This timber framed thatched cottage, in
the southwest corner of Marsh Baldon Green, dates from the late C16/early C17.
It is thought to have been extended in the mid/late C17 and again more
recently. The name suggests it or it’s land once belonged to the church.
Henry and Martha White and their family lived in Glebe
Cottage in the late 1800s. They appear in the photograph above, taken in 1880. Henry
and Martha had at least five children. Henry was a saddle and harness maker, as
were two of his sons Henry and Frederick, using the end room of the cottage as the
workshop. Henry (Snr) was also registered and paid as an "official
receiver of the letters for the Post Office", sorting letters in the house
and delivering them around the Baldons.
The house was empty during the second
World War so it was used by the local Home Guard as their base.
Do you recognise any of these men?
In the early 1960’s its obvious “country cottage” charm did
not escape the marketing people from the British Motor Corporation. The cottage was used as the backdrop for some
of the literature about their new range of cars – the Mini and Mini Cooper.