Old Pictures of Castle Hedingham

Here are some more old pictures of Castle Hedingham. I ran out of categories, so these are an odd (but hopefully interesting) mix.

Just about the only change in this picture is the loss of the iron railings outside Magnolia House; I expect that they contributed to the war effort. It shows St James' Street, and its junction with Majendie Lane (as it is now known - it had no separate name until quite recently). The horse and cart are standing outside a building which remains a shop (highly unusually); it's now Mortimer's Stores, the general store and post office. In Majendie Lane, at right angles to the main road (St. James Street), is Baines' shop (the Baineses were depicted in "Living Whist" on the first page of these old pictures). Nowadays, the premises are home to Buckley's and the Magnolia Tea Room. The Art Place is next door, just out of sight.

This photograph was taken from further up St James' Street, at Forge Green, and looks back towards the centre of the village. I'm very grateful to Jeremy Winder for submitting this and seceral other pictures here, which come from his family's collection.

The second house in this photograph was home to Jeremy's family. It still stands in Queen Street.

This is a view from the opposite end of the road. Whilst the houses on the right of this photograph have survived, the buildings on the left were replaced early in the twentieth century, sadly. The street now seems more open and less narrow, but perhaps has lost some character as a result. I'm not entirely sure what the gentleman standing in the road is doing, but his companion seems concerned!

Detail of picture above, showing characters close-up

This is the last of Jeremy's pictures. Presumably, the two ladies in the detail are members of the Harrington family, whom he is researching. There are many Harringtons living in the village to this day. He believes that all of his pictures were taken in 1906, or earlier.

Queen Street

When this picture was taken there was no requirement for the present day traffic priority system! Little else has changed, however, although the house on the immediate left looks quite different now, as a result of having been plaster rendered and painted. Just visible in the distance, and on the right of the road, is a small building which has also disappeared.

Clearly not a village scene! This is HMS Hedingham Castle, a minesweeper which entered service just after the end of WWII and was broken up in the 50s. However, her bell hangs with pride of place in the village Memorial Hall.