MEMORY MONDAY …and a date for your diary!
Uncovering the past – whether it be the history of your home, family or local area – inevitably leads down many unforeseen paths. Some are dead ends; others lead to more discoveries, from which further questions arise – and the list grows ever longer!
You might recall the recent Memory Monday on the 1841 Census, in which some puzzling names cropped up. At that time, Westwood Heath Road was known as Canley Hill. However, it later changed to Cox’s Hill – where did that name come from? Also at that time, the Old Lodge appeared to be situated on Mackay’s Farm – but no Mackay family to be seen until a Miss Mackay in 1911. The plot thickens! Another mystery arising from the 1841 Census was the presence of the “Round Houses”. I wondered if these were the so-called squatters’ cottages, dating from the late 18th Century.
An old article in the Berkswell Miscellany (discovered by Ian Harrop), sheds some light on these puzzles. It tells us that a Mr Cox had been a licensee of the Peeping Tom, probably in the 1910s-20s. Were they a significant family in the area at one time, lending their name to the hill? Then, I noticed a rather grainy photograph of some little girls outside Westwood Heath Farm (now demolished). This was conveniently annotated with their names – one of them was Jean Mackay, sitting with her friends, the Armitt sisters; the Armitts being a long-standing family in the area. How do the Mackays fit into the history of Westwood Heath? Finally, a possible answer to the mystery of the Round Houses. The Miscellany contains a reference to “mud huts” in which the newly wedded Mr and Mrs Armitt went to live. These huts are described as being located “across the fields off Westwood Heath Road, just north of Rough Knowles Wood.” Mud huts…what did they look like and what was it like living there?!
All this gives us more clues as to where to investigate next…but here is a fresh puzzle to solve. An 1886 map of Westwood Heath shows an area known as Tigers Island. The Miscellany article tells us it lay between the railway line and Park Wood. As far as I am aware, it is no longer referred to as such – but where on earth did that name come from?! Tigers? In Westwood Heath? Answers on a postcard please……!
********A Date For Your Diary********
Westwood Heath History Group is planning our first community meeting on the evening of Tuesday May 18th, via Zoom. More details to follow at the forthcoming RA meeting (27th April) and here on Facebook. We hope to see you there!
Images: Jean Mackay, second from right, with friends at Westwood Farm, circa early 1900s.
Group of farm workers standing by the threshing machine at Westwood Farm
Old image of Westwood Heath Road
John Webb
As regards Cox, according to the 1901 census, Edmund Cox, the publican at the Peeping Tom at that time, was born in Radford Semele, Leamington. His father and grandfather were also born in Radford Semele, so it appears that they were a Leamington family who came to Burton Green, sometime between 1881 and 1891. I suppose that people walking to the Peeping Tom could have associated that hill with 'going to Cox's place'.
Jill Kashi
Yes indeed! John, do you know how many incarnations of the Peeping Tom there have been? And just out of interest, are there old photographs of it? I believe some were rescued from a skip during the most recent refurbishment?
John Webb
The…