pond and smithy

CLOSE		The Pond and the Smithy The picture shows the village pond, known locally as ‘the pit’, with the smithy in the background. Dr. Thomas Sutton Townsend took this photograph about 1920. The chimneys and roof line of the Manor House on Lilbourne Road where Dr. Townsend lived can just be made out on the skyline, (left of center). The pond was filled in the 1950’s. The smithy and the cottage at the rear were probably built about 1735 of brick on earth foundations with a thatched roof. Colonel Holbrook, (later Sir Claude Hollbrook), demolished both in April 1935, perhaps to improve his view from his home in the Old Hall opposite. In 1851 the smithy and cottage were occupied by William Loydall and owned by John Hands Townsend, brother of William Townsend who was Lord of the Manor. Records suggest that members of the Loydall family worked the smithy from the time it was built to its demolition. The Loydalls were famed for their skill as farriers, a skill that brought them into contact with the hunting and racing gentry as well as local farmers.

The Pond and the Smithy

The picture shows the village pond, known locally as ‘the pit’, with the smithy in the background. Dr. Thomas Sutton Townsend took this photograph about 1920. The chimneys and roof line of the Manor House on Lilbourne Road where Dr. Townsend lived can just be made out on the skyline, (left of center). The pond was filled in the 1950’s.

The smithy and the cottage at the rear were probably built about 1735 of brick on earth foundations with a thatched roof. Colonel Holbrook, (later Sir Claude Hollbrook), demolished both in April 1935, perhaps to improve his view from his home in the Old Hall opposite.

In 1851 the smithy and cottage were occupied by William Loydall and owned by John Hands Townsend, brother of William Townsend who was Lord of the Manor.

Records suggest that members of the Loydall family worked the smithy from the time it was built to its demolition. The Loydalls were famed for their skill as farriers, a skill that brought them into contact with the hunting and racing gentry as well as local farmers.