Interview with Percy Lucas, 1999
From The Muniment Room, a resource for social history, family history, and local history.
Interview by James Watson, 26 August 1999.
Percy Lucas grew up in the Temple Lodge, living there from the age of five through to ten, when his family moved to a cottage at Park Farm.
Percy remembers he and his friends used to go to the North Stoneham House for bible classes every Sunday. They were organised by Mrs Davies, who lived in one wing of the old house. The classes were well attended, mostly because of the free teas and biscuits, and it provided a wonderful chance for the local youngsters to look around the old house. One of things Percy will always remember were the old oil lamps. "Like the rest of us, Mrs Davies had oil lamps, but they were standard oil lamps. They were really ornate ... " On occasions, Mrs Davies would show them around the rest of the house, including the grand old entrance and the central part of the house occupied by Mr Moray Williams and his family. Mr Moray Williams was secretary of the Home of Recovery, and he had two twin daughters and a son. Percy and his friends didn't mix with the Moray Williams children. He remembers "We could play on the green by the cottage, but daren't walk on the lawn past the mansion."
At that time both the house and the estate were fairly well up together. The drive ways used to be managed by Thorns of Alresford, who also used to look after the woods, pulling out timber with big old shire horses. The estate was closely guarded by keepers in those days. "You really had to think twice about going into the woods. The keepers would have you out in no time at all. There were four keepers, Mr Kitcher, Mr Stacey, Mr Snellgrove and one other. " One of them resided at Winchester Lodge, sleeping on one side of the road and living on the other!"
Living in Temple Lodge was quite an experience. "It was very, very cramped, and very, very dark. We only had one bedroom. A door opened leading to the stairs, and the bottom stair was on the door itself Three sisters, my mother and myself were in that one room. There was a small sitting room at the front of the stairs, and then you went up two stairs to get to the small kitchen. There was no 100 - that was in the back garden. When we went to bed, mother would send us out in pairs to spend a penny!"
"I remember we used to have terrible trouble with bats. Mr Dumper used to come in and hook them out with a shovel."
"Southampton Piscatorial Society used to use a tin hut to the back. They had four flat-bottomed punts on the lake, which they used regularly for night fishing. Mother used to have them in for tea. There were so many of them, and it was so cramped, that you could easily get trapped in the kitchen! We only had a front door - there was no back door."
"Outside the Lodge, and to the left, there were huge gates painted white. They were always kept closed, and beyond them, a track led to the mansion. Often, I used to open the gates for the squire, and my sister used to close them. He used to give us sixpence each."
"When the squire used to hold shooting parties, guests would pull in behind the church. Most of the village men would go as beaters. They used to end up at the Estate Managers house (Mr Arnold) where they were given beer and maybe a hare."
Mr Lucas attended the local school, and every year, they would be taken on a pilgrimage to the Fleming family shrine. A service was held there, with a blessing and hymns. Admiral Parker lived at the Rectory, and he became a governor of the school. When he moved out, Mr Whiteman moved in, and took his place on the board of governors. "He was a very distinguished gentleman. He had three chauffeurs and wore a monocle!"
Every year, there would be a school play, and everyone in the village would help with the preparations. 'There was a real sense of community spirit." Picture shows Mr Lucas and his school friends in their 1924 production of A Midsummer's Night Dream.
As a child, Mr Lucas was good friends with Douglas Bunce, whose family lived in the white cottage by the main house (see record of conversation with Mr Bunce). In later years, Mr Lucas took the opportunity to rent the orchard by the cottage. "There were three hundred trees in the orchard, and we rented it for five pounds a year. We cleaned it all up, pulled the ivy out of the trees and took the scrub out for firewood and peasticks." Later still, Mr Lucas tried to buy the cottage and orchard, but failed. Eventually, the cottage was vandalised and got burned down.
Mr Lucas holds fond memories of village life at North Stoneham. "It was sad to see the Estate decay. North Stoneham was a beautiful village. Everyone knew each other."
Eventually, the Estate was broken up, with tenants being given the opportunity to buy their homes, often for fifty pounds or less. North Stoneham Farm, undoubtedly the best farm on the Estate was demolished to make way for the expansion of the airport. The mansion fell into decay and was knocked down in 1939. And eventually, in 1967, Mr Lucas' former home, Temple Lodge was knocked down too. "We loved that old building. We were quite upset when we saw it had gone."
