68-72 High Street

The 'Hayward Copyhold'

A large group of deeds and other papers in the Archives relate to the ‘Hayward Copyhold’ – land and buildings south east of Church Piece and Barrett Lane, where a family of butchers called Hayward ran their business from between about 1800 and about 1850.

The land was plots #9 and #13 on the 1839 map: #9 today is the location of modern houses built at the north eastern end of Barrett Lane, ‘Paddock End’ and ‘Avonstone House’ and Bloomfield House. #13 is the location of the older properties 68 / 72 High Street, as well as the newer property 72a.

The rights to the land and property in around 1800 were held by Thomas Hayward, described as a 'Pig Killer', aged 54 in 1828. The documents refer to his cottage, workshops, stable, etc, and ½ acre of land 'formerly called Barrett’s Field, now Rack Close'. A 'rack close' was where cloth makers hung out the cloth to dry in the sun; one of the tenants here in the late 1700s was William Fry. He was the brother of John Fry, who had built the house that is now La Flambé.

A summary from 1872 described the property as follows:

This property consists of a dwelling house containing two (? sitting) rooms, kitchen and cellar on ground floor and four bedrooms over, pig killing and bacon curing shops with two rooms over adjacent dwelling house, brewhouse and cart shed, rear stable and cart shed in the orchard with garden and orchard, altogether containing 1a 0r 3p. The inside and roof of house require repair, the brewhouse and cart shed and the old stable and cart shed are in very bad repair.

Part of the buildings were put up specially for bacon curing, but the premises are not likely to let again for that purpose and they are not in their present state adapted for any other business.

Taking into account the difficulty it is to compel the repair of copyhold property I consider it desirable for the Trustees to purchase Mrs Hayward’s interest and taking into account the value of the dilapidations I would advise £55 to be given for it.

I could not ascertain the reserved rent paid to the Trustees – if it be of any material amount nine years rent should be deducted from the £55.

An Indenture of 1873, with a detailed plan of the area, identified Jemima Hayward, widow of Johnson Hayward, as the legal tenant. She gave up her rights and Lord Cowley took it back.

68-72 High Street were sold in 1920 as Lot 107. One of the tenants at the time was Robert Bray, formerly the blacksmith at Forge Cottage.

Grade II Listing

It is today a Grade II Listed Building.

Listed Entry Number: 1363825 Listing NGR: ST9489278733

Pair of houses, C18, roughcast rubble stone with pantiled roof, coped south gable with end stack, ridge stack and north end stack, on front roof slope Two storeys, gabled-ended to road. No 6 has end-wall first floor 2-light mullion window and hoodmould and east front first floor casement and 2-light cyma-moulded flush mullion window, ground floor casements each side of fielded 4-panel door with hood on brackets. Ground floor right window has hoodmould. No 70, to right, has first floor unmoulded 2-light window on brackets. North end wall has 2-light cyma-moulded flush mullion window and hoodmould. Included for group value.