THE FIRST HOUSES - 1908 - 1926
The first houses on Chilbolton Avenue were built between 1908 and 1912. There was a cluster of five houses built at the northern end, named Piper’s Field, Ashton, Kirtling House, Westfield and Weeke Gore. One further house was built on the western side of the road, south of the Royal Winchester Golf Club clubhouse, overlooking the golf course – Lang House.
Piper's Field is an Arts and Crafts style house and was built in 1908 for Judge Percy Gye . He was active as a county court judge at the time. He lived there until his death in 1916. His widow Sarah continued to live there until 1919.
Before Sarah sold the house, there were two occupants for brief periods, both with connections to the King's Royal Rifle Corps. Major Wilfred W Gott lived there in 1919 and Major Algernon Lothian Bonham Carter from 1920 to 1921.
Gerda Romilly, the Swedish-born widow of a sugar planter in Australia, bought the house in 1922. Major Francis W Earle of the Hampshire Regiment bought the house in 1923 and lived there until 1927.
Ashton was built in 1909 for Major-Gereral Frederick Hardy. Hardy was in his late 70's when he had Ashton built. His wife Kate and then his daughter Kathleen continued to live in Ashton after Hardy's death in 1916. The daughter, Kathleen, sold the house in 1922 to Commander William H Ham. Ham retired from the Royal Navy in 1928, with the rank of Rear Admiral, and sold Ashton shortly after his retirement.
The third house to be built was Kirtling House in 1910. It was built for Francis A Carter, a retired Paymaster in Chief for the Royal Navy. Francis died in 1919 and his widow, Margaret, continued to live in the house until 1930.
Lang House was built in 1910, further down the avenue than the others, over looking the golf course. It was built for A F Macfie, the first amateur golf champion, but he only lived there briefly. By 1913, the house was occupied by Lieutenant-Colonel T H P Morris, of the Rifle Brigade and by 1915, it was occupied by Colonel R C Maclachlan also of the Rifle Brigade. Maclachlan, by then a Brigadier-General, was killed in Flanders in 1917. His widow, Eleanor Mary, continued to live at Lang House until 1919.
There were two brief tenancies in 1920. Sir Guy Colin Campbell, 4th Baronet, and his first wife Mary Arabella Swinnerton Kemeys-Tynteand and then Ernest Athole Ross and his wife.
In 1921, Kathleen Frances Tindall, widow of Robert Tindall, who had been a J.P. in Bedfordshire, bought the house. Kathleen lived in Lang House until her death in 1946.
The fifth house to be built was Westfield. This was occupied by Thomas Holt from 1911. Thomas was a solicitor and Town Clerk of Winchester. He lived there until his death in 1933. His widow, Isabella continued to live there until 1942.
The last house to be built in this period was Weeke Gore. It was built for Major Claud H Alexander, retired, of the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment). He died in 1915 at Weeke Gore. His widow sold Weeke Gore to Lady Elizabeth Constance Sharp Bethune, herself the widow of Sir Alexander Sharp Bethune, a tea planer in Ceylon. in 1921, who renamed it Crestweeke. She left Crestweeke in 1931.
For the 1911 Census records of the houses built at that time, see 1911 Census.