Picture of the month – East Luccombe Farm buildings

Following a photograph being recently submitted to the website showing the general area of what is now East Luccombe Farm, This month Eric is concentrating on one of the buildings in that view:

“My photocopied image of the 1841 Tithe Map extract is rather difficult to read, but the building in question which was situated near the present main entrance to the farm was described as ‘house and garden in front’, which, together with the adjoining ‘garden and stable’ was occupied by Thomas Ellis.

“The 1841 census lists Thomas Ellis, 53, as living in Luccombe with his wife Elizabeth and children Etheldred, Eliza, Emma and Eunice. Both Thomas and Etheldred are described as tailors. By 1851, Thomas was described as draper/tailor/farmer and in addition to family members, had a servant and an apprentice – both listed as tailors – living in his household. Etheldred had moved to West Luccombe/Horner (the census is ambiguous) where he lived with his wife Maria and daughters Ann and Eunice-Jane.

“Thomas died in 1858 and by 1861 the census shows that Etheldred had returned to Luccombe with his 5 children and a servant, his wife Maria also having died in 1858. At this time he was still a tailor but by 1871 he was described as a shopkeeper and farmer employing 2 men. By 1881 he was just a farmer, employing 3 men and a boy, but one of his daughters was a dressmaker. I believe that he died in the Langley Marsh – Wiveliscombe area in 1890, having moved there with one of his sisters, Emma, to live with his son James (also a farmer) in his later years. In the 1911 census, Ephraim Daymond who lived in Stoney Street and was aged 25 also gave his occupation as a tailor.

“The first picture (above) is of my postcard of the scene that was sent in last month. It shows a little more on the right-hand side. The building that I believe housed the Ellis family is indicated.

“The second picture (above) is also from a postcard and shows a wider view of the northern part of the village compared to the previous one.

“The third image (above) is poor quality as it is a screen capture from a 1931 home movie. It shows 4 children sitting on the low wall leading to the bridge near the Rectory (Manor House) entrance. A large part of the building which I believe was Ellis’s shop is visible in the background. Bear in mind that by the time these photos were taken, the building may have been unoccupied for 4o years or more. I have no record of anyone living there after the Ellis family left, and it was probably used for agricultural purposes until it was demolished.

“The fourth photo (above) is from my own family archive and shows my uncle ‘Jim’ (Albert James Staddon) on his motor cycle with part of the same building in the background. Uncle Jim kept his motor cycle in the adjacent linhay which is still there and in a good state of repair; at the time the linhay and yard was part of Glebe Farm.”

See our previous pictures of the month and other posts about local history here.