GLOUCESTER ROAD, Thornbury

The Cottages opposite Laburnum Terrace

Until the late 1960's there was a terrace of six little cottages opposite Laburnum Terrace.  We know that they were built earlier than those in Laburnum Terrace, but unfortunately we don't know how much earlier.  They were all there in 1840 when the Tithe Survey was carried out.   At this time, the whole terrace was owned by Isaac Roberts.    

As you will see from the photo, the cottages fronted on to the road, and the doors of the houses opened directly into the front room.  Each cottage was 'two-up two down' and there was a little garden to the rear of each property.

To establish some idea of who lived in each house, we have trawled through census records, electoral registers and parish records.  The lack of house numbering throughout most of the period might mean that we have made some mistakes.  The problem is compounded by the fact that the terrace was numbered before the rest of Gloucester Road and residents sometimes used this 1 to 6 numbering system.  From about 1953, the whole road was given a modern numbering and the terrace was given odd numbers from 1 to 11 Gloucester Road.  In more recent times, we have tried to sort out these problems using the knowledge of people who lived in the area.

There was also a group of other buildings a little further down Gloucester Road just visible in the above photo.  Theses buildings became part of Dick Shipp's garage.  Click here to read more about the history of these buildings.

Modern Times We don't have a record of all the owners of the cottages.  However we know from Dick Shipp that they were owned by 'Wilmott sisters who lived in Hampshire' before he bought them.  The account books of W.W. Pitchers show that work was done to connect 6 cottages to the sewer in 1936/37.  The work was charged to the estate of J.H. Wilmott.  The occupants of 2 houses were mentioned as the Monks and Allens which confirms that it is this terrace and it was owned by a J.H. Wilmott.   

In the 1960's, it became difficult to ensure the houses met modern building regulations and they were became dilapidated when left vacant.  Eventually, we understand that the Council declared unfit for habitation and ordered them to be demolished. 

The land was purchased by Dick Shipp who was using the adjoining 'stable' building as a garage and motor repair workshop.  He had a modern car showroom built for the Fiat cars he was selling.  In 1977 Dick sold the business and for a few years it operated selling classic cars.

Finally in 1987, the garage was closed and the whole site re-developed with the building of Gloucester Terrace flats.

Click on the thumbnails below to see images of Shipps Garage, the garage being demolished and the Gloucester Terrace flats which replaced it.

    Shipps Garage            Demolition of Garage       Construction of Flats        New flats

This page was last updated: 23/03/2007