Yeovil's Virtual Museum

staRS lane house

Stars Lane

Details of Stars Lane House are somewhat scant and I know of no photographs or other illustrations. It was one of very few dwellings in Stars Lane on Watt's map of 1806. At this time Stars Lane reached all the way down to Dodham Brook and Stars Lane House was shown as isolated amongst orchards about halfway between South Street and Dodham Brook. Watts noted that the owner was Mr H Collins.

The 1871 Terrier of Yeovil refers to Stars Lane House as “All that Messuage of dwelling house and garden and orchard thereunto belonging, commonly called or known as Stars Lane House and Orchard situate lying and being in the Parish of Yeovil aforesaid, and containing together 1a.3r.36p. (that is; one acre, three rods and thirty six perches) or thereabout, and numbered 475 on the said Tithe Map, bounded on or towards the North East by a public highway called Stars Lane, on or towards the South by a Leather Dressing Yard, Outbuildings, Plot of Ground, Cottages and gardens, belonging to Robert Phelps; and on or towards the West by Cottages, and Premises belonging to William Fooks; which said premises were purchased by the Corporation in the year 1870, of the Devises under the Will of Henry Collins, deceased.”

The 1846 Tithe Apportionment noted that the owner was Ann Collins and the occupier was John Hawkins.

I have a document in my collection, dated 1875, in which Samuel Cridland leased from Yeovil Corporation the property known as Stars Lane House and a large area of land off Stars Lane - essentially what is now the whole of Stars Lane car park. In the lease the description of the property is almost word-for-word identical to that of the Terrier quoted above. The plan from the lease is reproduced below and it is clear that Stars Lane was planned to be widened which meant the demolition of Stars Lane House. The 'proposed road' on the map was to become Summerhouse Terrace and pretty much all of the Stars Lane House orchard and garden was about to be built on by creating Talbot Street and Summerhouse Terrace and, ultimately to become Stars Lane car park.

As a side-note, Samuel Cridland was born in 1835 in Bradford Abbas, Dorset. He was a Master Mason and in 1881 was living at 16 South Street with his Oxford-born wife, Susan née Rowland. Also living with them were sons Ned and Herbert, both masons, dressmaker daughter Kate, Lucy and youngest son, William, both scholars. William Cridland was later to become the landlord of the George Inn in the 1890's.

 

E Watts' second map of Yeovil of 1806 showing Starrs Lane. Stars Lane House is noted as belonging to Mr H Collins.




1877 map in my collection showing Stars Lane House and its gardens coloured pink.

 

 

From my collection

This hand-coloured lithograph, entitled "View of Yeovil from Newton Hill" overlooking the new Yeovil Town Railway Station was made about 1861 (clearly just after the Town Station opened). Drawn by Edward Holton Buckler, it was published by Thomas Willy Vincent of Yeovil.

 

From my collection

This enlargement of the lithograph shows the view looking to Stars Lane with the footbridge over the new railway tracks at its southern end. In the corner of the field to the left of Stars Lane is the only house at the time - Stars Lane House. This is the only known image of Stars Lane House.