The Forge

In the 1752 Concordance this house and the adjoining close are recorded as belonging to John Tovey, freehold. He also owned the field between The Forge and Clockfield Cottage. By 1806 the house was owned by Richard Tovey of Fairford but was let out. One person who may have lived here at some time was Joseph Faulkner (carpenter). 

It was owned by Henry Tovey of Stanton Fitzwarren, who was the son of Richard and Anne Tovey, and had inherited the house and land on his mother’s death in 1848. On the death of Henry Tovey in 1860, the house and adjoining field were sold for £395 to Edmond Church. At this time the house was occupied by Paul Miller, a carpenter and wheelwright, at a rent of £28pa. 

It is still shown as a timber yard on a map of 1882 but in 1883 Ellen and George Jefferies moved to The Forge with their family. George was the local blacksmith who had previously lived and worked in Pear Tree Cottage, but now this house became The Forge. Ellen and George had seven sons (and two who died as babies): Edward (b.1868), George, Frank, Fred (b.1876), Percival (b.1878), Albert and Wilfred (b.1883). In 1901 only Percy and Wilfred were still living at home. 

Fred, a farrier, had joined the army but died of enteric fever in South Africa in 1900. Edward had moved to Eastleach where he was the postmaster and blacksmith; he died of pneumonia in 1906.

Wilfred and Percy worked with their father George as Jefferies & Sons. They were described as implement agents and machinists, and were registered as shoeing and general smiths, plumbers and hot and cold water fitters. Percy became a master blacksmith and Wilfred specialised in agricultural machinery. Their clients were farmers from all the surrounding farms as far apart as Lechlade, Holwell and Macaroni Downs. 

In the Great War, Wilfred was exempted from military service ‘conditional to his remaining in the same occupation’. He took over the forge from his father, married Rachel, known as Daisy, and had one daughter Joan (1919-1997).

The Forge was divided into two when Percy married and moved into what is now 2 The Forge. From about 1920, the forge also sold petrol and this went on until 1971. 

Joan Jefferies married Jack Collett after the War and they moved into The Forge when Wilfred died in 1964. Joan’s mother lived with them until her death in 1982. They continued to sell petrol, although the blacksmith’s business ceased when Wilfred retired. The forge is still there and contains much of the old equipment. 

Joan and Jack were pillars of village life: Joan was Parish Clerk for 25 years and Jack was Treasurer of the Southrop Community Shop. 

Percy Jefferies married Lily Ellen and moved into the northern end of the old forge. They had three sons: George who became a policeman, Fred who died in 1923 at the age of 24 when his motor bike crashed into the school bus, and John who moved to London. 

After Percy’s death in 1960 the house, which was owned by the Colletts, was let to a succession of young couples: Robert and Janet Waldron, then David and June Godwin and after that to Ted and Gillian Garratt. Kathy and Brian Pettifor moved in in 1979 with their son Paul.

On Jack’s death in 2008 both The Forge and 2 The Forge reverted to Neil Jeffries, a grandson of George Jeffries (elder brother of Percy and Wilfred).