coach house, ascot way (broad oak fold)

[Bob Dobson]

Take a sken at the various censuses - 1841,61,81 to narrow it down a bit. There are some street planniong maps in the library which will give some guidance. They give a date as to when the council OKd the building of the street.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by pilki

Thank you for the additional replies. We still havent managed to date the Coach House - it doesnt show on any census information as it wasnt originally residential, so we are still hoping that someone may come up with a definitive date. In the meantime, thank you for your responses

Quite a few buildings in Accrington have had names added, from other buildings, there used to be a stone in the garden wall in Rough Lee, that originally came from the Dolphin Inn. there is a plaque on a house in Timber St which shows Cow Houses. Cow Houses was off Jacob St, and was used as a reference point for census takers in the 1841/51 census. I've never come across any referance to a Coach House in Broad Oak Fold. A good stone mason can carve you any name you like, and make it look like its always been there.
Retlaw.

[JoanR]

This is my first post to the forum although I've been reading the entries for some time. I'm very interested in the Broad Oak Fold thread as we lived in the top part of Barnfield St., near Sandy Lane, when I was a child in the forties, until 1946. When I started school, St. Paul's, I had a friend, Marlene Newsham, who visited a relative, maybe her grandmother, in Broad Oak Fold, and I went with her. The photo in Post #4 is more or less as I remember it, although the photo must be much older. I remember the tree in the centre.

We walked up Sandy Lane to Leemings Pad, along past the farm, and over to Plantation Lane.

Some years ago the staff of Accrington Library sent me copies of the relevant parts, about Broad Oak Fold, of Richard Ainsworth's book, Old Homesteads of Accrington. I've seen this discussed in another thread, with varying opinions, but I found it interesting. There's no mention of a coach house, though.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by JoanR

This is my first post to the forum although I've been reading the entries for some time. I'm very interested in the Broad Oak Fold thread as we lived in the top part of Barnfield St., near Sandy Lane, when I was a child in the forties, until 1946. When I started school, St. Paul's, I had a friend, Marlene Newsham, who visited a relative, maybe her grandmother, in Broad Oak Fold, and I went with her. The photo in Post #4 is more or less as I remember it, although the photo must be much older. I remember the tree in the centre.

We walked up Sandy Lane to Leemings Pad, along past the farm, and over to Plantation Lane.

Some years ago the staff of Accrington Library sent me copies of the relevant parts, about Broad Oak Fold, of Richard Ainsworth's book, Old Homesteads of Accrington. I've seen this discussed in another thread, with varying opinions, but I found it interesting. There's no mention of a coach house, though.

Welcome to the debate JoanR..
As you say, there is no mention of a coach house, some of those buildings date back to the mid 1700's, and Broad Oak Fold itself is even older.
Why every one thinks that just because one of the buildings has the name Coach House stuck on it, that it was a coach house beats me, who would the coach be for, all those buildings were there long before the Hargreaves's built Broad Oak House, and they kept their transport in a building on Sandy Lane, which faced the front Garden of the house where the Crowe's lived.
A lot of people have been taken in by a bit of fancy stone masonry, another few grand on the sale price.
Retlaw

[Atarah]

Some of the 1911 census details do mention 1 BROAD OAK FOLD, wonder if the details would be of interest to you.
Here are details of a Mr Shaw who lived there:

Arthur Shaw
Age in 1911: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1883
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Knutsford, Cheshire, England
Civil parish: Accrington
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street Address: 1 Broad Oak Fold Accrington Lanc Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Gardener "domertic"
Registration district: Haslingden
Sub-registration district: Accrington

and at no. 3 Broad Oak Fold
George Place Thwaite
Age in 1911: 68
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1843
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Bainbridge, Yorkshire, England
Civil parish: Accrington
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street Address: 3 Broad Oak Fold Accrington Lancs
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Commission Agent, Collector
Registration district: Haslingden
Sub-registration district: Accrington

so there were obviously a few families living in the fold.

[JoanR]

Atarah, do you know the date of the photo in post #4? Both it and the photo in post #6 look as though there would be houses for more than two families. Some of the buildings could have been farm work buildings.
I remember visiting a house with a small porch at the front, with my friend from St. Paul's, although I never went inside. It may be the one in the photo in post #6.

[dawnie]

I have done a map overlay in google earth to show the broad oak fold area from this late 1800's map as it was. hope this is of interest.not all places overlap correctly due to scaling issues of the map and google earth.interesting to note a quarry underneath the now all weatherpitch area behind st pauls church.All but the "coach house" was bulldozed down.i remember Tommy mullhall used it for storing his ladders and lampoil for his decorating and it is said to be that he ended up buying the coach house from a mrs hardisty who never used it for around £200 in 1960's money and lived there untill his death a few years ago.underneath number ** ascot way is one of the old top stones from the old wall pictured at the entrance of the early broad oak fold.its under the floorboards and its REAL MASSIVE HUGE!!!.it had to be left there due to its weight and the house built around it .A true piece of history we sometimes take a peek at now and again rolling back the carpet.brilliant.

[Atarah]

Interesting what you say. My gran used to work at Hodgsons China Shop at 54 Abbey St, then it became ABODE. Mrs Hodgson had bought the shop from Mrs Hardisty, who I believe lived in Plantation Street, so your mention of her having something to do with the coach house COULD make sense. I see you have used the very photo I used on my posting no 4 back in April 2011.

[dawnie]

mrs hardisty lived on ascot way till she died i hope you dont mind me using the photo its the best one i have seen of that area

[Atarah]

Wish I had known more about Mrs Hardistry, but I was really young then and dont remember much from that time. The photo is from the Old Homesteads of Accrington and District by Richard Ainsworth. The book was printed in 1928, so we can "assume" the photo was taken at the time of the publishing of the book perhaps? (Retlaw doesnt trust Mr Ainsworth, but I do!) At least we can trust his photos, eh Retlaw?

[dawnie]

she lived as you said in plantation st near gilles st she did have a hardware stockists buisness she was a nice lady my fiance knew her she was ever so sweet and knitted all the children things for christmas.

[JoanR]

Dawnie, thank you for posting the maps. We used to play in the area of the old quarry, although I didn't know then that's what it was. There was a grassy hill which we would slide down and I was in trouble because I had grass stains all over my dresses. No jeans at that time.
Going down Barnfield St. towards Plantation St. there were allotments on the right, opposite the newer houses.
Did Mrs. Hardisty have a son named Alan? I think there was an Alan Hardisty at school.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by JoanR

Did Mrs. Hardisty have a son named Alan? I think there was an Alan Hardisty at school.

I think I remember a boy called Stephen Hardisty at my school in the early fifties.

[steve2qec]

Originally Posted by susie123

I think I remember a boy called Stephen Hardisty at my school in the early fifties.

Mrs Hardisty used to live across from my father-in-law on Ascot Way - my wife says she had a son called Stephen.

[pilki]

Our deeds for the Coach House show that Mrs Hardisty lived originally at 88 Arden Terrace, Plantation Street, then later on Ascot Way in one of the "new" houses. She inherited the Coach House when her husband Frank - a Hardware merchant - passed away. The building was sold to Thomas Mulhall in 1971. The deeds are fascinating but I could probably do with enlisting the help of a local historian to make full sense of them. There are references to the Hargreaves family (John, passed away ???1895/6) and the Grimshaws, as well as old maps of the land and links to the Owl Hall Estate. We STILL havent been able to date the actual building though.
One day, when we have finished renovating, my plan is to try and make sense of all of it ..... in the meantime, these snippets of information are wonderful and I am printing them off to store with our records, so please keep them coming!