Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through them all.
The Cross lies at the junction of North End, West End, Church Lane and Carr Lane. It is one of the focal points of the village.
Until the early 20th century, a single-storied thatch cottage stood on the north east corner. During the previous century, this had been a blacksmiths and public house, the village school and finally a private house. The history of this building has been detailed by Malcolm Young [PT]. There are also good images of this in the two views up North End.
After its demolition, a warehouse for the Co-operative Store opposite was then situated on this corner for many years before being replaced by Simpson’s butchers shop. This was later demolished and replaced by Swallow Cottage.
Looking north west fromThe Cross up North End we have two evocative early photographs, the one at the top of the page and the one below. These both show the thatched cottage clearly on the right, Cross Farm in the centre and Cross House on the left:
Looking south east, we see Applegarth – built in around 1910, although the site was largely clear in the 19th century.
Before moving round further, it is worth taking in the view from above, taken from several different directions in (probably) the 1950s. Note also the Airey houses on West End, built after WW2 but later demolished. What is also clear from these photos is the lack of building on Church Lane at this time.
This brings us neatly round to the village store – now September House – seen here at three very different times. It was built in 1830.
Finally, we have a single photo of Cross House – built 1830 -from above in the 1970s, although it can also be seen in the aerial photos above.
All photos are from the collections of Bessie Fridlington, Dave Waby and Jane Henley unless otherwise attributed. If you have other photos or clearer copies that we could include – please contact us.