Why call it Holt Cottage Garden?
Having spent a number of years living in the UK, I fell in love with the gardens and character houses there. I loved the history and traditions and especially how many houses had names. Our postal address is a very ordinary one with one side of the garden running along the main through road and so I decided our place should have a name.
I toyed with the idea of calling it 'The Agent's House' as the house has had a history of being a stock agent's house. Almost continuously since 1947 (bar a short period as a rental) it has been occupied by stock agents. We are the third private stock agent owners (partner Mike is a stock agent coincidently), and JE Watson and Co (a former southern Stock and Station firm) owned it from 1950 until 1970.
Calling the house 'The Agent's House' wasn't quite what I wanted and a bit more research led me to early owners of the property, James and Priscilla Holt. The Holts were local identities, for whom there is a nearby park named. Coming here was a halt for us too - a stopping place and so came about the name. The Holts had a garden on the property - their cottage remained only to the late 1930's and was sited on a different part of the property to that of our house. We have been lucky enough to find a photo of James and Priscilla in their garden, taken, I am guessing, in the early 1900's. No plants from that actual garden survive, although the path from the street is still evident and serves as a barrier to one side of the first raspberry row now. Raspberries are such escape artists, sending out suckers a long way. Coincidentally, Mike is standing on the old path in the photo in the previous post (although facing the street rather than facing into the garden).
I toyed with the idea of calling it 'The Agent's House' as the house has had a history of being a stock agent's house. Almost continuously since 1947 (bar a short period as a rental) it has been occupied by stock agents. We are the third private stock agent owners (partner Mike is a stock agent coincidently), and JE Watson and Co (a former southern Stock and Station firm) owned it from 1950 until 1970.
Calling the house 'The Agent's House' wasn't quite what I wanted and a bit more research led me to early owners of the property, James and Priscilla Holt. The Holts were local identities, for whom there is a nearby park named. Coming here was a halt for us too - a stopping place and so came about the name. The Holts had a garden on the property - their cottage remained only to the late 1930's and was sited on a different part of the property to that of our house. We have been lucky enough to find a photo of James and Priscilla in their garden, taken, I am guessing, in the early 1900's. No plants from that actual garden survive, although the path from the street is still evident and serves as a barrier to one side of the first raspberry row now. Raspberries are such escape artists, sending out suckers a long way. Coincidentally, Mike is standing on the old path in the photo in the previous post (although facing the street rather than facing into the garden).
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| James and Priscilla Holt |
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