THE FORGE

In the 1752 Concordance this house and the adjoining close are recorded as belonging to John

Tovey, freehold. He also owned the field between The Forge and Clockfield Cottage. By 1806

the house was owned by Richard Tovey of Fairford but was let out. One person who may have

lived here at some time was Joseph Faulkner (carpenter).

It was owned by Henry Tovey of Stanton Fitzwarren, who was the son of Richard and Anne

Tovey, and had inherited the house and land on his mother’s death in 1848. On the death of

Henry Tovey in 1860, the house and adjoining field were sold for £395 to Edmond Church. At this

time the house was occupied by Paul Miller, a carpenter and wheelwright, at a rent of £28pa.

It is still shown as a timber yard on a map of 1882 but in 1883 Ellen and George Jefferies moved

to The Forge with their family. George was the local blacksmith

who had previously lived and worked in Pear Tree Cottage, but

now this house became The Forge.

Ellen and George had seven sons

(and two who died as babies): Edward

(b.1868), George, Frank, Fred

(b.1876), Percival (b.1878), Albert

and Wilfred (b.1883). In 1901 only

Percy and Wilfred were still living at

home.

Fred on his 21st birthday 1897

(right)

Ellen and George Jefferies (left)

Fred, a farrier, had joined the army but

died of enteric fever in South Africa in

1900.

Edward had moved to Eastleach where

he was the postmaster and blacksmith;

he died of pneumonia in 1906.

Fred shoeing horses at a field battery in 1899

(left)

Wilfred and Percy

worked with their

father George as

Jefferies & Sons. They

were described as

implement agents and

machinists, and were

registered as shoeing

and general smiths,

plumbers and hot and

cold water fitters.

Percy became a

master blacksmith and

Wilfred specialised in

agricultural machinery.

Their clients were

farmers from all the

surrounding farms as far apart as Wilfred, Percy, Percy’s son George and Joe Iles in the

Lechlade, Holwell and Macaroni Downs. background (above)

Percy, Joe Iles and Wilfred (left)

Wilfred Jefferies c.1925 (right)

In the Great War, Wilfred was exempted from military

service ‘conditional to his remaining in the same

occupation’. He took over the forge from his father,

married Rachel, known as Daisy, and had one

daughter Joan (1919-1997).

Daisy Jefferies and Joan in the back garden of

The Forge c.1925 (left)

Joan Jefferies and the Tellings,

probably in the garden of the

old shop c.1925 (right)

Wilfred Jefferies in the forge in 1938 (left)

The Forge was divided into two

when Percy married and moved into

what is now 2 The Forge. From

about 1920, the forge also sold

petrol and this went on until 1971.

Joan Jefferies married Jack

Collett after the War and they

moved into The Forge when

Wilfred died in 1964. Joan’s

mother lived with them until her

death in 1982. They continued

to sell petrol, although the

blacksmith’s business ceased

when Wilfred retired. The forge

is still there and contains much

of the old equipment.

Joan Collett (left)

Jack Collett (right)

Joan and Jack were pillars

of village life: Joan was

Parish Clerk for 25 years

and Jack was Treasurer of

the Southrop Community

Shop.

Jack Collett in the forge

(right)

Joan Collett receiving a

commemoration presentation

(left)

2 THE FORGE

Percy Jefferies married Lily Ellen

and moved into the northern end

of the old forge. They had three

sons: George who became a

policeman, Fred who died in 1923

at the age of 24 when his motor

bike crashed into the school bus,

and John who moved to London.

Fred Jefferies aged 13 (left)

Percy Jeffries (right)

After Percy’s death in 1960 the house, which was owned by the

Colletts, was let to a succession of young couples: Robert and Janet Waldron, then David and

June Godwin and after that to Ted and Gillian Garratt. Kathy and Brian Pettifor moved in in 1979

with their son Paul.

Ted and Gillian Garratt

and Liza (left)

Kathy and Brian Pettifor

and son Paul (right)

The Forge from the road (below)

The Pettifors (above)

On Jack’s death in 2008 both The Forge and

2 The Forge reverted to Neil Jeffries, a

grandson of George Jeffries (elder brother of

Percy and Wilfred).