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Clarence Place - then and now
The pictures of Clarence House on this page are reproduced by kind permission of  Chris Whitlock, the great-grandson of R.G. Whitlock.  More pictures, along with information about the family, can be found on Chris' website.

Clarence Place connects the High Street to Robert Street, mid-way between Water Street and Duke Street.  The area is now occupied by terraces of modern houses but, until the mid-1960s, Clarence House - a Georgian farmhouse - stood here.  The grounds around the house were used as a market garden, with glass-houses and other out-buildings, where the Whitlock family grew the produce that they sold from the front of the garden.

The pictures on this page show how the area looked in the early part of the 20th century and the modern estate that has obliterated almost all traces of a more idyllic past.
Towards the northern end of the High Street, opposite the "Dustpan Stores" stood, until the mid-1960s, the house, shop and market gardens owned by the Whitlock family.

This picture shows how the old house looked from the High Street, with the gardens and glass-houses in front of it.
In the mid 1960s, the property was compulsorily purchased by the Council for redevelopment and the house was demolished.

This is the view from the same place today.  A small estate of modern "mock Georgian" houses covers the entire site.  The road has been widened considerably at this point.
At the front of the site, to the right of the picture above, was the shop.  This was a fairly new addition, the previous one being more of a "shack".  The number - 183 High Street - and the name of the proprietor - R.G.Whitlock - can be clearly seen.

The small row of terraced cottages next to the shop went up to the corner of Water Street.  The chimneys of the cottages in Water Street can be seen to the left of centre in this picture.
The old wall along the side of the Water Street Garage (centre, behind the trees) marks the rear of the cottages that can be seen in the old picture above.  The shop would have been on the far left of this picture.

The cottages in Water Street can be seen to the left of the road sign.
This block of houses in Clarence Place are in the approximate position of the old Clarence House.  The high garden wall behind the blue car probably marks the boundary between the old nursery and the gardens of the houses in Robert Street.