In 1838 Cob Cottage was standing at the end of a row of 6 cottages extending down the lane. There was a gap and then 2 more cottages, which now are incorporated in Torquil Cottage. (extract from Mary Fellgett’s history)
Elsie McCorkindale bought the land on which stood the westernmost cottage in 1908, from Theophilus Hoskin. She built Torquil on the opposite corner of the parcel of land; Torquil was completed in 1911
In the 1930s Miss McCorkindale refurbished the cottage on Daymer Lane and added an extension – the most visible part of Torquil Cottage shown in the photograph. From then onwards she lived in the Cottage rather than at Torquil, though she did not sell Torquil (to Mrs Herberta Bone) until the early 1950s.
When Miss McCorkindale died in 1954 she left Torquil Cottage to her niece, Mrs ‘Cesca Sharpe (nee Blyth). About 5 years later ‘Cesca Sharpe acquired the adjoining cottage, Whalley Cottage, for the princely sum of £200 from Miss Doris Collins who lived next door at Linkside. Whalley Cottage had not been occupied for many years, and had become somewhat derelict. Miss Collins was a very private person and took some persuasion to sell what had served her well as a store for the apple crop from her garden, and as a cats’ “maternity home”. She refused to part with any land except for the narrow strip between the cottage and the lane, and insisted that the windows overlooking her garden should be fitted with frosted glass and should not be able to be opened – at least during her lifetime.
