Belmont, a newcomer to the festive scene, with yet more Christmas fare and mulled wine. 8 windows down and 16 to go!
More pictures on the following page.
Belmont (see above) was built in the early 1930s by my grandfather, Joseph Wootton. He was the then proprietor of the family building business. On the 1885 OS Map shown below, the area shaded pink was in the ownership of the family and as can be seen, was undeveloped at that time. The land lies between the properties now known as Claremount and The Chestnuts, which are shown on this map but not labled.
In the late 1880s or early 1890s, the dwelling now known as Wootton House was built on the south-westerly corner of this land by my great-grandfather Isaac as a wedding present for Joseph and his new wife Katherine – more details of this in the website post featuring the Wootton House Advent Calendar Window on Sunday next. My father, born in 1912, was the youngest of their seven sons. The eldest son inherited the family business and after learning their trades the younger brothers went off to make their own ways in the world. They frequently returned to the family home for weekend reunions and this photograph of my father was taken during one such event, in about 1932:
He is in the Wootton House vegetable garden, on land now occupied by “Stonehurst”. Belmont can be seen under construction in the background. Belmont is typical of houses then being built in their millions in suburbs all over the country. It can be surmised that the boys returning from their travels advised Joseph that it would make good business sense to invest in the construction of a similar “modern” house for sale! My father’s rather pugilstic pose may reflect a certain Wootton family tradition for settling differences!
Stonehurst was built rather later between Wootton House and Belmont. See map below:
Colin Wootton
What a turnout and a lovely window, sorry that I’m missing them all!