In the 1700s and 1800s every village had all sorts of shops, and Sutton Benger was no different. It had wheelwrights, carpenters, tailors, drapers, painters, decorators, plumbers, butchers, bakers, gunsmiths, dairies, groceries, and several public houses and smaller beerhouses. The village even had its own watchmaker.

The photograph from the 1940s / 1950s shows (left) Oliver Heath, the Park Lane baker and Michael Goddard (right) in their delivery van. Michael later took over the bakery business from Oliver when he and his wife Agnes retired. The 1930s Church Magazine shows an advert for other well-known Sutton Benger shops.

There were several wheelwrights and carpenters in the village throughout the 1800s. Joseph Gregory arrived in the village around 1890, and by 1891 was in business in the High Street as a wheelwright with his son William. By 1911 it was William who was running the business as a wheelwright and carpenter, as well as a funeral director. He also designed and built the original Village Hall. The business grew throughout the 1900s; William's son Joe inherited the family business and served on the Parish Council for 35 years. Gregory Close is named after the Gregory family.

Before the new houses were built on the land on the High Street there were two private houses and a builder’s yard. The business closed and the new houses were built; their name 'The Wheelwrights' recognises the history of the site.

The photograph shows No 35/37 High Street, with the Wheelwrights buildings behind. No 35/37 is an Estate House, originally built in the late 1800s as three houses. It has a crest but no date.

Can you help? What date do you think this photo was taken? Can you date it from the clothes worn by the children? If so, please get in touch:

hello@bengertrails.co.uk

In the mid-late 1800s the house at the corner of Park Lane, known as Sutton House, is where the village draper’s shop was; and then in the 1900s it became the village butcher’s. The shop was in an extension to the main building on the left hand side, and it had an awning over it to keep the sun off and help keep the meat cool.

In the earlier 1800s the draper's shop had probably been in the house now known as Gate Cottages, by Gate Farm.

In 1861 the house opposite the entrance to Park Lane, now called Mansard Cottage, was occupied by George Jefferies, a ‘beerhouse keeper’ or 'beerseller'. A beerhouse was somewhere smaller than a public house or an inn, and where the villagers bought their beer, usually brewed on site. In the 1800s even children drank beer; it was very weak, and it was often healthier than the water.