Darby's Cottage
Darbys Cottage
The estate of Darbys is one of the burgage plots near the Arch which was recorded in the 1605 survey of the Manor, but no details are given of its occupant. The first recorded occupant appears in 1693 when Joseph Darby, a white baker, lived there. The evidence for this is from details given at the Quarter Sessions of that year when his servant, Richard Clog, was robbed of 7lbs of the 14 ½ lbs of butter which he had bought at Honiton market. Clog suspected that a man called Bartholomew Fulford had stolen it and was able to identify the butter by the marks which were stamped on it. Another record of 1707 identifies Joseph Darby, too, as the occupant of the dwelling house, orchard, courtlage and close (field) which was owned by John Critchard, the master carpenter of Woodbury.
There is no record extant after this date until the land tax of 1779 when a John Hayman as paying tax on the property. It is most likely that throughout the missing 70 years that a baker occupied the premises since the ovens, which had been installed in the 17th century (or earlier), would have been continuously in use. Three years later Matthew Turner, a baker, occupied the premises, followed ten year late by George Tapscott, also a baker.
When Elliots, the malt-house adjoining Darbys, was burnt down in 1796 it is possible that Darby’s too would have caught fire, especially as the buildings would have been thatched. The rebuilding of the old cob house in brick at about this time could be the result of destruction or severe damage by this fire. The small northern part of the premises is still a cob building, so that may have escaped.
By 1832 William, son of George Tapscott, inherited the property and continued the bakery trade. By 1859 the property had been divided into two separate dwellings, both owned by William Tapscott. William had now retired as a baker, but had installed another member of his family in the northern part of the house and leased the bakery to James Quick. In 1849 Tapscott placed an advertisement in the Exeter Flying Post for the sale of the premises:
‘To be sold at the White Hart – the fee simple and inheritance of a desirable property consisting of a well-built bakehouse with two ovens and also a small house and garden adjoining, situate in the village of Woodbury. There are two gardens and an excellent orchard attached to the bakehouse’.
It is difficult to know when the main house was divided into the three dwellings we we now see. Also, whether the small cottage at the back of the premises was the adjoining house referred to in the advertisement, or whether it was a bakehouse and the main house had three separate tenants. There is architectural evidence that the two southerly parts of the house were one unit originally.
George Kenwood was the next baker to occupy the premises – he was the son of Richard Kenwood, the cooper of Ballymans on Broadway. Kenwood continued his bakery business until the late 1870s when, John Newbury, a baker from London took over the business. By 1889 the estate of Darbys was owned by Margaret Morgan and the three tenants included the baker, John Wheaton. According to local directories the Wheaton family was still baking at Darbys in 1939.
When the present owner, Tim Andrews the well-known potter, bought the southerly part of the property and adapted the premises he discovered large ovens. Though these old ovens have now gone it is significant that after so many years of use as a bakery there is still an oven on the premises in the form of a pottery kiln. The continuous name of Darbys, after Joseph Darby, shows the importance attached to this bakery over such a long period.
The estate of Darbys is one of the burgage plots near the Arch which was recorded in the 1605 survey of the Manor, but no details are given of its occupant. The first recorded occupant appears in 1693 when Joseph Darby, a white baker, lived there. The evidence for this is from details given at the Quarter Sessions of that year when his servant, Richard Clog, was robbed of 7lbs of the 14 ½ lbs of butter which he had bought at Honiton market. Clog suspected that a man called Bartholomew Fulford had stolen it and was able to identify the butter by the marks which were stamped on it. Another record of 1707 identifies Joseph Darby, too, as the occupant of the dwelling house, orchard, courtlage and close (field) which was owned by John Critchard, the master carpenter of Woodbury.
There is no record extant after this date until the land tax of 1779 when a John Hayman as paying tax on the property. It is most likely that throughout the missing 70 years that a baker occupied the premises since the ovens, which had been installed in the 17th century (or earlier), would have been continuously in use. Three years later Matthew Turner, a baker, occupied the premises, followed ten year late by George Tapscott, also a baker.
When Elliots, the malt-house adjoining Darbys, was burnt down in 1796 it is possible that Darby’s too would have caught fire, especially as the buildings would have been thatched. The rebuilding of the old cob house in brick at about this time could be the result of destruction or severe damage by this fire. The small northern part of the premises is still a cob building, so that may have escaped.
By 1832 William, son of George Tapscott, inherited the property and continued the bakery trade. By 1859 the property had been divided into two separate dwellings, both owned by William Tapscott. William had now retired as a baker, but had installed another member of his family in the northern part of the house and leased the bakery to James Quick. In 1849 Tapscott placed an advertisement in the Exeter Flying Post for the sale of the premises:
‘To be sold at the White Hart – the fee simple and inheritance of a desirable property consisting of a well-built bakehouse with two ovens and also a small house and garden adjoining, situate in the village of Woodbury. There are two gardens and an excellent orchard attached to the bakehouse’.
It is difficult to know when the main house was divided into the three dwellings we we now see. Also, whether the small cottage at the back of the premises was the adjoining house referred to in the advertisement, or whether it was a bakehouse and the main house had three separate tenants. There is architectural evidence that the two southerly parts of the house were one unit originally.
George Kenwood was the next baker to occupy the premises – he was the son of Richard Kenwood, the cooper of Ballymans on Broadway. Kenwood continued his bakery business until the late 1870s when, John Newbury, a baker from London took over the business. By 1889 the estate of Darbys was owned by Margaret Morgan and the three tenants included the baker, John Wheaton. According to local directories the Wheaton family was still baking at Darbys in 1939.
When the present owner, Tim Andrews the well-known potter, bought the southerly part of the property and adapted the premises he discovered large ovens. Though these old ovens have now gone it is significant that after so many years of use as a bakery there is still an oven on the premises in the form of a pottery kiln. The continuous name of Darbys, after Joseph Darby, shows the importance attached to this bakery over such a long period.