David Lindley, a local historian, assembled transcriptions of documents to assist researchers determine specific locations associated with people and events they're interested in. David's research (
here) indicated that Catherine Berry Knights' family lived at 24 Northgate in Beccles. Catherine, of course, is my 2nd g-grandmother making her parents, John Knights and Susannah Berry Knights, my 3rd g-grandparents.
When I Googled "24 Northgate Beccles" I was taken to a listing on airbnb (
here). And when I contacted the owner, sure enough, the listing is located at the original 24 Northgate Street in Beccles.
We were only able to book it for one of the nights we were in Beccles. The owner was thrilled to have us stay knowing that I was a descendant of an occupant from the 1860s - 1870s. I was more than excited!
When we arrived, the owner, Angela, met us at the property to provide us with some additional history. I already knew that 24 had, at one time, been combined with 26 to create a larger, single residence. Not too many years ago it was converted back to two separate properties; however, significant changes to the floorplan in 24 had occurred. Initially, the entrances to 22 and 24 opened from a breezeway which ran between them. Currently, only 22 enters from the breezeway. Since the breezeway entrance to 24 was blocked off, an exterior door was added with direct street access. Angela took us next door to 22 to meet the neighbor and to see how the floorplan had changed as it still maintained the original layout. Directly in front of the entrance from the breezeway was a very small landing. Behind the landing was a full, straight staircase leading to the 2nd floor. In other words, the staircase, fully visible from the front door, pretty much divided the main floor in half, probably putting the kitchen/eating area on one side of the stairway and the living area/parlor on the other. One would have to walk under the stairs to get from one side to the other. Currently, the stairs in 24 are situated next to the wall where the breezeway entrance used to be and are perpendicular in direction to where they were initially located. The reorientation of the staircase would have changed the entire configuration of the rooms upstairs.
There isn't much of the property that is still "original". The exterior brick was original even though the front facade had been painted. There is a bit of original brick located behind the current location of the range in the kitchen. It was probably part of the original cooking fireplace. Newer brick was later added behind the wood burning stove that attempts to match and blend in with the original brick. The ceiling beams on the main floor, though they appear to be old, have recently been added as well.
Believe it or not, I really hoped to see ghosts. I believe Susannah died during the time they occupied that residence. But no luck. It was an awesome experience to stay there just the same.
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The gated arch opens to the breezeway.
The cased exterior door was added later. |
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| Looking north from 24 Northgate. |
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| Looking south from 24 Northgate. |
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| The breezeway looking toward the back garden. |
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| Brick patched into the original entrance. |
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| Photo from airbnb.co.uk |
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| Photo from airbnb.co.uk |
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The brick under the arch above the range is believed to be original.
Photo from airbnb.co.uk |
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| The view out the front upstairs window. |
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| The back garden. |
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The back door and back entrance to the breezeway.
Photo from airbnb.co.uk |
Angela indicated that the original well house where the Knights family and nearby residents would have to go to pump water was converted to storage. It was between the house and where we parked the car. This video shows how far the occupants would have had to have gone from their back door to get water prior to indoor plumbing.
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