I used to live in Pear Tree Cottage which is shown above as the second house on the left.  I lived there from April 1999 until May 2005.

My old next door neighbour, Dr. Bernard Smith, told me that our two cottages used to be connected farm cottages.  They were connected by the cupboard that is now in the dining room of Pear Tree Cottage and his pantry.  They belonged to a local farm (probably called Top Farm) and they were used to house the farm workers and their families.

The cottage dates back to about the 14th century and along with other buildings in Cleeve Prior is believed to be mentioned in the Domesay Book.

Later in life the cottage was used as the village cobbler’s house.  The existing utility area was where the shoes were received and collected from and where they were stored whilst they were being repaired.  The existing utility window was once a door and entrance to the cobbler’s shop and the whole room was full of shelving to keep the shoes on.

When we moved in to Pear Tree Cottage we converted the loft space, which for some reason had a flagstone floor.  We were also told by a local builder, Dan Taylor, that some of the other upstairs rooms also had flagstone floors which he had been asked to remove some years earlier.  Rumour has it that these upstairs rooms had flagstone floors to help keep food items cold or, more spookily, DEAD BODIES!!! Maybe the house was an Undertaker’s at some point?

The top floor loft conversation was made into my parent’s bedroom and my mother swears that she quite often felt someone touch her legs in the night.  Something that has never happened to her before or since!!  She never felt threatened by this presence but always wondered what it was tickling her leg.  Could it have been a ghost?!

by Emily