The North Road area consists of the buildings from just East of the Hadley Arms to just West of Monkton Combe junior school playing fields taking in Oxford Place and Gladstone Road.
Unfortunately, like Quarry Bottom / Rise / Vale and Greendown Place / Greendown Terrace, the houses in this area make it difficult to find published information about the inhabitants.
They were working class people and the ‘social medium’ of the day, the newspaper, did not really follow their world unless criminality or scandal was involved, which gives a distorted image of people’s lives.
Having said that the area was ‘pub central’ for Combe Down with the Hadley Arms, the Mason’s Arms, the Horseshoe and the Three Crowns all within 200 yards of each other.
There was a blacksmith between Oxford Place and Tyning Road for many years and, as Combe Down expanded and the population grew from the 1870s shops began to appear in the area with a Byfield’s, later Morgan’s, grocers at Tyney Place and drapers in Raby Place.
By 1910 there was a bakery at Oxford Place and a pork butchers at Prior Park Cottages. At 164 North Road there was Chave’s Tea Gardens and dairy. Just down the road on the East side of Monkton Combe Junior School playing fields was The Rockery – a tea garden and venue for weddings and other crowded social occasions.
By 1923 5 Raby Place was Pratt’s general store and F Pearce, family butchers were operating at 2 Highbury Place.
By 1939 Fales were operating from Gladstone House as coal dealers, motor coach proprietors and haulage contractors.
Rosemount, Gladstone Road
Rosemount is the only listed house in the area where some media information is available about the occupants.
Between 1864 and 1877 it was occupied by Robert Thomas Starkes (1816 – 1888) and his second wife Mary Ann Matthews (b. 1816).
He had been landlord of the Ring ‘o’ Bells pub in Widcombe. He later moved out to farm 12 acres at Bradford on Avon but moved back to Combe Down and Died at 5 Greendown Terrace.
Between about 1877 and 1945 the house was occupied by the Henley family.
First by Thomas Leaman Henley (1821 – 1886) and his wife Eliza Phebe Abraham (1837 – 1899) and later by their daughters Mary Grace Phoebe Henley (1868 – 1945) and Anne Susan Thomasine Leaman Henley (1873 – 1929).
Thomas Henley was a surgeon and obstetrician and was made a bankrupt in 1869 but the bankruptcy was annulled in 1873, presumably either because he satisfied his creditors or satisfied the court that the original decision was incorrect.
He was the youngest son of William Codner Henley (1791–1856) and Grace Julianna Leaman (1795–1848) of Abbotskerswell in Devon.
The Henleys had been in Abbotskerswell since the 17th century before starting Henley & Son, cider makers in 1791, this was probably started by Richard Henley (1755–1846). Henley’s merged with Whiteways in 1932. Whiteways ceased production in 1985.
Richard Henley married Mary Codner (b. 1763), who was from another long standing village family, and whose family name would produce the middle name of generations of Henleys; in fact all three of their sons had Codner as a middle name.
From at least 1947 – 1955 the house was occupied by Rev Harold A Norris.