Much of this information has been provided by Lesley Morgan our village Historian. Thank you Lesley.
Over the course of the years there have been a number of shops in Stogumber. There were in fact, so many that people from the surrounding hamlets and villages would come to Stogumber to do their Christmas shopping.
Even in more recent years there were a few small shops – some of the village centre properties still retain large pavement facing windows reminiscent of shop windows.
Examples of old shops are seen in several properties the High Street and Station Road and in Brook Street. One such is the property adjacent to the existing shop – No 4 High St., next to the White Horse Inn public house. No 4 was most recently a butchers shop and survived as a butchers shop until recent times. An image here shows the large front window indicative of a shop. It is possible that the existing shop at No 6, may well move it’s business to No 4 in future. We will try to provide more detail on this building in future.
Bearing in mind Stogumber is situated on the original main route from Watchet to Taunton and back then was a small Market Town/village, it was an ideal place for supplies for ships and crew. Perhaps this is why we still see today a property called Chandlers.
The Market House can still be seen today as part of the pub building and pushing out into the road and the ‘square’. It has outside stairs with iron hand rail to the upper level.
Competition amongst shop keepers must have been high. To entice passers by and local residents into the shop at No 6 High Street, to browse or purchase, the Stogumber shop window displayed goods and advertised many of the products and provisions for sale within the shop. Competition from other shops meant they needed to tell passers by what they sold and needed to attract customers – this was important to all shop owners.
Today however, the window of the village shop displays seasonal or national themes or ties displays in with village events simply for the interest of villagers. The window volunteers change it regularly to provide villagers with yet another inventive theme (to the apparent bemusement of some of the passing visitors).
A video showing the village centre as it is today was taken by village resident Leigh Hodder https://www.facebook.com/leigh.hodder/videos/1021802585721587?idorvanity=663272110542838
There has probably been a building on the site of the current shop since mediaeval times, but the first recorded lease was in 1600 to a John Bacon, when it was just described as “cottage”.
Moving forward 200 years to 1800, the tenant at that time of No 6 was Henry Ford who described himself as “tailor and shopkeeper”. He was followed by James Elworthy a wine merchant. Later in the same century we see the Burnett family in residence.
The next informaiton we have is of Mr Inkpen running the shop in 1900s The Goodings purchased the lease in 1906 and later ran the shop.
Examples of buildings which were once shops or businesses are in evidence. Some have larger windows than the average cottage or house. Some we know were pubs and had or still have cellars and voids beneath showing evidence of cellars since partly filled in.
At one time the door to the left of the shop – No 6 & named ‘The House’, was part of the shop building – hence it is also has the address as No 6 High Street the same as the existing shop – it has never been legally changed to something different. The connection between the two properties can be seen from the similar windows and roof line. ‘The House’ contained the remains of the wire and fixtures of an old shop bell in the living room. The wire travelled through the wall linking to the door of the shop to the alert the shop keeper that a prospective customer had come into the shop. A quarry tiled passage runs between the two properties via the front door part way to reach further cottages at the rear. At the back of The House is a small barn which the local historian tells us used to be a Malting House. The courtyard at the rear of 6 contained several small buildings all housing local families. A well beneath the rear courtyard was discovered in recent renovations.
No 8 used to be The Ram Public House. This also owned part of No 6 which has a blocked up cellar space beneath the existing kitchen. The current kitchen is at the front, where the building line steps back in line with No 8 demonstrating that the kitchen and No 8 were all one property. The old Malting House to the rear of No 6 therefore, we see below under George Burnett’s informaton, belonged to the Ram as did several cottages / buildings to the rear.
The village at that time was thriving and had a large and well known Brewery and 5 pubs – 3 of which were the Swan Inn, The Ram (encompassing No 8 & part of 6 -The House next to No 6 The Shop. The Dragon House situated on Brook St at the junction of Station Road – opposite Sawpits is shown in the image here for sale as a project in the Summer of 2024.
Further down the High Street from the Shop and No 8 (the old Ram Public House) will be seen No 10 – Chandlers which once sold candles, paint and soap and probably a lot more.
Chandlers was a term often used to describe a dealer in specialised goods. Today we see mostly ‘ships chandlers’ but in the past there were candle chandlers who sold tallow or wax candles, paint and oil/wax based ointments and soaps.
Next to that is No 12, the Old Post Office – the pink property – where it will be seen that the window next to the red post box is a good bit larger than the rest thus donoting it was the area of the property which ran as a shop/post office.
Derby House in Station Road has large windows on either side of a main front door demonstrating that it was once a shop. Derby House is once again in use as a workshop for interiors and thriving lampshade sales. Wick House – seen in the image here – is down the hill and around the corner from the High Street and situated in Brook Street. Wick House also had a shop situated in the right hand side of the property as will be seen in the older black and white photos.
In 1822, to the shop premises came George Burnett a draper and grocer from Bridgwater. The Burnett family ran the shop until 1888. George described himself as “linen draper, grocer, druggist and ironmonger”. George was also a minister in the village Chapel. The stock listed in the advertisements for the shop back then was huge, but by 1870, the family had decided to downsize and discontinue delivering goods with his horses and wagons. The image shows the census with the Burnett family in residence. More detail about the past and present Burnett family will be seen below.
Joseph Howe Norman was the next owner of the shop which he ran until about 1900.
When Frederick Inkpen took over, he named it “Central Stores” to distinguish it from the many other shops in the village. He added petroleum (at 25/- per cask) to its still wide range of goods. With advertising signs outside and in the window.
In 1906 the business was sold to John Gooding from Devon. He and his family ran the shop until the early 1970s after which it changed hands several times.
History information: With thanks to Lesley Morgan – History Society
UPDATE 2023: A History of Stogumber based on a series of talks given to Stogumber History Society by Dr Duncan Taylor who used to live in Stogumber. The following information is provided by four themed presentations on a website by Dr Taylor:
A memorial stone for George and his wife Eliza Burnett – shopkeeper and minister is still in evidence and situated in the vestibule of the Chapel (now an air B & B).
In 1854 George advertised for an apprentice “Wanted immediately, in a dissenting family, a respectable and well-educated youth who desires knowledge of the drapery, grocery and ironmongery branches. A comfortable home will be found. The premium moderate.”As was usual at the time, the lucky lad’s parents had to pay Mr Burnett for his training.
The growth of local newspapers (the West Somerset Free Press was first published in 1860) gave George Burnett scope for more advertising. The shop was often described as including one or more warehouses.
In 1860 George offered the “Family Mourning Warehouse” where “funerals receive prompt and careful attention, are conducted with scrupulous regard to the directions given and on economical principles . The shop, as yet, had no name and was usually referred to as “General Warehouse, opposite the church”. George described himself as “linen draper, grocer, druggist and ironmonger”. When George retired, he passed the business to his sons, first Egerton and then George Thorne Burnett. The stock listed in the advertisements was huge, but by 1870, George jnr. had decided to downsize and discontinue delivering goods with his horses and wagons.
In 1879 George snr. died and George jnr. took over the lease. The property ran from the present shop down the hill to – or possibly included what is now no. 8 (previously known as the Ram”) and apparently included the Malthouse then used as a warehouse, five single cottages and one double cottage.
Gin and champagne were now for sale in the shop, as were Hawk’s horse and cattle oils. By 1887 George Thorne Burnett was not doing quite so well and ceased trading. (An entrepeneur of his time who maybe oversretched his business empire a little too far!)
Some of George’s descendents now live in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. In Canada Debbie and Mark McKnight searched out the census records of Mark’s ancestors. They discovered the family were living at No 6 High Street Stogumber. Their search revealed that he was a minister at the chapel as well as the shopkeeper. Debbie and Mark visited the UK in 2006 and came to Stogumber to see if their ancestors home was still there and if the Chapel was still operational. They were pleased to find the shop and visited and searched out the Chapel which was then an art centre and is now available as a holiday home. They were delighted to find when they visited in 2006 that the memorial stone for Mark’s Great Great Grandfather George Burnett, is still located in the vestibule of the Chapel.
In 2024, Deb McKnight the wife of George Burnett’s great great grandson spotted via social media, that Stogumber village was raising funds to save the shop and to relocate and purhase for the community and for posterity, the property next door.
Debbie felt that she could not see the shop close after such a long association with the history and business connected to her husband’s family. Debbie therefore, in memory of her busband contributed towards the share option for which the community are very grateful.
Extracts from an article by Lesley Morgan – Local Historian.
The Top End of the High Street all belonged to Stogumber Manor.
No 4, the house between the current village shop and the pub is probably a similar age to No 6 and has a medeival wooden doorway just inside the modern door. It was sold along with most of the Manor Estate 1896. In the early 1900s it was a sweetshop run by a lady known as Ducky Brown, then Percy Hutchings moved his Butchers shop to the propery and subsequently it became a private house.
Moving forwards to today, the existing shop business – now owned by the community – is raising funds to purchase this poperty as a permanent home for the community village shop.
In 1897 after the George Thorne Burnett ceased trading, the lease for these properties was put up for sale in 1897.
By 1906 Mrs Gooding had acquired the lease to No 6. We see from the photo that the shop was run by Mr Inkpen.
The lease included 8 & 6 and all the properties behind them – which were listed as 5 single cottages and one double cottage – part of which had previously been the Malthouse of the Ram (No 8). In fact Lesley tells us that the OS map of 1904 shows that behind 6 & 8 as being completley built on with ony a small courtyard behind what is now No 6 ‘The House’.
In 1906 the properties were acquired by the Gooding family
No 8 was leased to a shoemaker family – the Hill family.
In 1904 the Hills bought a house in Brook St which burned down the following year (replaced by Cactus and Bramble cottages).
In 1930, Mrs Gooding bought the freehold of No 8 and in 1936 tried to evict the last member of the Hill family Jack Hill. Jack resided & worked at No 8 as a shoemaker. A compromise was reached in court that Jack Hill retain one room for a workshop with acess via the doorway and passage next to No 10, Chandlers – the remins of his hanging sign can still be seen.
The Goodings family ran or leased No 6 as a shop for many years and finally sold their village properties in the 1970’s.
circa 1920 Shop showing advertising signs and goods in the window. We are told the boy and his mother on the pavement are Roger Hutchins and his mother Mrs Hutchins snr. Roger married June who still lives opposite the end of the High Street on Brook Street.
If you are able to identify others in this or any other photos please do let us know by email. info@stogumbershop.co.uk. Copies of old photos identifying people and places are always welcomed.
Below: View from the church – of No 4 which used to be a butchers, part of No 6 – the shop we have today – and the White Horse Inn showing the Market House to the right with outside stairs. The space in front of and opposite the White Horse Inn below the churchyard, is known as The Square. A small space now used for village gatherings.
Circa 1950 – David Murray-Rust
We believe this photo of Swann House is from around 1998
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Below: Wick House unknown date
Below: Shute Street – unknown date circa 1950 by David Murray-Rust.
Pictured is the son of the photographer when the family visited on holiday.
2010 – Roger & Anne Howe
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