No 27 CROW LANE

THIS HOUSE HAS A VERY SURPRISING HISTORY

DATE OF BUILD - Before 1842

Detached stone house, originally with a stone roof

Symetrical with the front door in the middle

You will find a drawing of this house in the file of drawings by John B Taylor & a photo in the catalogue

UNUSUAL FEATURES

1) Unlike most double-fronted houses, no. 27 has only 2 ground-floor rooms 2 bedrooms and bathroom on the 1st floor.

2) Stone staircase (internal) Immediately ahead as you go in through the front door Runs up between the 2 downstairs rooms.

3) High walled side yard with a gate next to the ginnel

THERE SEEMS TO BE NO MYSTERY HERE !

HOWEVER Nos. 27 WAS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO Nos. 29 & 31

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO NOS. 29 & 31 CROW LANE

Nos. 29 & 31 ARE MISSING - THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF THEM NOW

HOW MANY HOUSES ARE MISSING ? During the Victorian period & early 20th Cent. there was always ONE dwelling between no.27 and no.33.

Normally numbered no. 31

Only 1891 census numbered it 29 - and then 31 was not included

CONCLUSION - THERE WAS ONLY ONE HOUSE

WHERE WAS NO. 31 ? Between No. 27 and no. 33 there is a small yard

POSSIBLE CONCLUSION

No. 27 Large double fronted house No. 31 Small dwelling where the yard is now.

HOWEVER ….. THIS DOES NOT FIT THE FACTS

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SIMILARITIES BETWEEN 27 & 31 ?

EVIDENCE FROM RATES VALUAUTION

1910 RATES VALUATION No 27 rates £ 5 No. 31 rates £ 5

These rates were equal and were very low - much less than other houses

eg No.s 33 - 43 rates £ 7 :10 for each house These are smaller cottages than no.27

EVIDENCE FROM CENSUES

1891 CENSUS & 1901 CENSUS Both no. 27 and no. 31 were two roomed dwellings

EVIDENCE FROM MAPS

MAP dated 1892 No. 27 is two equal sized houses with the partly covered yard on the right

POSSIBLE CONCLUSION

Even though it looks like a normal double-fronted house, perhaps ……

The current house was once ….. Two 2-roomed dwellings nos.27 & 31.

WHY WERE THEY NUMBERED 27 & 31 NOT 27 & 29 ?

If they were two parts of the same house you would expect them to be nos. 27 & 29

Perhaps no 31 was normally entered through the yard the door to which lies nearer to no.33 than it does to no. 27

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MAPS, CENSUES AND RATE VALUATIONS SUGGEST

NO. 27 WAS TWO "ONE-UP ONE-DOWN HOUSES"

IS THERE CORROBORATING EVIDENCE. ?

EYE WITNESS EVIDENCE

27 was "one-up one-down"

Evidence comes from the Great-granddaughter of Robert Wolstenholme who lived in the house in 1861 and whose granddaughter lived there until the early 1940's.

Having been traced through the Crow Lane Project, Gladys Kaine (nee Wolstenholme) visited the house in March 2003

Gladys used to visit her aunt at no. 27 until the early 1940s. She remembers the house as a "one-up one-down"

No 27 was on the left of the front door.

DOWNSTAIRS - one room which contained fireplace slopstone sink behind the door built-in cupboard (still existing)

UPSTAIRS - one bedroom they all slept in the same bed. No bathroom or toilet

FRONT DOOR , BUT NO BACK DOOR

OUTSIDE TOILET ONLY How did they get to the toilet ?

Out of the front door, In through the gate in the walled yard

There were two toilets, presumably one for each dwelling