HISTORIC HOUSES IN HALSTEAD

One of the good things about having a husband who travels around the country with his job is that I get to cadge a lift to new places to search out new items for my booth and Etsy.  One of my regular haunts is Halstead in Essex which has some good chairity shops and also an antique centre, he visits his clients in the area whilst I mooch around.

One of the things I love about this town is the unusual houses that are dotted around it.

Courtoulds the silk manufactorers came to Halstead in 1882 and they built housing for their employers. There is one street of houses that looks like it has been transplanted from Holland or Belgium.

As well as building houses for the employees of the factory, the Courtaulds also organised and funded a school, adult education classes, a library and institute, nursery, mother’s club, sick fund, amusement society, lodging house, Jubilee Fountain, Public Park, retirement homes and Cottage Hospital.

I love the doorway of this one with the original bottle glass window panel.  All the houses have little seats outside the front door and the street sits opposite the factory (now a Co-op) with a river in between and I can imagine the workers sitting outside their houses just watching the river go by after a hards days work at the mill chatting with their neighbours.

This is a terrace of houses aptly named Factory Terrace.  I love the leadwork on the windows of these houses.

Whilst I love the town it was not the most fruitful of days but I did pick up some children's books. 

 I do so love childrens illustrators and have quite a collection by different artists and I was lucky enough to pick up a nursery rhyme book with colour plates by S.B. Pearse who was the original illustrator for the Ameliaranne books.

I have put the book in the booth telling myself that I cannot keep everything but I do have a feeling that it might be coming back home with me if it has not sold.