Property General
HERE LISTED ARE ITEMS ABOUT A RANDOM SELECTION OF PROPERTIES, MOSTLY IN RYDE AND SURROUNDING AREA
29/03/1934 .. Ryde’s oldest house demolished – The oldest house in Ryde Rodney Cottage, West-street, until recently the residence of Mr. James NORRIS, verger at All Saints’ Church, is in process of demolition by Messrs. C. LANGDON’s. No one is certain of its exact age, but it was built at least 225 years ago. One storey is that it was built by four sailors and its circular front is said to have been made to represent the stern of a ship. According to Mr. NORRIS, the house contained a loft with a secret entrance, where smugglers used to hide contraband. One of Ryde’s oldest inhabitants, Mr. C. COOPER, of 23 Trinity-street, who is over 90, remembers, when a boy, the manager of the local branch of the Bank of England, a Mr. Walter PEDDER, living at Rodney Cottage. It was an old house then and in much the same condition as it was a week or two ago. A pair of villas will be erected on the site. (IW Times)