19 High Street
Henry Hapgood, a registrar and railway delivery agent for the London and South Western Railway, had his premises here from 1861 and the property stayed with the Hapgood family until the 1930s. Edward Hapgood, registrar, church warden and local historian, was born, lived and died in the house. By the 1980s, the building was occupied by a shop called ‘Gay Nonsense’. The Buttery occupied this and No 20 from 1948 but closed in 2018.
20 High Street
Occupied by various butchers over the years, the most well-known of these is J Topp, who had a shop here from the 1880s to around 1930. The Topp family lived in a house called Sea View in Topp’s Yard, behind the shop. There was also a slaughterhouse in the yard where John butchered the meat. The Topp’s also owned sweet shops in Gosport Street and Lower Buckland Road. The building now houses the Black Butter Eatery.
21 High Street
Booksellers John and Charles King owned this building from 1840 to 1870 after which it contained a variety of businesses, including confectioner GH Ireland and confectioner CJ Robinson. It was ultimately taken over by Barclays Bank who removed and replaced this and the adjoining building, which was also part of No 21.
The drawing room and study in 1932 when No 19 was the home of Edward Hapgood.
Behind No 20, in what is now Haydens Court, was the slaughterhouse area known as Topp’s Yard. There are still hooks under the archway where meat was hung and grooves in the ground where carts have worn the stone away. Cattle and sheep would be brought in by ferry and guided up the High Street into the yard, causing chaos whenever they escaped.
The Buttery on the left and Robinsons tobacconist on the right in the 1960s with the entrance to Hayden’s Court in the centre.
