Now I couldn’t stay away from Didsbury and that dig down in the College car park because now we have pictures of the two houses that once stood on the site.
And with these photographs, and a plan from the land registry I think I can begin to make some sense of at least one of the houses revealed by the archaeologists.
This is the Laurels which according to the historian Ivor R Million was one of a group of houses near The Grove which “was built in the style of a previous age, leading many to think it was Georgian. It was in fact built between 1843 and 1843 was demolished in 1968.”*
Of course I might still be wrong in making the connection between the Laurels and the one mentioned by Mr Ivor but Noel who I met walking his dog near the site thought that the house had been demolished in the 1960s.
All of which means that there will be a fair few people in Didsbury who will remember the property and if pushed some of the residents who lived there.
And perhaps even what the house was like inside. I know from the 1911 census that it had eleven rooms and was the home of the Reverend Caleb Scott who was 79, a widower and shared the house with his three servants, who were Elizabeth Taylor aged 21; her sister Annie who was 16 and Florence Walker aged 17.
They were all from Yorkshire and in time I might go looking for their families but the real search will be to go back through the records looking for those who owned or rented the houses and by degree we should get back to when it was built.
The excavated site has revealed a fairly high status property which had marble fireplaces and its own well which is what you might expect from a house built in the 1840s.
Now what is odd is the lack of any household items. It’s almost as if the place had been swept clean. But there are a few interesting items including what appears to an electrical junction box which may date from the 1930s and a gas fitting with a name.
All of which is a start. Of course the professionals engaged in digging the site will come up with much more but when you have stood in the cellars of the Laurels it is not easy to walk away without engaging in a bit of detective work.
So we shall see.
And I bet there will be people who know more and will in the fullness of time offer up their own insight into the Laurels and its neighbour.
Pictures; the Laurels in 1959, J.F. Harries, m42363,courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, the cellars of the Laurels from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the plan of the Laurels, 1922 from the Land Registry, courtesy of P.J. Livesey http://www.pjlivesey-group.co.uk/
Million, Ivor R., A History of Didsbury, 1969
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| One of the cellars, 2015 |
This is the Laurels which according to the historian Ivor R Million was one of a group of houses near The Grove which “was built in the style of a previous age, leading many to think it was Georgian. It was in fact built between 1843 and 1843 was demolished in 1968.”*
 |
| The Laurels in 1959 |
All of which means that there will be a fair few people in Didsbury who will remember the property and if pushed some of the residents who lived there.
And perhaps even what the house was like inside. I know from the 1911 census that it had eleven rooms and was the home of the Reverend Caleb Scott who was 79, a widower and shared the house with his three servants, who were Elizabeth Taylor aged 21; her sister Annie who was 16 and Florence Walker aged 17.
 |
| The Laurels in 1922 |
The excavated site has revealed a fairly high status property which had marble fireplaces and its own well which is what you might expect from a house built in the 1840s.
Now what is odd is the lack of any household items. It’s almost as if the place had been swept clean. But there are a few interesting items including what appears to an electrical junction box which may date from the 1930s and a gas fitting with a name.
All of which is a start. Of course the professionals engaged in digging the site will come up with much more but when you have stood in the cellars of the Laurels it is not easy to walk away without engaging in a bit of detective work.
So we shall see.
 |
| The Laurels in 2015 |
Pictures; the Laurels in 1959, J.F. Harries, m42363,courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, the cellars of the Laurels from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the plan of the Laurels, 1922 from the Land Registry, courtesy of P.J. Livesey http://www.pjlivesey-group.co.uk/
Million, Ivor R., A History of Didsbury, 1969
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