History of the Rosary

The Rosary centre right. Red Lion to its left, The White Lodge to its right. Circa late 1950s

The Rosary is an early 20^th century house that was built on the site of the thatched cottages to the right of the Old Red Lion. It was built around 1927.

In 1939 the census tells us the occupants were William George Emery, a boot maker, his wife Mary (nee Gardner) and children Mary (b 1929), William (b 1932) and Jean (b 1934). They subsequently had a further child, Trevor, born in 1945. Trevor is living as at 2026 and lives in Barby. William George was the son of William Joseph and Nellie Emery, and the person after whom Emery Close was named. We know from the family that William and Mary lived in the house from new. See the Emery family history.

There is evidence that Mary’s father James Gardner lived with them for a while, his death at the house being recorded in 1951.

William died in 1973, leaving a considerable estate of nearly £50,000 (around £700,000 in today’s money.

The Emery family lived there until the death of Mary junior in 1993.

The Rosary was bought by a developer and in October 1994 planning permission for the development of 3 dwellings was sought. The plot was advertised in 1997 and bought by local building company Catesby Homes.

The Rosary was subsequently renovated and extended, with Catesby also building an adjacent new house in a similar style (now Willow House no 39 Churchill Road) and a bungalow at the rear of the two properties (no 37a).

After renovation, The Rosary was initially lived in by Colin Maxwell’s son Martin with his partner Lorraine and her son. They sold to Jo and Paul Durkin in the early 2000s and since they left, the house has been sold another couple of times.