The Baptist Chapel on the corner of Ashby Road and Station Road began life as a blacksmith’s shop before being converted for worship around 1831. It was still operating as a chapel in 1914 according to Kelly’s Directory, offering 80 sittings, alongside St Martin’s Church (15th century) with 212 sittings and the red brick Wesleyan Chapel erected in 1858 with seats for 100.
The chapel building
The 1914 Welton land survey describes the chapel as occupying a fairly small site of about 35 square yards, with dimensions of 21 × 16 × 19 feet. A pencilled note suggests it was built of brick and stone, and the building was valued at £90. The chapel included rear accommodation and a gallery, with the church paying £4 rent and being responsible for repairs.
The interior was plain and modest. It is described as:
“quite plain inside, tile floor, small pulpit, coloured walls, plain deal box pews painted, [and] ceiling cracked badly”.
Photographs show box pews, a small pulpit, shuttered windows and half‑glazed upper windows.
There is evidence that in 1873 the chapel was put up for sale by auction, with the advertisement suggesting the building could be converted into a house (see Lot 3 on advert left). However, the 1914 land survey confirms that this did not happen as the plot remains listed as the Baptist chapel, and the 1911 census details confirm the continued use of the chapel as a place of worship.
Ministers and congregational life
Whilst we don’t yet have a full list of preachers, the earliest known minister was Rev. Richard Robinson, listed in the 1849 Fawsley Hundred Directory. In the 1851 census he appears in Welton as a 57‑year‑old farmer of ten acres, born in Long Buckby, living in Welton with his wife Sarah. Their exact address is not recorded.
Later, Edwin Minor served as minister. A bricklayer by trade, he appears in the 1901 census at 67 Hill Street, aged 57, with his wife Sarah and daughter Heppy (short for Hepzibah) who was 20 at the time.
By 1911 he was living at Hope Cottage, now listed as Baptist Minister, with his wife and 11 year old grandson William Edwin Minor, born in Derby. We learn from the census records that Edwin and Sarah had six children, four still living, but we do not currently know which of Edwin’s children was the parent of William.
Hepzibah married George Smith in 1909 and lived at The Gables, and they went onto to become grandparents to Derek and Keith Smith. They had married on June 1st , and took a house in Welton – as reported in the Welton Parish Magazine for that month!
According to the census, Hepzibah and George had one child born alive, though the child is not listed on the census. We do, however, know this to be Roy, Derek and Keith’s father.
Edwin Minor, The Gables in background (photograph courtesy of Derek Smith)
Relationship between the chapel and Sunnyside
The current residents at Sunnyside understand that the chaplain for the chapel would have lived in the cottage originally. They believe that Sunnyside has been extended at least three times over its lifetime, adding a reception room and small kitchen onto an earlier smaller structure.
There was a well at the back of the garden and an outside toilet in what is now the far corner. This toilet may relate to the chapel or the 3 adjoining cottages – see below.
Sunnyside was originally attached to cottages that extended along Station Road as far as the current Mill Cottage – as shown on map below for plots 190 and 221. Plot 190 accommodated 3 very small cottages and a yard (see*), whilst 221 includes a number of small, linked cottages as seen on old photographs from early in the 20thcentury.
Originally the chapel was a small separate structure close to the edge of Station Road. However, as the 1914 land survey below shows, it was bordered by the road and by the ground surrounding Sunnyside :
Sunnyside in the 19th and early 20th century
A land registry search by the current owners confirms that the house adjoining the chapel known today as Sunnyside existed by 1820, originally located to the right of the chapel further around Station Road. The chapel itself survived until sometime after 1914, later demolished with its footprint likely beneath Sunnyside’s garage.
The 1911 census records that a William Darby (58), a farmer and employer who was born and lived in Welton was resident in the village with his wife Mary (45) and their 15-year-old son Thomas William Darby along with Edith Stephens, an 18-year-old servant, born in Cubbington near Leamington Spa. Evidently Darby was a reasonably wealthy farmer and an employer. His own house is listed as having 7 rooms. Sunnyside Cottage was therefore a property rented out, but owned by his wife, Mary – see below.
According to the 1914 land survey this adjoining property extended some 546 square yards and was owned by Mrs M Darby of Welton (wife of farmer William Darby ) and occupied by Mrs Stock or Shockley: a Mary Stock (a woman of private means – i.e. her own wealth) does appear on the 1911 census living with her cousin, Annie Mason – but this is far from a definite link.
The house was rented for £12 quarterly, with the owner responsible for repairs. It was described as:
“brick and stone, 2 living rooms, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, attic, hovel, closet, garden…” A pencilled note adds: “state of lathes bad at back”.
The property is valued at £195 and, excitingly for this project is now referred to as “Sunnyside”!
To the right of Sunnyside, as you move along Station Road stood a very small house and garden extending 240 yards owned by a non-resident (J. Brown) living in Leyton, Essex. There seem to be 3 small cottages on the plot* constructed of brick and stone, with one room downstairs, 2 rooms upstairs, a closet and washhouse and small garden.
Again, a pencil note tells us:
“Poor at back, v v small yard for 3; 2 closets for 3”.
The valuation of £105 is based on 3 cottages and yard. It is this sort of substandard housing that was widely demolished in Welton early in the 20th century.
These buildings can be seen on the image below – note the three front doors on the building behind the figure – along with the linked cottages referenced earlier:
Occupants of Sunnyside
From the 1911 census Charles Robert Ashby, a farmer, and his wife Beatrice and servant Elsie Akers lived in Sunnyside.
However by 1912 a Mr S E Turnock lived there, as can be seen from a newspaper clipping thanking the paper for prize he had won!
The 1921 census tells us that the occupants of Sunnyside were widower Walter Bland (59), a carpenter and wheelwright. He had been born in Yelden, Bedfordshire. He lived with his sister, Sarah Ann Tooth (69) who was single and had been born in Newport Pagnell. She worked as a housekeeper. Walter’s employment details reports that he is working “on [his] own account” – in other words he is working for himself and not employing others. His sister records her employment status as “private” suggesting she has some form of independent means, or unofficial employment as her brother’s housekeeper.
By 1939 Thomas William and Sylvia (Hill) Darby lived there. He is likely the son of William Darby mentioned earlier. There is also a census listing of Arthur Elstone, a retired bank manager, but the record for this person is closed so we cannot establish a connection to the family. Mr Darby was a prominent figure in the village, a farmer who was on the parish council and served as the church warden. He died at his home in 1951.
In 1952 Sunnyside was occupied by Alexander Hermann Hill, a radio engineer, probably for the BBC. Many BBC employees were accommodated in the area during and beyond WWII with the women living in the BBC hostel at Churchill House / Welton Manor and men having B+B accommodation in the houses of Welton and nearby villages. Although it could be that, given he shares a surname with Sylvia Darby (nee Hill), there may have been a familial relationship. He had a lucky escape when his 12 horse power car burst into flames on his way to Watford due to an electrical fault.
The current owners have lived in the cottage since the 1990s.
