“THE REST”: A HOUSE ON THE BYES
This piece looks at ‘the disappearing house’:
On the River Sid – the disappearing house in the Byes – The Sid
Here we have further information about the building:
[Account taken from the notes of the SVA History Group’s meeting of September 2021 – with thanks to Phil Lee and Brian Golding]
Mr Medhurst of Temple Street Dairy owned an orchard stretching down to the Sid and in 1911 obtained planning permission from Honiton RDC to build a house on land immediately across the Sid. He died in 1939 and Lady Lockyer bought it for demolition. Meanwhile War broke out and the house was used as a hostel for evacuees. It was designated a ‘hostel’ which meant that the evacuees had the house to themselves. They paid for their own coal and food , although milk was cheap or free, but the government paid their rent and rates. Lady Lockyer died in 1943 so was unable to proceed with demolition herself.
In the 1950s a very poor family lived there, even by the standards of the day, and the house was described as having no electricity or running water. The house was two storey, very dilapidated, and surrounded by bushes, especially bamboo right on the river’s edge, and rubbish. The family living there comprised an Italian father, his younger wife and four daughters, ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers. The children went to local schools – two of them attended All Saints school. The family were eventually rehoused – probably in Manstone.
The house was eventually demolished in 1958/9. When it was demolished, it was said that there was no sign of brickwork or rubble, so maybe the house was of wooden construction. The remains of the supports for the plank bridge that Mr. Medhurst used to cross the river are still visible if you know where to look. The building with its footbridge is on the 1933 map (right on the join). The middle of the river was the Urban District boundary and so the house was not in Sidmouth.
Here is a further update:
[Account taken from the notes of the SVA History Group’s meeting of November 2021 – with thanks to Sandra , Ed and Brian ]
Sandra added to the story of “The Rest” in the Byes. She had been to school with Florence, one of the three daughters, and
had visited the house. She recalled that it was a solid, brick-built house that backed directly on to the river. Ahead of the meeting, Ed had shared a map from the SVA archive showing that the house was connected to the dairy on Temple Street by a narrow neck of land excluded from the National Trust owned land in the Byes.
With a further map here:
