Hill Close Families

We know some of the history of the families who gardened here in Victorian times.

Most of them were prosperous tradesmen and professional people, who lived over their business in the town centre. Some of them did have a garden attached to their house, but evidently wanted more space to indulge a gardening passion, or to get away from a busy town centre location.

Some of the shopkeepers lived in houses where the yard was almost completely filled with workshops, stabling and storage, while the house accommodated a large family, a couple of domestic servants, and the odd apprentice and shop assistant. It is not surprising that they needed the tranquility of the Hill Close Gardens as an escape from the crowded town centre.

The namesof some of these families are:

Margetts: auctioneers and estate agents on High Street. They had a garden here for more than a century.

Chadband: pork butchers and confectioners in Swan Street. They had a garden for 80 years

Pratt : chemists in the Market Place. they had a garden for more than a century.

Ivens: Drapers, upholserers, furniture brokers, auctioneers. Several members of the family had gardens at various times.

Sleath : Bootmakers, cycle and sewing machine sellers. They keep appearing as owners or occupiers of gardens. William Sleath had many children, and several descendants still live locally.