A Tour of Onchan 2
Round The Edges.

Summerhill Road

Shops 2 – 4 Summerhill Road

For many years the road did not have a name but when it first received one it was in fact regarded as part of Main Road. It was later re-named Summerhill Road which differs from the final, steepest section Summer Hill which is now in Douglas.

This row of four shops with three flats above were built on a triangular plot of land that was used as an allotment in front of two whitewashed cottages that faced down Summerhill Road and were at right angles to it.

The shops were designed by Frank O’Hanlon, architect of Douglas and his first scheme of six shops with maisonettes was approved in January 1969.

The scheme was however modified but the block was still built with a flat roof behind a parapet wall at the front.

In 1993 plans were approved for a pitched roof which was then installed but with difficulty in design due to the fact the building tapers at one end.

The type of shop occupying this block has varied a lot over the years with only a butcher’s shop remaining constant amidst the grocers, flower shops, DIY, children’s clothes, newsagents etc.

A view showing the junction of Main Road and Summerhill Road. On the left is the front wall and trees to the long garden of the house called Sea View.

This has now been swept away to provide the forecourt to Corkill's Garage. Through the trees can just be seen the bay windows of the houses in Woodside Terrace (see Tour No 1). In the centre of the picture is Kelly's horse drawn bread cart outside Mr Kelly's baker's shop which was on the junction of the two roads. In the centre of the picture the tall house is Greenfields (see Tour No 1).

On the right hand side are the Ballachurry farmworkers cottages. The one with the steps up was in fact one room above another with no internal link.

They were in fact a bothy that is to say accommodation for unmarried farm labourers. The steps and handrail gained the nickname of The Pulpit. On the extreme right is a single storey building entered from the downside and was probably used as a cow house. Notice how the roof is thatched.

16 Summerhill Road

This brown pea dashed house was built in 1889 – 90 and for some time served as the post office for Onchan. It backed on to the open fields of the Howstrake Estate and so a narrow passageway was incorporated alongside the house to provide access from the rear yard to the road in front. The lane behind it only appeared in 1935 and was for the sole use of the terrace in Auburn Road that was built at that time.

18 Summerhill Road (The Cottage)

This larger property with its fine full-length attic was erected by Mathias Callow on a plot he purchased from John Banks of Howstrake in October 1833. He was a shoemaker and in the rear yard a free-standing outbuilding was erected that also proved of use to a subsequent owner, John C. Cowley the joiner and builder whose son John built the terrace of grey houses on Governors Road (see Tour No 1).

The outbuilding was demolished in 1999 and replaced with a modern ‘playroom’ on the same site. It is interesting that the property is called “The Cottage” when it is the largest house in this location. Up until the present ownership the property had cast iron guttering with lions heads on the joints; a very Victorian feature but alas now they are gone.

No 9 Summerhill Road (Beech Cottage)

Looking as if it were built as the manse to the adjoining chapel, the site of this property was sold by Samuel Callow of the Howstrake Farm to William Kelly in October 1868. It was for over ninety years from 1907 the home of the Peddar family, Mr Percy Peddar’s daughter, Peggy being a teacher at Onchan School for virtually all her working life.

One of Peggy’s sisters, Nora, married Robert Skillicorn who, with his brother Harold succeeded their father J.T. Skillicorn in the family building business. The Peddar family had a framed garage erected at the side of the house in 1933 and this was replaced by a precast concrete garage in 1963. The house had a wing added at the rear in 1939 but now looks as old as the rest of the building.

The Old Chapel

This was erected as the Primitive Methodist Chapel for Onchan. The foundation stone was laid in July 1870 and the first service was held on 12th March 1871. Services had previously been held in Mrs Corrin’s house nearby. The building was designed by Thomas Keig the photographer who had started life as a joiner and who also designed the Methodist Church on Loch Promenade, Douglas a few years later. This chapel was said to hold 150 people and cost £400 to build. It had a low wall with railings to the front boundary. There was a large gable window of which only the top half remains. The entrance was via a porch mid-way along the lower side. The chapel was in use until 1934 when the Wesleyan, Primitive and United Methodist Churches merged. It then lay empty until purchased by Corkill’s Garage in 1956 when the two monkey puzzle trees in the front were cut down, the boundary wall removed and a large garage door installed with round the corner doors.

The Summerhill Road Chapel after Corkill's Garage had converted it to a building to house their hearse and limousines. The ground behind the chapel was used as a car park but this has since been used to provide an extension to the building.

Here they kept their hearse and fleet of Vauxhall limousines which they used for weddings and funerals. In the back corner inside they created an area separated off with a thick purple curtain to form a chapel of ease. A large sign was erected over the garage door with Olde English lettering proclaiming “Corkill’s Funeral Department”. The proceeds from the sale of the chapel were used towards the cost of the erection of the Main Road Methodist Church Hall in 1959 – 60 (see Tour No 1).

The property was further changed by a subsequent owner in 1982 when a floor was inserted to provide first floor office accommodation above a workshop for repairing gambling and slot machines – a far cry from its Methodist beginnings but strangely the building was never used despite the work being undertaken.

In 1998 it was extended to the rear and the front was changed to become the headquarters for Greenlight Television. They quickly outgrew the premises which have since been used as offices for a firm of architects and now financial advisers.

Onto Further Along Summerhill Road