Church Row
At the extreme western end of the High Street, the road to Newton originally climbed up the slope in front of the Full Moon, into the present churchyard, where it passed between a complex of buildings known as Church Row. Mid 14th century references to ‘… a certain bakehouse … in Twerton lying between the churchyard and the way leading towards Newton …’, and ‘… a cottage with adjoining courtyard called Churchcote there …’ indicate that this site had been occupied from earliest times and is therefore of particular archaeological interest. When the turnpike road was diverted in the 1830s the houses on the north side of Church Row were demolished and replaced with new buildings on the site of the old road next to the remaining houses. However, by 1900 most of these buildings were derelict and after WWI were demolished for the enlargement of the churchyard. The churchyard had already been closed for burials in 1881, so in 1920 the ground was merely backfilled for the erection of the war memorial.
How Hill Cottages, remnant of Church Row, cut off by the How Hill road. The old lane to Newton ran along the front of the cottages.
The old house which once stood at the eastern end of Church Row, facing into the churchyard. The steps, right, and gravestones still remain.
Another old house in Church Row, below the churchyard. The alleyway by the garden wall (the photograph is torn here), was formerly part of the old lane to Newton.
The high retaining wall between the old houses shown above, together with the back of the eastern house (left) and the garden wall of the other (right). In the fore-ground is the alleyway, formerly the old road, and in the distance the feint outlines of the church tower is just visible.
The houses in Church Row built in the 1830s on the top of the old Newton lane after it was replaced by the new Bristol road, on the right. Beyond, are the houses in How Hill, built across the new road when it too was closed in c.1840. Left, can be seen the gable end of the old house which faced toward the churchyard, masked by the later houses. Coming into view, extreme left, is the corner of the Sunday School.
A view of the same buildings, with the narrow alleyway which was all that remained of the old lane to Newton. In the foreground can be seen the pitching of the causeway along the front of Church Buildings.
An anonymous drawing of the northern entrance steps and arch into the churchyard, opened up in the1830s. Visible on the right are the houses in Church Row, and below, the pitching of the causeway.
Just like to say thnx for the pics of twerton, especially for the one of my old home, 9 How Hill, some memories are good, some are sad but it’ll always be home to me…cher
Tracing my family history, discovered that my ancestor William Harvey worked as a weaver and lived in How Hill in the 1860’s and 70’s