Oakmoor House is a Grade II listed building and was listed as such on 11th March 1987.
It is described as “mid 18th century, built of ironstone and plastered, with a corrugated iron roof covering thatch, 3 brick ride and end stacks. Windows are mostly 19th century with wood lintyels. The door frame is 18th century with pilasters and a small entablature above. It is believed that the roof timbers beneath the thatch are original.”
Documents held in relation to property in Welton
The owners of the property hold several fascinating documents linked to the history of the property and its owners, going back as far as 1740s. Many are on vellum and have original wax seals still attached.
In some cases, the seal is accompanied by an X indicating that one of the signatories to the document was not literate. Collectively what they show is that the property, once part of a larger portfolio of land, has been the subject of inheritance over many generations and that, in some cases, legal documents were sought as proof of identity before the final settlement of a behest.
For full list of archived documents, please refer to appendix 1 at the bottom of this article.
It seems that Oakmoor House was a significant property with outbuildings, adjoining land and orchard. The records trace an almost complete history of the property between 1740s and 1920s. It has over time been mortgaged, sold, divided into lots which were then sold and used to pay off debts incurred by a bankrupted member of one of the owning families.
It had passed down through parents to children, but also through siblings and nephews / nieces making the history of ownership very complicated. There are references both to Oakmoor House and Oakmoor Cottage (see appendix 1 here)
It seems as if those who inherited the property did not live there during the 18th and 19th centuries, so it is likely that Oakwood House was lived in by tenants. The 1851, 1871 and 1881 census record several members of the Robbins family who were farmers in Welton, but no address is given.
There were 4 distinct families of farmers holding 13921 and an unspecified number of acres respectively, as well as Thomas Robbins and his wife Mary, their sons Olo and Harry – both of whom appear on school registers in the 1880s.
Within the 1881 census a John Gregory (37) is recorded at Welton whose occupation is listed as carver and his wife Martha A, also 37, with 2 sons – Norman (8) and Claude (6). (NB the Gregorys are ancestors of the Emery family on the maternal side, see later in article.)
Both these boys appear on Welton school registers for the period. In the 1891 census John Gregory (46) is listed as a carrier living at 3 Upper Road – which we believe to be the current Ashby Road – with his wife Martha A and sons Norman and Claude.
Could this be a descendent of the widow Gregory referred to in the documents? Upper Road is also known as Bragborough Road in this period. Interestingly in 1976 a newspaper report referenced a Gregory Cottage on Ashby Road. Could there be a connection here?** The householders were Gregor and Lynne Kostin – so maybe not! (see update below).
In September 1899 the occupiers of the house advertised in the Daily Telegraph “furnished apartments…for one or two gentlemen”. Some partridge shooting and fishing was also offered.
A 1914 register of properties in Welton includes an entry for Oakmoor House as follows:
- Occupier: Mrs M H Noon — on a yearly tenancy since 1907; rent unclear, possibly £17.
- Owner: Mr Robbins (text suggests he lived in Derby); owner responsible for repairs.
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Property described as being in 2 parts:
A: 2 living rooms, kitchen, 4 bedrooms, wash house, coal house.
B: Stable, barn, cow house (possibly for 3 cows), hovel. There is a yard, 2 pasture fields to the rear of the property are let to C Gregory. - Overall gross value: £690 including rents, structures, hedges (approx. £103,346 today).
In the 1921 census there is a property recorded as Oaklands, registered to John Bester (51), a farmer, and his wife Kate (43).
An adjoining property is listed as being occupied by Claude S Gregory (46) (son of John and Martha mentioned earlier), a farmer and widower, living with his children Alma (10), Selina (7) both born in Welton and his sister-in-law, Alma B Adnitt (30) who was born in Cold Ashby. We know that Claude’s wife (Selina senior) died in childbirth giving birth to her daughter Selina junior, hence the children’s aunt living with them. Selina junior is the mother of Frank and John Emery.
It could be that the Gregorys were occupying property in or near to Oakmoor House as the census confirms these properties were on Ashby Road?
**UPDATE: we now know that Gregory Cottage is the L shaped cottage going out of the village on the left by the postbox. This was definitely lived in by the Gregory family, relatives of the Emery’s through Frank Emery senior’s wife Selina.
Below, the house as it looks today.
Scroll through the photo album below:
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