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A Tour of Onchan
Straight down the middle.
Beech House
This uninspiring building stands on the site of the original Nursery Hotel which before the Onchan Nusery Gardens were created, was originally known as the “Cheshire Hunt” as there were no gardens at that time.
It was run by Michael Cannon according to a directory of 1824. It passed to Peter Hewitt and by the time of the 1861 census was run by Thomas Barker who also ran a blacksmithy on the other side of the road where Royal Avenue now joins Main Road.
It ceased to be a public house in the late 1890s and was subsequently demolished.
W.J. Nivison, builder of Onchan bought the site in September 1906 for £125 and erected a large building that had a shop underneath and additional ground floor space that eventually became a newsagents and a separate post office. It was designed by Armitage Rigby in a slight Arts and Crafts style and was erected during 1907.
Denuded of its arts and crafts barge boards and other features, here we have the building that once housed Mills grocers shop, the post office and Harry Mather's paper shop. The single storey shop on the left was for many years Kenworthy's radio and television shop. |
Road widening necessitated its demolition in the early 1980s and Beech House was erected by the Onchan Village Commissioners on the site of this building, and also of a single storey shop alongside and a garage used for agricultural repairs by Isle of Man Farmers. The new building was designed by Kay and Gill, architects of Douglas and provided a shop on the ground floor, a car showroom and a public library on the first floor taking its entry from Elm Tree Road. It served as a library from April 1982 until 1989. It was then divided into two and occupied by a development company
and DHSS for a while before becoming a bookshop and a home call
emergency monitoring centre. |
Village Hall
In 1895 it was felt that Onchan needed a meeting place, a public hall in which to hold elections or celebrations rather than sliding back the classroom partitions and using Onchan School. It was also felt that there was a need for a larger Sunday School for St Peter’s Church as membership now exceeded 100 and accommodation in the old school down
The Butt was cramped. Thought was given to extending the old school to provide a hall but it was felt The Butt would become a backwater when the various new streets on the Howstrake were developed.
Approaches were made to the Douglas Bay Estate Company who were developing the Howstrake Farm lands and a site was secured at the top of what was to become Royal Avenue, right in the centre of the village.
The site was purchased for £100 in the names of Rev. Sidney Alfred Pizey Kermode, vicar of Onchan and Thomas Kneen of Glencrutchery , Captain of the Parish of Onchan. They were to hold the site in trust for the people of Onchan; the deed was however not prepared until 1900.
Many fund raising events were held during the years that followed and plans and estimates were prepared by W.J. Faragher, builder of Douglas.
Then Thomas Kneen MHK (later Captain of the Parish) introduced a new architect to the committee; he was Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott who produced an unusual design for a hall with a Sunday School underneath. It was in the Arts and Crafts style with sloping buttresses and roughcast walls.
The contractor was William McAdam of Douglas and the building was opened by Lord Henniker, the Lieutenant Governor on 22nd November 1898. The debt on the building was eventually cleared by St Peter’s
Church who assumed responsibility for the building although the
Vicar and Captian of the Parish are still the trustees on behalf
of the people. |
A view down Royal Avenue with the Village Hall to the left and Alex Nivison's house to the right. Below that is a short terrace of houses and then nothing until Carlton Terrace at the very bottom of the road. |
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