[the White team]
the White team
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the White family, left to right: Jackie, Robert, James and Danny White |
Jackie White runs Sweetapples Teashop in the High Street, which she also reckons was once a malthouse. Her challenge for the weekend -- along with her husband Danny and the twins James and Robert -- is to locate as many old malthouse sites and remains as possible, to try and date them and work out when the malting industry reached its peak.
how they got on...
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Sweetapples teashop and a view of the High Street, with The Crown pub in the distance |
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front of Sweetapples teashop |
What evidence was there for the teashop having once been a malthouse? As well as barley found between the floorboards, Jackie had the original estate sale bill and map from 1919, which reads: 'The erection of the Old Malthouse and Cottage situate adjoining the house occupied by Mr Morgan at the East end of HIGH STREET, MARSHFIELD, built of stone and possessing an excellent modern roof, easily convertible into a Good Cottage with Large Garden. Rental, 10/- per annum.' There were also deeds dating back to 1832.
Jackie also showed the teashop's cellar to History Hunters expert Linda Hall, who had never seen anything like it before. Tree trunks had been split in half lengthwise and placed next to each other in the ceiling, giving a 'log cabin' effect. Linda reckoned that the cellar could be 17th century, but to be sure, dendrochronologist Bob Howard took a core from one of the logs.
HISTORY ROOM
The Whites tried to locate other malthouses in Marshfield using
the tithe map and award from 1841, and copied the relevant plots on to the
1921 Ordnance Survey map. They found 19 malthouses and another
possible, where only 14 had been known before.
HIGH STREET
The Whites walked up the High Street with Linda, working out which
buildings were the malthouses shown on the tithe map and going
into some of them. The twins took photographs of all the ones they found. Jackie and Danny located the malthouse
at No. 140 by being lifted up in a crane.
78 AND 119 HIGH STREET
These, the Whites decided, were the best malthouses, and they
took the opportunity to examine their interiors with Linda and
the history artist David Fisher.
HIGH STREET
They joined the Englands in the discovery of the malthouse at No. 83, the grandest house on the street. They discussed the relative
wealth of the maltsters with History Hunters expert Mick Aston and Tony Robinson.
BATH
Danny accompanied Bill England to Bath where they spoke to Bob
Howard by videophone. The dendrochronological date for the teashop
cellar was announced: 1640.
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Tony Robinson enjoys a cup of Sweetapples' tea |
