off the ground.

Cottages by the stream in Easterton - close to where the Village Hall now stands

These houses seem to be set well below ground level. In fact they are alongside the stream in Easterton. The houses are still there but if a similar photo were taken today they may be hidden behind Easterton’s Village Hall.

Houses alongside the main road in Easterton

These houses must be those alongside the main road as you leave Easterton heading for Eastcott and Urchfont.

An Easterton postmark - but do sender or recipient have anything to do with the village?

The names on the back don’t mean anything to us at the museum, but we are pleased to have an Easterton postmark, albeit not a very clear one, as well as the image itself.

Edwardian Northbrook

Former Market Lavington Museum curator, Peggy Gye, was an avid collector of post cards of the parish. Initially, this was a personal hobby for her, but of course, the museum benefited as well.

One of her last purchases was this charming, Edwardian image of Northbrook, Market Lavington, which is thought to date from about 1905.

Northbrook in Market Lavington - about 1905

As was usual in those days, local people, if they saw a photographer, tried to make sure they got in the picture. There was no thought of privacy being stolen. Perhaps the hope was that a postcard of yourself could be purchased very cheaply without the expense of going to a studio for a photo to be taken.

The Northbrook of 100 years ago was quite different from what we see from a similar angle in the 21^st century.

Northbrook, Market Lavington in the 21st century

But the population living in Northbrook may have been similar to what we have today for in 1901 some 70 people lived in 19 houses, according to the census. This was a huge decline from 1861 when 172 people lived in 38 Northbrook homes.

Many of the small cottages that existed in Victorian times have been demolished with, in some cases, building materials salvaged for newer, larger homes.  This has led to the pleasant Northbrook of today – a totally changed area from the cramped street of earlier days.

The Muddle, Market Lavington

A small street in Market Lavington has the unusual name of The Muddle. This postcard, held by Market Lavington Museum, shows the street in Edwardian days.

The Muddle, Market Lavington in Edwardian days

Once upon a time, the building at the end of the street was the parish workhouse. The large building facing down The Muddle is the present Rectory in Market Lavington.

The name ‘Muddle’ has an unusual derivation and it has nothing to do with the street being unkempt or untidy. It is a corruption of ‘mud wall’. The oldest residents of the village will remember this simple wall, which lined the street opposite the houses. Strictly, it was not made of mud but of some mud, straw and dung and well topped with thatch to keep the weather out.

Those same oldest residents recall the women, along the muddle, out cleaning and polishing their front steps. They wore aprons made of sacks to protect their clothes.

At times, residents may have objected to their street being called, ‘The Muddle’. The street has the alternative name of ‘New Street’. Both names get used these days.

A second photo near, in the opposite direction, shows the same terrace of housing about a hundred years after the first one.

The Muddle around the year 2000