The School House or Lecture House (The Old Priory Cottages)
On 7th September 1927 Thomas Rowland, described as a smallholder of Spetisbury, bought the School House and the buildings immediately adjacent (kitchens, larders, etc) and the area around for £360. These are the buildings now known as St. Monica’s Priory.
The Rowland family came from Hinton St. Mary. Edwin Rowland, Thomas’ father, an agricultural labourer, was born there about 1841 and married Mary Francis in 1863. Edwin and Mary left Hinton St. Mary, first for Gussage St. Michael and finally for Spetisbury, where they lived in a cottage on the main road near Louse Lane. Edwin and Mary had six sons. Their eldest son, Joseph, married Clara Mary Cleft and became the innkeeper at the Drax Arms: Joseph and Clara had two daughters. Their second son, John, a labourer, married Annie Ames and after a short while in Spetisbury, moved to Bere Regis: John and Annie had eight children. Their third son, Harry, married Annie Gaulton and had two children: Harry and his family lived in Cliff Cottage and Harry worked as a labourer at the cress beds. Their fifth son, Arthur, died aged 14 years and their sixth son, Edwin, who was a groom and then a chauffeur in Charlton Marshall, married Helen Pope in 1902 and had three children. By 1826 Edwin and Helen were back in Spetisbury, first in the High Street and later at Clapcotts.
Thomas Rowland was the fourth son of Edwin and Mary. He was born in 1875 at Hinton St. Michael. In 1891 he was a 16 year old living with his parents near Louse Lane and working as an agricultural labourer. Soon after this he joined the navy where he worked as a stoker for many years. He married Beatrice Ann Pengelly, a girl from Cornwall, in 1902. In 1911 Beatrice was living in what was obviously their home in Kent Road, Devonport while Thomas was at Portsmouth on the Colossus, a tender to HMS Vivid. Thomas left the navy and started farming, first at Newton Farm, Sturminster Newton and then at Spetisbury where he and Beatrice lived in Crawford Road. Thomas and Beatrice didn’t have any children.
In 1927 Thomas was described as a smallholder of Spetisbury on the deeds of the property. The plan below shows the extent of the property that Thomas bought. It includes all the building now known as St. Monica’s Priory and includes the land where Jubilee Cottage and Red Walls were subsequently built.
Plan annexed to Tom Rowland Deed August 1942
The plan above, although not very accurate, shows approximately how the building was divided up into five cottages with their gardens, and also the position of Jubilee Cottage.
Beatrice Ann Rowland continued to live at No.3 and died nearly 11 years after her husband on 4th January 1953 aged 76 and since she had no children, left the property (except Jubilee Cottage and its garden) to her husband’s nephew, Arthur George Rowland. Arthur was the son of her husband’s brother John who had moved to Bere Regis in the 1890s. In 1853 Arthur was described as a gardener, formerly of Corfe Mullen, but now of Oxford. Beatrice left Jubilee Cottage to its sitting tenant, Harry Frank Rolls.
Arthur Rowland obviously had no desire to live in St. Monica’s Priory because on 8th February 1954 he sold the property (allowing the owners of Jubilee Cottage rights of way over existing pathways from the main road and to their garden) to Ernest Walter Musselwhite, of Park Hill, Charlton Marshall, who bought it for £500. Ernest was a 50 year old engineer who had been born in Parkstone, the son of a cabinet maker; he moved into No.3 with his wife Edith and continued to let the other cottages to tenants.
Plan annexed to conveyance 7th September 1927
After Thomas Rowland bought the property, he divided it up into five small cottages with gardens, numbered 1 to 5 and lived in the largest (No.3) with his wife Beatrice from 1930 until his death in June 1942. The other four cottages were let out to tenants. For many years these were known as The Old Priory Cottages, St. Monica’s Close.
The Rowland family remained in Spetisbury for some time. Edwin and his wife both died there, Edwin in 1919 at the age of 79 and Mary in 1925 aged 86. Their eldest son, Joseph, was the landlord of the Drax Arms until at least 1926 and in 1931 four of Edwin’s five living sons (Joseph, Harry, Thomas and Edwin) were all described as being smallholders of Spetisbury in Kelly’s Directory.
In 1935 Thomas Rowland built another cottage on part of the courtyard next to the wall of the Village Hall garden. Since it was the year of the Silver Jubilee of George V he named it Jubilee Cottage. Thomas died on 4th June 1942 aged 67 and left all his property to his wife Beatrice.
Plan annexed to conveyance 8th February 1954
The plan above was presumably drawn to show the position of Jubilee Cottage and its rights of way to the main road and to the garden. The position of the copper beech tree can be seen. The garages for St. Monica’s have not yet been built although a shed of some kind exists. The pig sties in the garden if Jubilee Cottage can also be seen.
During the next five years, property prices must have risen very fast because on 20th August 1959, St. Monica’s was sold by Ernest Musselwhite to John Albert Hanks of the Kings Arms Hotel, White Cliff Mill Street, Blandford for £2650 (with a mortgage from Midland Bank.) It had vacant possession of No.3 but the other cottages were let to tenants. John Hanks was the last person to own the complete property. On September 9th 1963 John Hanks sold St. Monica’s to Blandford Investment Company of Ilford, Essex (Director John Albert Hanks) for £2650. (This was obviously done for some business purpose. Blandford Investment Company seemed to own several properties in the area: in 1964 they owned houses in White Cliff Mill Street, Albert Street, Bryanston Street and East Street as well as St. Monica’s Priory: the company was wound up in 1981.) By this time the garages next to No.1 had been built. In 1967 John Hanks also bought Jubilee Cottage from Harry Rolls.