Dursley Glos Forum

Hi Ken, do you recall their son and what became of him? Why was the estate left to decay and when was it demolished and was it true it was set on fire?
Also were there any houses in Holywell orchard? Thanks for any imformation you can remember.
from Rich.

I thought Major Hague had two sons, but I never met them. One of them ran a hotel in St. David's in Pembrokeshire. I understood that the estate at some point was in the ownership of the sons and that their father continued to live at Norman Hill. When the two fields were sold off for the Kingshill Estate (King's Way and St. George's Road ), Major Hague was so upset that he had a group of trees planted in the centre of what is now the playing field to block his view of them. After his death the estate was sold for building, about the time of my grandfather's death (1965 ) and the main house was demolished. Any reported fires were probably assocciated with the demolition. I remember that there was a house in Holywell Orchard but not much about it.

Thanks for that Ken, I only heard of the one son, That's not to say thats right! I hope you have read all the posts about the house, such a shame that it had to be demolished. P.S, I don't suppose you have any photo's to do with the estate?

Hi Ken, do you know if the tower/castle was still standing after the house was demolished and did you ever go in the tower? Also do you know when the new estate was started?

I can find a reference to a son (Arthur Hiram Winterbotham Hague) whose birth was registered in the second quarter of 1908. However I've also found another reference in The Times of 7th September 1909 to a son born to Mr and Mrs Hague of Norman Hill.

I wonder if the second one didn't survive... but then again Ken if you know of two then he probably did. The only son I can find a reference to later in life is Arthur Hiram Winterbotham Hague who interestingly changed his name by deed poll on 16th September 1937 to Arthur Hiram Winterbotham Hague Winterbotham - a bit of a mouthful! At that time his residence was declared as Norman Hill. Andy

When you go on some modern quiz shows and are asked a question, you often, in your own mind, know the answer for sure. BUT when you are then presented with a choice of answers you start to doubt your memory. It's a bit like that with Major Hague's sons, I only believed that there were two because of conversations that took place sixty years ago, and because of comments by other members of the forum I am no longer sure of the facts. He definitely had the one son in St. David's, as my sister who was living there knew him. Looking at the photograph of the estate brings back a lot, but there were small changes made by the 1940's. The front entrance looked over the meadow towards Kingshill House. There was a walled ditch to the front of the house so that the original view was un-interupted (like an infinity pool). I live in Dursley so I shall have to go and have a look. My father who helped out in the grounds did take me into the tower once, but it was normally out of bounds, as was the front of the house, to respect the privacy of the Major. The last time I visited the grounds was about 1964, when we were clearing the cottage. There was no reason to go down to the garden then, so I can't say if the tower was intact then. I will post more later.

Hi Ken, you were right, there were 2 sons, Arthur Hiram Hague and Humphrey John Hague.

Thanks Rich, it's nice to know that at least some of my memories are real. I'm afraid that no family photographs survive showing anything of the estate, only one fuzzy shot of my grandfather coming back from milking down the farm. The tower was at the end of what could be called a stone rampart, leading off from the drive at the front of the house. I remember it as wide enough to drive a car along. My father told me that he could remember there being an astral telescope there, but that could have been well before WW2. This wall was high enough to form one side of the walled garden, which was surrounded by a brick built wall about twelve feet high (memory again). About halfway down the wide tower wall was an arched gateway from the garden out into the meadow. The sheds on the field side were cattle sheds. I can't remember the round structure . If only we had looked and listened more at the time , but with so much space to wander we just enjoyed ourselves .

Hi Ken. In one of your comments about the castle you said there used to be an arch leading to the castle. If you go to page 3 of this forum look at the photo that Andy posted. You can just see the arch, Dave.

The archway I was referring to did not lead to the tower, it was under the wall leading to the tower at the same level as the cattle sheds, and about where the trees in front of the sheds are , it gave access to the garden from the meadow . I can't remember the archway that appears from the photo to be over the walkway to the tower. Another comment my father made was that when his father joined the estate there were enough staff employed there for them to have their own cricket team. This could have been in the mid 20's to the end of the 30's.

I have been talking to a friend whose grandfather was also a gardener at Major Hague's. He lived with his grandfather in the same cottage as my grandfather, leaving to move to Cam. William Browning moved in as it became vacant. This was about 1944/5. The details we each remember seem to be the same. We are going to meet up, compare notes and then there may be some more information to pass on.

Ken, don't know if you have seen page 1, it has the cricket team there, Dave

Apparently the tower had three levels; the ground floor was used to store potatoes, the middle floor to store netting, sacks and suchlike for the garden and the top level had a flagpole and was used by Major Hague as a vantage point as well as for shooting pigeons from!

I also found out that the houses in Parklands Road were built circa 1964. Andy

Hi Andy. Just read your article in the Gazette, hope you get some response from it. Dave

The Cottage at the top of Holywell orchard was lived in by the Woodward family till 1964.