The Society’s model of part of the High Street as it existed before the great fire of 1743 has now been moved to a prominent position in a display cabinet located on the Old Town Hall mezzanine. The model was created in the 1980’s by the late Jack Whitfield from Black Dog and is a great achievement. It is based on a plan of the high street commissioned in the 1730’s by Samuel Strode, a wealthy London merchant who was Lord of the Manor at the time, to help him collect his rents! It was plan makers’ custom at the time to depict the front elevations of buildings that fronted the highway, making it possible to produce the model. A copy of the plan is displayed adjacent to the model and both will be able to be viewed later this month when this year’s exhibition “Transport - the way we got around” opens.
Keith Mortimer