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Old Photographs of Winsley
Winsley, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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The centre of Winsley village around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. The roof of part of the row of houses known as Church Cottages has been changed from thatch to pantiles, although that next to the church seems to have been newly re-thatched.
The old road through the village with the Seven Stars public house on the right and Winsley School, now Winsley Social Club, on the left with the tower of the church beyond, far left. The sign behind the man refers to water from the well of which the winding gear can be seen next to him. At the back are Church Cottages and blacksmith’s forge, all then with thatched roofs.
Many, possibly most, of the old houses in Winsley were thatched. These cottages are in the lane that winds around from the church, passing the former Post Office, back to the road to Bath at the Wheatsheaf. They have Welsh slate roofs now and the gable on the right front has been greatly reduced.
Near the western entry into Winsley village, with wall of Burghope Manor on the left and The Wheatsheaf on the right, which was then operating as a shop (not a pub, despite its pub-like name).
The redundant quarries at Murhill, Winsley were selected as a suitable place for a hospital to treat tuberculosis patients. Winsley Sanatorium is seen in this aerial photograph postcard (right). The caption says it is in Limpley Stoke, Somerset, although it was definitely in Winsley and Limpley Stoke is in Wiltshire too.
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St Nicholas’ parish church in the 1920s or 1930s, but little changed today. Only the almost detached tower remains from the medieval building, which was a chapel of Holy Trinity church, Bradford; the hall-like church building dates from 1841
This old postcard from the beginning of the twentieth century has the title “Ye Olde Cottages, Winsley”, so the thatch was considered quaint even then. The photographer, Richard Wilkinson of Trowbridge, seems to gathered quite a crowd of curious onlookers.
The Seven Stars pub in a postcard photograph in the 1950s or 1960s
Winsley had a garage and coach hire, in Bradford Road, until the 1980s. Here is a bus in the 1930s with the driver, probably Harold Little, the garage owner, who retired in 1949.
A much later advertisement for the garage’s coaches; in 1952 one was used in the film The Titfield Thunderbolt. The site of the garage has been redeveloped for housing.
Members of Winsley’s Cricket Club outside their pavilion
Members of Winsley Home Guard (3 Platoon, B Company, 4th Battalion Wiltshire Local Defence Volunteers, to give the full title) in World War 2. Back row from left: F. Kettlety, unknown, G. Grant, E. Harper, K. Kettlety, G. Mortimer, E. Hepher; 2nd row: E. Fog, N. Staples, H. Wellman, Percy Hazell, L. Gerrish, Leonard Elms, D. Say, – Owen; 3rd row: A. Grant, unknown, J. Grant. J. Bacon, S. Bunting, R. Kettlety, unknown, E. Kettlety, C. Latham, E. Morris; front row: J. Badder, J. Symes, P. Compton, M.J.R. Bond, Captain Whitehead, Captain Broadhurst, F. Flood, F. Mizen, P.
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More:
- Winsley Parish Church
- The Seven Stars
- Winsley Sanatorium
- Old photographs of Avoncliff
- Old photographs of Conkwell
- Old photographs of Turleigh