Arrow Cottage – Newtown Road
Arrow Cottage has a long connection with the development of Newtown Road and the families who helped shape the area.
According to Brenda Harris (née Merrick), whose family lived on Newtown Road for generations, the land on which Arrow Cottage and many neighbouring properties stand was originally purchased by the Merrick family from Little Mill in the early twentieth century. The family later divided the land into individual plots which were then sold for house building.
The earliest known reference to Arrow Cottage in the electoral registers dates from 1907. At that time the property was owned by Edward Arthur Jenkins, although he was generally known as Arthur Jenkins. Arthur married Matilda Hunt at Inkberrow on 1 January 1904 and described his occupation as a builder’s foreman.
By the time of the 1911 census, Arthur was recorded as a 31-year-old carpenter, born in Usk. His wife Matilda had been born in Inkberrow. The couple had three young children living with them at Arrow Cottage: Owen Jenkins, aged six; Norman Jenkins, aged two; and five-month-old Jocelyn Jenkins, all born in Goytre. The census records that the house contained five rooms and notes that Arthur and Matilda had been married for seven years.
The cottage had a rateable value of £5 5s in 1910 and a gross value of £7. In 1914, Arthur Jenkins was responsible for paying the poor rate on the property.
Arthur’s life ended relatively early. He died in 1927 at The Nook, Llanvair Kilgeddin, aged 55, and was buried at St Peter’s Church.
The Jenkins family’s connection with the area continued through Arthur’s son, Norman Jenkins. A report in the Free Press of 21 December 1934 recorded that Norman, described as a garage proprietor from Goytrey, was fined £2 10s, with an additional 10s costs, for driving without due care and attention.
Matilda Jenkins and her son Norman were still living at Arrow Cottage in 1939. Following the interruption of electoral registers during the Second World War, Norman appears alone at the property in the 1945 register.
The cottage changed hands during the late 1930s. By 1938 it was occupied by Stanley Hayes, his wife Gertrude Hayes, and their son Stanley Hayes. How long the Hayes family remained at Arrow Cottage is not known.
A new chapter began around 1963 when the Morris family moved into the cottage. They remained there until the property was later sold to Bob Price. |
Today, the history of Arrow Cottage reflects the wider story of Newtown Road itself: agricultural land being divided for development, local families establishing roots, and successive generations leaving their mark on a small but significant part of the Goytre community.