15 West Road: The Last Cottage

15 West Road is the last remaining building on what had been a row of agricultural cottages. They possibly dated from the eighteenth century but the last two, to which this building belonged had certainly been renovated in the mid-19th century with a new roof fitted and possibly new stonework. The cottage between these and what used to be the blacksmiths, was older and still retained its thatched roof right up until the end of the 19th century.

These will have been small single room cottages of a type which was very common in Northumberland. Upstairs will have consisted of the space under the roof reachable by a wooden ladder through a hole in the ceiling.

Just after the First World War, the premises were converted into a butcher’s shop, A C Snaith. For much of the 20th century Alf Snaith’s was a feature of the village. This business continued until 2010. Independent butchers were one of the causalities of the growth of supermarkets and Waitrose opening just down the road in 2008 finally killed the business off. The premises were taken over by an undertaker’s business in 2014.