Ockbrook - Part 07
- Flood Street, The Ridings & Church Street
w/e 27 June
2004
For our final
part of this series, we resume on Flood Street near the Ockbrook Garden Shoppe where we left off in Part
6.
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Directly opposite the shop is the former Boys' School which was
built in 1848. Replacing an earlier school that was situated
in the adjacent Bare Lane, the building is now put to good use
as a playschool for the village's younger children.
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Between the old Boys' School
building and Bare Lane is Ockbrook House. This was added to in
the middle of the nineteenth century and more alterations were
made in the twentieth century. The original building, probably
best seen in the inset, dates from about 1790 and despite the
additions and alterations the graduated slate roof is noted as
a typical Georgian feature.
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To return to our starting place near the White Swan, we now need
to turn right into Bare lane and right again into Church Lane
but a short detour to the left will take us into The Ridings
to view three more old properties. We'll start at the furthest
one which is now number 84. Previously this was the Lodge House
to Hopwell Hall which lies a little to the east and was the home
of the Pares family. You may remember a mention of Mr Pares who
paid for a new village hall in Part 1 of this series.
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Heading back towards Church Street the next
property of interest is number 70 The Ridings. The middle part
of this building is a timber framed farmhouse standing on a stone
plinth dating from the 1600s. Extensions at each end were added
in the eighteenth century.
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The third building worthy of note
in The Ridings is number 38. This too stands on a stone plinth
and has a steeply pitched corrugated iron roof covering the remains
of thatch. On one gable end (inset) a Guardian fire insurance
plaque can be seen but weathering has made it virtually unreadable.
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And so back into Church Street where
we find this property called Ockbrook Lodge. Here are two views
of the building from each end and over the garden wall between
the porch and the small window in the image on the left is an
old pump. Beneath the ivy now growing over the pump it is still
possible to see the initials "RMD" dated 1775. The
initials referred to Robert and Mary Dowman; one of their grandsons
was the village vet and blacksmith in the 1820s. But now in 2004,
this image brings to an end the series on Ockbrook. From here
it is but a short walk back to where we started at the White
Swan Public House - perhaps a good spot to sit and ponder where
to go next. Join me again soon to find out.
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