Irongates
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Eleanor Houlton purchased the two building in about 1740,
she married a Joseph Davis there is a coat of arms on a drain head at the
rear of Irongates showing this connection. She left the houses to
her nice Eleanor (surname not known) from Bristol. who had married a Frome clothier William
Sheppard. The Sheppard family became one of the most prominent families in
the Frome area. Thomas
SHEPPARD, grandson of William bef
1812-aft 1846 Aft 1832-47: became Frome's first MP. Owning many of the mills that made Frome an important
clothier town in the 18th & 19th centuries. and also like the marchant
family before, giving their name to areas of Frome "Sheppard's Barton"
& "Sheppard's mill". It is believed that the Court House got
it name at this time as the Sheppard brothers would hold court there to
decide the fate of their tenants or daters that would not pay up on
time. but this may be just a romantic fantasy. The houses at one time were recorded as having only two
occupiers with 14 companions probably servants.
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John Sheppard (1785-1879), religious writer, friend of Thomas Chalmers, joined the anabaptists in 1806. His published works included 'Letters on a Tour in France' [1817], 'An Autumn Dream' [poem, 1837], and 'On Dreams' [1847]. |
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| the house was part renovated in the late 70' however, this was never finished. the stopped mid stream and very soon the whole house was in a worse state of repair them ever due to vandalism | ||||
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below are some picture of IRONGATES at various times click on the thumbnails for a better view |
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the opening in 1984 by John Morris |
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| we are interested in any information about the two houses and this area of Frome. if you have any thing that may be of interest please e-mail us the detail at contact us | ||||
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& aquatic centre
ba11 1bh
