THE WILTSHIRE SALE OF THE CENTURY By Adrian Bishop Published in The Honeycomb - October 1997 In Chippenham's Neeld Hall at 2.30pm on Tuesday 30th September 1947, Messrs Knight, Frank and Rutley's auctioneer brought order to the proceedings of the sale of the century with a crash of his gavel on the rostrum. The cacophony of chatter died as he scanned the body of the Hall, filled to standing capacity by a crowd of 200 who would be witness to a unique event, the sale in lots of the village of Castle Combe. However, this was not the first time that the village had been offered for sale, but on that occasion eighty years previously, it was as one lot, "The Entire Village & Nearly the Whole Parish of Castle Combe and a Considerable Section of the Parishes of Nettleton and Yatton Keynell", Messrs Driver & Company at the Auction Mart in Tokenhouse Yard, London, being the auctioneers. At that time the successful bidder had been a Lancashire businessman Edward Chaddook Lowndes, who had changed his surname from Gorst in order to claim an inheritance, and with his purchase of the village, ended over 400 years of Baronial ownership by the Scrope family. Whilst Lord of the Manor, Lowndes expended much time and money on improvements to the Manor House and its gardens; unfortunately this largess did not extend to the houses and cottages in the village, some of which were near to dereliction. Upon the death of Lowndes in 1909 the estate passed to his brother Sir John Gorst, and when he in turn died in 1916, it was inherited by his granddaughter Miss Katherine (Kitty) Gorst. Having married her estate manager and now being Mrs Maurice, by 1947 she was faced with the possibility of expenses beyond the resource of estate finances. With many of the properties having had little in the way of repair since the Lowndes era, such work was now being forced on her by a notification from the Calne and Chippenhamn Rural District Council of an impending intention to schedule the majority of buildings in Castle Combe as being of historic or architectural interest. Such action would give the council powers to demand repair to the properties be undertaken - failure to do so leading to prosecution. At this time the majority of dwellings in the village were occupied by tenants paying annual rents ranging from £4 to £25, which even by the standards of contemporary monetary value, could not in any way cover the anticipated cost of repairs. Faced with this dilemma, Mrs Maurice took what she considered the only course open to her, to dispose of the entire village. Of those in attendance at the Neeld Hall, many were there, as at most auctions, merely to satisfy curiosity, a few could see the possibility of making speculative profit from some of the Lots, but there were those with a serious and compelling intent to become owners of the property which they presently occupied as tenants. In the weeks prior to the sale day, copies of the catalogue, priced at 2s.6d (12.5p) had been obtained by interested parties, and could be seen clutched in the hands of many of those in the saleroom. It was certainly good value for money, being very well printed on glossy paper, a coloured map indicating the location of the lots. The card cover was graced by a photograph of the village with various others on the pages within. Extensive prefaces entitled General Remarks and Stipulations, covered a general description of the village and lots offered for sale, also such items as sporting rights and services available were detailed. In the case of the latter, some properties were still without electricity or mains sewerage, and a small number "drew their water from the main supply by means of conveniently placed standpipes". Reference was made in the Stipulations to "Rights, Easements, Tenancies and Wayleaves" in legal jargon which doubtless caused some deep thinking by the less well informed locals intending to bid in person to buy the freehold of the cottages for which they then paid rent to the estate. A further page of Conditions of Sale must have also added to their confusion. Described as "A Charming Cotswold Residence", the Manor House took pride of place as Lot 1, having five of the thirty one pages of the catalogue devoted to it, and with four photographs. The features of the house itself were detailed, together with those of the Pleasure Gardens and grounds, kitchen gardens, stabling, garages, chauffeur's and gardener's cottages. Also included in this lot was Bybrook Lodge, the house as its name implies, standing at the carriage entrance to the Manor House near the Town Bridge. Thereafter the catalogue listed another 41 lots, including the Dower House, the two bakeries, two inns, two shops, the post office, the Village Hall, houses, cottages, the Market Cross and Parsonage Wood. After a short discourse, drawing the attention of those present in the room to the conditions of sale, and adding a few words on the uniqueness of the occasion, the auctioneer opened the bidding with Lot 1, the Manor House. Prior to the sale, the high level of interest shown in this fine property had led to anticipations of it being heavily fought over, but the bidding was slow, finally terminating at a mere £IO,000, a figure too low to be accepted, and the lot was withdrawn. It should be remembered that this was 1947, immediately after a war which had left the country in a state of uncertainty, and perhaps the "feel good factor" for an expensive investment in such a property was absent. However the sale continued, with the remainder of the other property lots falling relentlessly under the hammer. A speculatory buyer from Buckinghamshire, Mr Shuttleworth, taking The Castle and White Hart Inns, also a cottage in West Street. Mr Greville Collins from Park Lane in London secured the desirable property Brook House and four cottages immediately across the road, these having sitting tenants who paid a total rent of £22.1s. a year. Harris Royal, the village doctor, bought The Dower House, which he had previously occupied as a tenant, and thus the tradition established over seventy five years of this being the doctor's house continued. Commercial properties including the shops, bakeries and the post office became the possessions of the sitting tenants. Due to an unfortunate lapse on the part of the Village Hall committee, no attempt was made to purchase the Village Hall which stood on land to the rear of a cottage. Consequently when the cottage and land was sold, the hall had to be demolished, leaving the village without a meeting place for Several Years. When at the end of three hours the auctioneers gavel descended for the final time, only three lots out of the 42 offered, namely The Manor House, Market Cross and Parsonage Wood, remained unsold, the total realized being in excess of £39,000. The Manor House was sold after the sale by private treaty for an undisclosed sum. September 1997 saw the 50th anniversary of the sale, and none of those who raised their hand in the Neeld Hall still occupy the property they purchased. In fact there are very few local people who can remember the event with any certainty. Copies of the sale catalogue, which is now a truly historic document, are still in the hands of some individuals, and it can be seen in the County Records Office at Trowbridge. Some examples of prices realized - The Castle Inn £4,250 The White Hart £7,500 The Dower House £3,500 Hammond's Bakery £l,700 Cottage & Village Hall £200 Hillside House £3,750 Archway Cottage £459 Brookside House £7,290 3 Cottages in West Street £472 Yew Tree Cottage £200 The first cottage under the archway in Park Lane sold for £150, this being the lowest price for a single property in the sale. ADRIAN BISHOP