| Warter...living in an estate village |
LandownerUnit 3: The Landowner and the villager
A. The Muncasters and Wilsons rebuilt the village houses
In 1865 Warter was described as ‘an extraordinarily shabby village'. The cottages were covered with ‘mossy, mouldy thatch' and they had ‘bulging walls, uneven floors, windows that will not open and doors that will not shut'. The occupants slept ‘in windowless, chimneyless lofts'.
By 1900 Warter had been rebuilt and the villagers lived in handsome two-storey brick houses with slate roofs, many having three bedrooms and all having a large garden.
[ See Unit 2 – Homes and households.]
The Wilsons provided free housing for the elderly. Some were accommodated in the terrace by the village green and others were allowed to remain in their old homes. In January 1905 the Pocklington Weekly News reported that:
Mr. C.H. Wilson, M.P. is a real good sort. Another instance of his generosity has just come to our notice. He has just recently told two aged tenants that they are not to pay any more rent - but are to live rent free for the remainder of their lives. Bravo, Mr Wilson.
BUT
• When an employee was sacked he and his family lost their home.
AND
• Mrs Wilson (later Lady Nunburnholme) had the habit of driving round the estate in her carriage, stopping at any of the cottages and throwing open the door without knocking. She was extremely critical if she detected any evidence of careless housekeeping.
