Woodhouse Eaves Crested China.
By
Brian Axon
It still sounds strange to refer to the 1900's as 'the last century’; nevertheless in the early part of the last century, particularly the 1920's and 30's, Woodhouse Eaves was well and truly on the tourist maps. It was still way out in the wilds of Leicestershire, where the air was free from smog and other unhealthy things. A good place for invalids to recuperate, and very much the place to go for a day out, and even for your annual holiday -if you could afford one. Seaside holidays were still a thing of the future for most people. The village had several Boarding houses, especially in Victoria Road where visitors could get a good view of the Charnwood hills and the Windmill.
No.2 was 'The Charnwood Boarding Establishment' the proprietress being Miss Squire. She offered :-
Perfect Sanitation, Hot and cold baths, Every home comfort,
Good accommodation for cyclists,
moderate daily tariff: -
Ladies 2/6d (12.5p), Gentlemen 3/- (15p)and children 1/3d (6p).
The best room was available for 3/6d (17.5p) per week extra, obviously a bargain.
So, sunshine or rain, it mattered not, out came the visitors, many from that far-away city of Leicester, by bicycle, by horse and cart, by foot, by train, and occasionally by those new-fangled horseless carriages and charabancs. Many of them sent postcards to their mends and relatives. It wasn't just the seaside resorts that had them, Woodhouse Eaves had hundreds of different picture postcards for the discerning travellers.
However, there was a growing desire for something more substantial, and our village Post Master at the time, Mr. W. Harriman set up, what was probably a very lucrative business venture for that period. 'Crested China' souvenirs! Specially made for Woodhouse Eaves. Most of these were made by Arcadia, Goss and Carlton at Stoke-on- Trent. There were many different designs, the popular jugs with handles, small castles, cats, dogs, pigs, a sundial, golf club, golf ball, and many others.
Most of these could loosely be connected with our village, although where a submarine fitted in I do not know, but our previous Post Master, Eric Simons had one. However, it was accidentally broken before I could persuade him to sell it to me.
The vast majority of these, besides having 'Woodhouse Eaves' on them, also had a Coat- of-Arms, a bit of a puzzle because the village does not have such a thing. Until, one day, wandering around St. Mary's churchyard in Woodhouse, we discovered three headstones against the Church wall close to the triangle. Each had a Coat-of-Arms inscribed. They related to the Heanes family who once owned Garats Hey. One headstone was to Edward Heanes, who died 8th. July 1749, aged 74 years, and his wife Mary who died 15th July 1763, aged 78. The 'air' was obviously excellent in those days too. The 2nd. was to their son Thomas, who died on 10d1. January 1779, and the 3rd. was also to a son, Edward, who died on 1st. November 1789. What was their Coat-of-Arms? Yes, it was the one on all the Woodhouse Eaves china. Why that one was used is still a puzzle. Perhaps as the family seems to have died out in the late 1700's, Mr. Harriman used a little artistic licence and 'borrowed' the Arms, assuming that no-one would complain. There does not seem to be any record of the College of Heralds marching on Woodhouse Eaves or Mr. Harriman being incarcerated in the Tower of London, so his idea seems to have been successful. I am told that Claud Preston and 'Sally' Squire were involved with this venture. Their job was to stick the Coat-of-Arms transfers onto the various items before they were finally finished. A Saturday job that provided a few pennies pocket-money.
I originally found the crested china at antiques fairs, although they are now quite rare. How many were originally produced I do not know, but finding one now is usually cause for rejoicing. Many thousands were produced for towns and cities all over the country, some designs being quite amazing, and many can still be found displayed at these fairs. It becomes a question of examining every one in the hope that you might find that elusive name 'Woodhouse Eaves'. I have found only 15 in as many years of searching. Fortunately they are not very expensive, and they look very attractive. Besides the crested china, I had a. remarkable stroke of luck on one occasion. Happily browsing around the various stands at a local Antiques Fair, I noticed a brass shoe-horn with a windmill on it. Closer inspection revealed the magic words 'Woodhouse Eaves' below the windmill! That joined my collection pretty rapidly.
I know that I am not the only one in the village that collects these, and I recently heard of one who has an excellent collection, sufficient to make me jealous, but that must remain a secret I shall carry on searching.
First published June 2001
