Local auctioneers are having a busy month, with a large number of estates and properties being offered for sale.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have approved the sale of part of the Glebe lands at Instow. This includes several farms as well as 11 pasture and arable fields situated opposite the Church on the Old Barnstaple Road. At Weare Giffard, Great Huxhill Farm is for sale together with 104 acres. The next door property, Gammaton Cottage, is also for sale; this has five bedrooms and 9.5 acres. In Bradworthy, Cleverdon Farm and its 104 acres is on the market, together with Cleverdon House (17 acres), Cleverdon Cottage (4 acres) and additional field lots.
John Smale Auctioneers was instructed to sell properties in order to close a Trust Estate. Southcott House, Weare Giffard received no offers; a house at Buckleigh, occupied by H S Rivington and used as a Junior College, was withdrawn before the auction.
A more unusual property to be offered for sale was the Public Hall in Irsha Street, Appledore. This was used as a cinema and could seat 400 people.
On a few occasions we know the prices which properties fetched. Rosedown Farm in Hartland, 28 acres, was sold to Mr Westlake for £1,200. Venn Farm at Newton St Petrock, 160 acres, was bought by Mr Heddon of Frithelstock for £3,475. Four cottages numbered 56-59 Meddon Street were sold to Mr Beer for £210, while a double fronted house and stables at 55 Meddon Street was bought by A R Adams for £610. As a comparison, a two bedroom house in Meddon Street would have been priced at £34,500 in 1998 and a four bedroom house cost £163,500 in 2016. The average house price in 1919 was £300, which in monetary terms is the equivalent of £15,360 today, whereas the average house price for the UK in 2019 is £226,000.
Does anyone know why so many agricultural properties were on the market at this time? It could be due to the fact that many men did not return from the War or returned with disabilities. The epidemic of Spanish Flu in 1918-19 caused over 200,000 deaths in the UK and the economic state of the country could mean that families needed to raise money.
In other news:
A resident of Bideford had a little brown dish. It was discovered to be a “Dope” dish made in 1688 and was sold for £512. Does anyone know what a “Dope” dish was?
A boy playing with friends on Cann’s Slip, Appledore, fell into the water and was carried out to sea by the receding tide. Leonard Carter, recently demobbed from HM Navy, was in Blackmore’s Yard and heard the cries for help. Without stopping to take off any of his clothes he dived into the water and swam out to the boy, who had sunk beneath the waves. Mr Carter dived and retrieved the boy and started to tow him back to shore against the tide. A passing boat came to help, taking the boy on board and towing Mr Carter to safety. The boy recovered quickly and Mr Carter is praised for his bravery and swift action.
Mrs Lucy Pennington of Ashridge was summoned by PC Davis for leaving her pony and trap unattended in Bideford High Street. PC Davis told the court that when he spoke to Mrs Pennington on her return she tried to drive the horse on top of him and he had to take hold of its head and push it back. He informed Mrs Pennington that he would report the incident. The lady did not appear in court but was fined six shillings.