Timber building stood on site of Limes restaurant

Jump to: navigation, search

The drawing, below, shows a picturesque, timber-framed building once stood on the site of Limes restaurant and bar. Maxwell Craven has been delving into the history of the building to find out who lived there.

No 101 Friar Gate in the early 1800s before the erection of the existing building in 1859, which is now Limes restaurant and bar

At the western corner of Stafford Street and Friar Gate, there stands a rather fine brick building, built as a very grand pair of semis for a lawyer, Benjamin Frearson, in 1859.

It was designed by George Bridgart and built by his brother, Robert, and is now the Limes restaurant-bar.

Until its conversion, the building, comprising Nos 101-102 Friar Gate, was long the offices of Messrs Cooper Parry, accountants who, regrettably, removed most of the period interior fittings over the years.

What I never knew is what stood there prior to the pitching of Stafford Street around 1852 and the erection of 101 and 102. According to existing records, that side of Friar Gate has been built up since the Middle Ages and the previous buildings were probably timber-framed and picturesque, like those knocked down to build the bridge, further along, in 1876.

In the case of No 101, however, this conundrum has been resolved for me by a reader from Sandiacre.

She has a framed drawing of the building before Messrs Bridgart and Frearson bought it and swept it away, which she kindly sent me to share with readers.

It is signed by an artist called W Farrand Gospel, who must have lived in the first half of the 19th century. If any reader knows anything about him, please get in touch.

The building is a double-gabled, timber-framed house with two storeys and a jettied structure, with a side carriage arch. The central entrance was flanked by a pair of shop spaces, lit by plain Georgian windows. The upstairs windows were offset between double panels of herringbone studding and the gables were jettied out on a bracket course above.

All in all, a delightful late medieval structure with modest 18th-century alterations which, today, would probably be a Grade II*-listed showpiece!

The shopkeeper at the time of the picture was a Mr Hood. The reader thought this was George Hood, a plumber and glazier, who was also a councillor and had a modest municipal career. I was able to confirm this and to discover something of his ancestry.

The Municipal Corporations Act in 1835 allowed many more people to vote and stand for election to the corporation, instead of limiting it to people worth more than £20 per annum who were already sons of Freemen or apprentices of one.

George Hood was born in 1778, the son of Francis Hood, also a plumber and glazier. He must have seized his opportunity to stand for election in 1835, for by then he would have been 57.

Plumbing and glazing always went together in those days, the word plumber coming from the Latin for lead. Originally, the lead was used to fix the glass panes into windows with glazing strips. It was only when lead was used for domestic water pipes that the two trades diverged.

From Francis, it is possible to trace George’s ancestry all the way back to Ralph Hood of All Saints, who had three sons – one of them, Thomas, being a miller in St Michael’s parish in 1670. George’s father moved to St Werburgh’s and founded his business at No 101, probably in 1765. He was still there in 1791.

George was the freeholder at No 101, a councillor for Friar Gate ward from 1840, and probably from 1835, agent to the County Fire and Life Insurance Office, a member of the Board of Guardians from 1842, vice-chairman of the Poor Law Union by 1852 and served on both the corporation estates committee and one set up after the 1841 flood to review flood prevention schemes on the Markeaton Brook.

Around 1836, he moved to 3 George Street, a house vacated by engineer William Wigston, who had died the year before, and remained there until his death around 1856, aged nearly 80.

I have not discovered whether Hood was married or had children but Henry Hood was calling himself a gentleman and living in Osmaston Road in 1843. There were also cousins: Francis, living in Short Street as a labourer, and a more distant one, another Francis, a tailor, also in Friar Gate in 1823.

This unique image must date from before 1836 when George moved and takes us back to an era when many local streets were still lined with timber-framed houses.

You and Yesterday user Di Leech, from Australia, adds:

My great great great uncles William (Architect) and Robert Bridgart (Joiner & Builder) built this house as you state in your article. Robert had 200 men working for him at one time in the building trade, 70 Friar Gate, Derby.

George was a Builder and Country Surveyor, 37 King St, Derby. Thomas (their brother) was a plasterer & colourer, 26 South St, Derby. William Builder & Agent to the Age, Life and the Plate Glass Fire & Accident Insurance Companies, 7 Goodes St, Derby. John & Jnr were Builders & Joiners at Friar Gate, Derby.

If you come across any more buildings that they built I would be most interested in you could put them inside "You and Yesterday" as I try and find as much information about my former relations as I can. My great grandfather emigrated to South Australia in 1854 and I have only the Internet to do my research for me from overseas.

Earlier Seth Bridgart changed his surname to Bridgett and his son Thomas Bridgett who at the time was only a silk throwster started business of called it Thomas Bridgett & Company, Silk Manufacturers c. 1803-c.1870, in Bridge Street, Derby. I have only just found out this information.

[edit]

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

Other tags that are relevant to Timber building stood on site of Limes restaurant

Help us to improve You&Yesterday by adding more tags to this article. Simply edit this page, find this area and add the words in a list separated by commas next to the *.

To find out more about tagging please click here.

County: Derbyshire

Return to You_and_Yesterday

Retrieved from "http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Timber_building_stood_on_site_of_Limes_restaurant"

You can edit or add to this article.