Gaol Mews - History

Wormella

Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
Gaol-Mews.jpg

Having my hair cut today lead to a lively discussion about what had existed on the site of the buildings and their original purposes, as asides to what's filled them since :::nudge nudge wink wink:::

Past Track is letting me down a little but any hints as to what might have been there would be ace.
 
age'd parent

age'd parent

50,000th poster!
Codd mineral water bottle, W.D.B. Batkin, Stafford
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Date:1890 - 1900 (c.)

Description:This Codd bottle is made of green tinged glass, and is moulded in the side. It was used by W.D.B. Batkin Ltd, mineral water manufacturers based at 13 Gaol Road, Stafford.

Designed by Hiram Codd, this type of mineral water bottle was introduced in 1875. The neck of the bottle contains a glass marble which was held against a rubber ring by the gas in the carbonated water in order to seal the contents. The customer was supplied with a wooden cap to push the marble into the bottle so that the contents could be poured. Codd bottles remained popular until about 1930.

Dimensions: 230mm x 55mm.

This item is held within the Staffordshire County Museum collection.
 
ATJ

ATJ

Well-Known Forumite
With no evidence whatsoever, I'm going to claim it was built as a stables and inn for prison visitors.

Logic.
 
Wormella

Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
Interesting, one of the hairdresser though it had once been a brewery - so mineral water manufacturers makes sense of that story. - wonder if there was a well or spring nearby?
 
Wormella

Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
More here
http://www.stafford-riverway-link.co.uk/Batkin.pdf said:
“W.D.B.” are the initials of Wilmot Dudley Batkin (1848-1935). In 1902 he had bought the Eclipse Works (13 Gaol Road, Stafford) to manufacture soft drinks, taking over the business of Hardman & Openshaw (Ale Bottlers and Mineral Water Manufacturers), and traded under the name of W.D.Batkin Ltd. He was a bottling agent for Vimto and Guinness, and an agent for Smith’s Crisps.
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Noah

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
darts22

darts22

Well-Known Forumite
Noah said:
Bugger. Explains why I couldn't find Gaol Mews in census returns. Spotted both Beech's Yard & Clarkes Buildings in various years but didn't take much notice of them. Seemed to be residential with assorted occupations, upper working/lower middle class.
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In 1787 William Beech purchased some land in Foregate which probably stretched to Snow Hill and proceeded to erect some buildings, one was the Crown and Cushion (78), where he was licensee 1794-1815 and owner until 1826 when his son James took over. William Beech built a house next to it (79) together with a court of 4 dwellings. John Beech owned three 1826-32 and was living there in 1831. Beech's Yard was in Snow Hill, and seems likely to have been built as dwellings and workplaces by William Beech, in which case this would have been the original name. William owned buildings from 1824-32 in Snow Hill and appears to have lived in one until 1834. Sam Beech a Joiner appears to have owned one of the buildings 1831-32 and lived there.
 
Quaregeg

Quaregeg

Newbie
The whole site was a furniture shop Circa 1970s. Parks of Stafford run by Michael and Jennifer Owen. I know in some of the little nooks and crannies of the building there where a few of the old glass bottles. Some like the ones shown in earlier posts but others, a bit more modern, marked as (I think) joules.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Quaregeg said:
The whole site was a furniture shop Circa 1970s. Parks of Stafford run by Michael and Jennifer Owen. I know in some of the little nooks and crannies of the building there where a few of the old glass bottles. Some like the ones shown in earlier posts but others, a bit more modern, marked as (I think) joules.
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There was a Parkes furniture shop where the traffic lights are now, next to Caffe Nero.

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