No. 117 (above right) is a typical small Georgian house with a bow window. It had a blue lamp over the doorway until about 1930 as it was the police station. When it was being renovated some years ago, the owner found a small pistol hidden in what she thought was a small cell below the stairs. It is listed grade II. Below you can see a picture of Mr Lillywhite the policeman who once lived here.
No. 119 (above left) is a timber-framed building which has been re-fronted – there is a stone plaque on the rear wall “TDTD 1801”, the date when the façade was changed by Mr Tyrrwhitt-Drake. It has been occupied by solicitors Norris Bazzard (now Blaser Mills) since the late 1950s when Mr Norris Bazzard bought the house from Mr Redding.
Listen to the memories of Mr Gerald Stratfull, who lived at no. 117:
R1_0002 His mother used to lay out bodies for funerals. She eventually saved enough to buy the old Police House when Sgt Benson moved to the new Police House at Bury End.
R1_0002 Children’s play and using soot as toothpaste, also the story of Sheila Rowthorne (the Rowthorne family used to live at 135 High St).
R1_0002 Rats in the houses on the High Street – not a story for the squeamish!
R1_0002 A story about his father working a a linesman maintaining telegraph poles and one of the gang having to find a new job before the days of Health & Safety.
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