The history of Boundary Cottage

The property was built in the early 1800’s on the salt run from Droitwich to London which went up Buckle Street (a famous Roman Road). There are remains of a Roman camp on Broadway Golf Course and surrounding area.

In the early days there was a communal oven in the kitchen part of the house which locals used to bake their own bread. When you look at the house you can see that there were two doors to enter the property. The doorway that is now used was the entrance to the bakery.

It was built and / or designed by Mr Gunns hence the original name of the Gunns Cottage. The cottage was recently renamed Boundary Cottage as it sits on the boundaries of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire.

The house was part of the old Alscot Estate from Stratford-upon-Avon. The house and surrounding fields were sold after the First World War, and it became part of Saintbury Hill Barn Farm. This was to provide winter work for the employees of Joseph Webb Ltd of Mickleton (my great-grandfather). He had a thriving market gardening business based nearby in Mickleton.

There is a medieval church nearby in Saintbury (which is on the Cotswold Way) which has a tall and slender spire that can be seen from all around and is a notable landmark. The building’s earliest known feature is a sundial considered to date back to the eleventh century. There are some interesting early post-medieval wall paintings in the chancel and visitors may also be interested in the Arts and Crafts features that were added in the early twentieth century, including the chancel and north chapel ceilings; the north chapel screen (c 1904 by Ernest Gimson); the north chapel reredos (c 1920 by Alec Miller) and the Chancel chandelier (1911 by Charles Ashbee).

The nearby Court Barn Museum  tells the story of craft and design in Chipping Campden and surrounding areas.