MORE luck to our readers with this week’s photograph of a house perched on a hillside. Can you guess where this week’s Mystery Photograph was taken?
Each week, the Journal invites readers to identify a historic location from days gone by but last week we had just two guesses via Facebook from Emily Watmough who said the photograph showed Withes Lane in Redfield Road and Simon Thomas. He suggested the horse and trap location as Mells Green in Mells with agreement from Alison Cox: “I think you're correct. The old Co-op would have been on the right.”
Well, Simon, you are correct. The image does indeed show Mells, in ca. 1905, described in a House & Garden article as one of the “prettiest villages in Somerset”.
A Georgian rectory in the village has been lovingly restored by a descendent of the Bristol-based chocolate company J.S. Fry and Sons while another historic residence in the village close to Frome wasn't quite so lucky.
Mells Park or Park House was lost in 1917 according to a House and Heritage. The mansion, built originally in 1724 on a commission by Thomas Strangways Horner, only housed the family until 1900 when they moved out due to the high cost of running it.
When the tenant, a shipowner from Liverpool, died in April 1917 the house was furnished ready for the family to move back in. However, on October 11, the family spotted flames at Mells Park, and with rising winds, the blaze spread quickly with the family prioritising salvaging their furniture and possessions over the house.
A series of mishaps by the local fire brigades meant any chance of saving the building were doomed. Frome Fire Brigade couldn’t summon up enough horses instead travelling to Mells Park by motor. The Radstock Fire Brigade, coming too by motor, got stuck in mud on the way, while the Bath Fire Brigade declined to even attend stating that Mells Park was too far.
Thank you for all our contributors, and to Radstock Museum for the photographs.
Do drop us a line with your guesses to: [email protected].