There are two cottages on this site - both built around 1800. The one set back from the road which has never had a name and was never owned by Wadham College is now a garage, the one right on the road is the house that is now called Clockfield Cottage.
In 1799 the first cottage’s ownership was transferred from the Rev. John Chaunler to Joseph Haines, yeoman, in return for 5 shillings and ‘long and faithful service’. The cottage was then occupied by James Greenhalf and he was still living there in 1821 when Joseph Haines’ widow, Sarah, sold the cottage to Richard Tovey of Hatherop for £40. The cottage passed to Richard’s wife Mary on his death and, when she died in 1863, it went to their son William Tovey of Quenington.
The occupants during this time are shown on the census as follows: 1841 and 1851: Richard Bridgeman with his wife and her brother Thomas Greenleaf.
Richard Bridgeman had been a tailor in Barnsley and he died in 1855 at the age of 76.
1861: William Morse with his wife Elizabeth and five children.
1871 and 1881: John Wells, his wife Charlotte and two sons. John Wells died in 1887.
In 1890 William Tovey sold the cottage to Charles Collier of Witney for £60, and it is described as being ‘bounded on all sides’ by land owned by Wadham College and was currently unoccupied. Charles Collier died in 1898 and the cottage, which was then described as a ‘Meeting House’, was left to his sister Mary Collier. When she died in 1933 the cottage, which was still called a Meeting House, was bought for £25 by Percy Jefferies who was already the occupier of the property. (Percy lived at 2 The Forge at this time but may have used this cottage for storage). When Percy left Southrop in 1956, he sold this cottage for £30 to his brother Wilfred Jefferies, who already owned
Clockfield Cottage. It was in a bad state of repair and may have been used to house chickens. The two houses were thus brought under single ownership.
Clockfield Cottage was owned by Wadham College until 1926. It was a small cottage with two rooms on each floor and a separate washhouse with a loft over it. The first known occupants, recorded in the 1841 census, were Stephen and Ann Lawrence and a female servant. Stephen had been a draper in Lechlade. After Stephen died in 1843, his widow Ann continued to live there until her death in 1855. The cottage is called Clockville Cottage in the 1851 census and this is the first mention of the name.
In 1926 Wadham sold the cottage to Alexander Crundall, who immediately sold it on to Wilfred Jefferies for £90. The tenant at that time was Eli Hatton. We know Alice Phillips lived here from about 1930 until she died in 1955 at the age of 80. She was the housekeeper for Percy Jefferies at 2 The Forge after his wife died in 1930.
In 1956 Wilfred Jefferies sold both properties to Edward Willis for £375. When he died in 1960 his wife Doris May Willis continued to live there. She sold both cottages to Eleanor Lewis in 1964. The house and garage were both in a rundown state (see photos below).
Eleanor married John Dobson in 1964 and together they renovated and extended the properties. They joined Clock-field Cottage to the wash-house by building a large sitting room with two bedrooms above it. They also reroofed the other cottage and converted it into a garage.
In 1971 John and Hilary Ockendon bought the cottage, and their daughter Nancy was born there in 1975. In 1997 they extended the house at the back and in 2010 they discovered a well in the front garden which at one time had presumably served both cottages.
