114 High Street front view June 2008

The Vines, 114 High Street, was listed by the former Department of Environment as Grade II (of special interest). They considered the property to be late 18th century or early 19th. Interestingly there is a reference in an early deed to a property called Vine Tree House in the 17th century. In 1617 Henry Grey, Lord Ruthin, the Lord of the Manor, together with his trustees Thomas Daniel and William Briers sold a Vine Tree House to Thomas Farrer, who owned Harrold Hall, for £13/6/8. The house was described as next to the common street south with the brook north, other land of Thomas Farrer east and of Robert Musgrave west. It had lately been divided into two dwellings, one of which was occupied by Jane Vardell, widow and the other (which had previously been a barn) in occupation of John Paton [L7/48 and GA1432]. This description is similar to that for Vintree or Vine Tree House in 1793. This suggests either one of the following options:

• the 17th century property was near the later 18th century property but quite distinct from it;
• the 17th century property was pulled down and rebuilt in the 18th century as the current 114 High Street;
• 114 High Street has an older, 17th century, core which was not recognised by the former Department of Environment.

Unfortunately the deeds to this property are not a complete run and there do seem to be gaps, meaning it is impossible to say which of the three options above is most likely to be correct. By 1650 the house had obviously passed in some way to Robert Musgrave of Harrold, yeoman, as he sold it to William Ablestone of Harrold, tailor, in that year for £20 [GA1433].

John Ablestone, in his will of 1725, left the house to his wife Sarah and, after her death, to his grandson John Bithrey; the will was proved in 1726 [GA1436]. In 1768 Bithrey, of Carlton, gentleman, sold Vinetree House to Edward Abraham of Harrold, lace merchant for £70. In 1793 Edward Abraham sold the cottage on the site of the modern 24 High Street, Greystones, to William Wootton of Harrold, lace merchant. Abraham also sold a cottage, "heretofore called Vintree House" which bordered the common street to the south and the brook to the north. The two cottages and the land totalled £450 [GA1450 and CRTHarrold9].

114 High Street June 2008

However old it is, the main part of 114 High Street is built, like most of the older properties in Harrold, of coursed limestone rubble; it has a slate roof and is built in two storeys. The main house faces south but there is also a recessed wing, partly built in red brick, set at right angles going up Orchard Lane.

In 1927 property in Harrold was valued under the Rating & Valuation Act of 1925; every piece of land and building in the country had to be valued to determine the rates to be paid upon it. The valuer visiting The Vines [DV1/C70/61] noted that Mrs.M.Robinson was both owner and occupier. The house comprised two reception rooms and a kitchen on the ground floor, with a cellar beneath and four bedrooms on the first floor. The modern wing was then outbuildings. There was a brick and slate two bay open shed, a carpenter's shop over a garage ["garage used by a friend"], a one stall stable with a loft over, a brick and tile washhouse, a wood and tile four bay shed, a stone and slate workshop (with a concrete floor) with a loft over, a corrugated iron shed and a brick and tile paint shop. A later hand has added that Mrs.Robinson remained the owner but the property was then vacant.