Dursley Glos Forum

The 1882 OS map shows a smaller house, but the drive appears to be the same except for the extension towards the tower.
Arthur Brend Winterbotham was living at Brooklands in 1861 (census) with Thomas Hunt (his partner?), giving his occupation as woolen manufacturer employing 161 persons. I can't find him in 1871, but in April 1881 he gives his address as Norman Hill. See mfo.me.uk for details.

The fact that a Norman Hill House existed from at least 1841 suggests that Arthur either rebuilt or extended an older house, rather than created a new estate. Could the origins of the name suggest it's age. Was Norman a person, or does it suggest that the site was of Norman origin? Was the area known as Norman Hill before any house existed?

I found a stone slab with the letter "V" carved on it (on top of the wall) and found a (BIG) Geo. Pike Ltd cast iron lawn roller in undergrowth close by!

I took rubble out of the tower (lotsa rubble) but gave in as it would take forever and make a hell of a mess but under stone and masonry around the wall and in the tower I was surprised to find that under most were plastic bottles and recent crisp packets and modern litter.

Well done on the digging Rich, interesting finds! Did you get any curious looks? I''d be a bit wary about the accuracy of anything on wikipedia regarding dates of a house being built. I'm fairly sure it's a quite a bit older than the 1880s.

Ken, I think I may have mentioned something about the origin of the name in an earlier post, but maybe not. The name does get a mention as "Norman's Hill" on an 1839 Tithe map which probably suggests it is named after someone called Norman. I doubt the name has descended all the way down from Norman times. Andy

A few, I thought I might find something that may be of interest. There was a mention that the Winterbothams built a large red brick house at Sandpits but I cannot find where I read that! I assume that's Norman Hill they mean.

Rich, Arthur Strachan Winterbotham (son of A.B.) lived at Woodfield House, the large house still there in Sandpits. It stands on higher ground than all the others around and has its entrance off Dursley Road, a few hundred yards from the police station junction. In 1901 he was living there with his wife, Ada, and three servants. I think this is the house you are referring to. Andy

Seeing as that's probably the house I read about and tied into the fact that father and son share the same name, that is an easy mistake to make!! I assume you mean the House that looks like something out of a Peter Cushing film?

Yesterday my wife was speaking to a friend who used to play in the castle when he was a boy about 55 yrs ago. I had previously printed off Andy's photos which she showed him. He loved the pics and refered to the OS map on page two and said that there was a tunnel running under the length of the wall to the castle where he used to play. If you look at the map it shows something going off to where it says pump, that is where he indicated the entrance was. He also said he remembered the gardener Mr Tipper who lived in a red brick house next to the main house until about 1964. He says he is still going strong at the age of 96. Dave

My grandfather, William Browning, was the gardener living in the cottage next to the main house from about 1945 until 1964. Mr Tipper surely lived in one of the houses in the area known as The Laggers. I can't remember a tunnel running the length of the wall, only the arched way into the field near the pig sty. The shrubs lining the top of the wall may have seemed like a tunnel.

Rich, I guess we're talking about the same house where Arthur Strachan Winterbotham lived, just along on the right hand side of Dursley Road when travelling from the police station end.

Ken, you're right about where the Tippers lived, in The Laggers cottage adjacent to the farm which was separated a little from the main house. I've been talking to three of the Tipper family and they confirmed this to me. Mr Tipper was the Farm Bailiff. Andy

I have just been reading about Arthur Strachen Winterbotham's cricket bat plantation at Leonard Stanley and his production . As he was such a keen cricketer, it is no surprise that he formed a team from the staff of the estate.

I thought you'd like to see this photo of the farmhouse on the Norman Hill estate. Standing at he gate is Elizabeth "Granny" Tipper, who was married to the Farm Bailiff, Fred. The picture was taken around 1961. Does it bring back any more memories? Andy

No it don't ring any bells for me. Where about did the house stand exactly, would it be on any of the OS maps, Dave.

Here's a map showing where the farmhouse stood in relation to the main house. It was marked up by one of the Tipper family who lived at the farm. The comments relate to how it was in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. I hope this makes it clearer. Andy

I remember the farm cottage. Before moving to the cottage in the courtyard, my grandfather lived in the first cottage on the opposite side of the main road. The row of crosses in the garden was a lean to green house with a rather fine grape vine in it. The tower is the white square in the corner of the garden wall, and the shaded rectangle was the pig sty outside of the garden wall. Can anyone identify what the two 'stones' were, I can't remember anything of significance that would have needed specific mention. I'm part way through as full a description of the grounds as I remember them, but it may be rather a lot to post here. I am still waiting to meet with my contact to compare notes. Ken (The clock is still on winter time)

Thanks for that ken, if your information is too long you may want to break it up over more than one post although a single post can be up to 60000 characaters. Don't take too long to type it though or it may time-out. You may be best to write it separately and then cut and paste it into a post. It will be interesting to read what you have.

As for the time displayed, that's down to you. If you're not logged in you see UTC (GMT) always. If logged in you can choose the timezone and whether you want to use Daylight Savings Time / British Summer Time. Just go to the User Control Panel link under the forum logo, select the Board Preferences tab, then select timezone and enable the Summer Time option

Andy