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Wadham House (Woodbine Cottages)

 

This house was originally two cottages known as Woodbine Cottages and part of the Wadham College Estate. In 1825 they were let to John Bristow and Thomas Taylor, and when John Bristow died in 1844 (aged 63) the lease passed to Elijah Lawrence of Marlborough. 

By 1879 the right hand cottage was occupied by Joseph and Mary Iles and their family. We know this because their granddaughter, Monica Bennett, has written a pamphlet entitled ‘My Victorian Mother’. 

Her mother Elizabeth (known as Bessie) was born in 1879, and was one of the children of Joseph (1847-1925) and Mary (1849-1907) Iles who used to play under the chestnut tree outside Fyfield Manor. 

Joseph was a farm labourer who worked for the farmer Charles Barton and life was very hard. 

Bessie in her twenties
The chestnut tree which once stood outside Fyfield Manor

Bessie left Southrop to live with her grandmother whilst still a child but the Iles family continued to live in this cottage. In 1926 one cottage was occupied by John Hunt and the other by William Iles (1883-1966, one of Bessie’s brothers) with his wife, son Joe (b.1919) and daughter Molly Amelia (b.1925). In 1926 William Iles bought Boxbush Cottage and the family moved there. 

Mr. and Mrs. Swinford bought both cottages, converted them into one house and moved in in 1928. Their children Honour, David and Susan were all born there. 

Joe Iles aged 4 outside the cottage
Mrs Swinford in the lane outside the house

When Susan married Peter Godwin in 1967 they moved in with her mother, Mrs. Swinford. Their children Mark and Michael were born here too before the family moved to Eastleach in 1973. 

Mr. & Mrs. Swinford, David, Susan and Honour
Sue and Peter Godwin with Michael and Mark

Michael and Beryl White with their children Sean, Patrick and Michelle moved into the house in 1973. Beryl was a teacher at Southrop Village School. The Whites built a two storey extension to the south of the house and a garage with bedrooms over it on the north side. They moved to France in 1989.

Wadham House c.1980
The White family

Mr. & Mrs. Spicer lived in Wadham House from 1989 until 1994 when Mrs. Spicer died. Dennis and Isabelle Cox with their children Helena and Charlie (and several dogs) moved in in 1994. Another son Henry was born whilst they lived here. They converted the garage into a sitting room and built on an entrance hall and a study. They also bought some land at the back which became partly a formal garden and partly informal woodland. 

In 2001 Patrick Andrew and his daughters Edwina and Emily bought Wadham House. He extended the house at the back and also bought more land to make a paddock. 

Wadham House as it is today showing the various extensions