UNSOLVED MYSTERIES.
In, what is now, our Dry Store, there's a curious feature in the wall, now concealed behind dry-lining. The other side of the wall is below ground level, so it might possibly have been a coal-shoot, but it's in a very odd position if it is. What was this opening used for?
Our staff toilet does not extend back as far as it should seem to. The far wall is possibly a false wall, but if it is, what’s behind it?
One of the walls in our cellar is exceptionally thick; over 30 inches, but there's no obvious explanation for this. Why is it so thick?
The same cellar has other anomalies present in the structure; there is a former window, or opening, visible in the stonework of one wall, separating it from the Dry Store. Also, the floor level of this room is lower than the rooms surrounding it, for no obvious reason. It's possible that this section of the cellar was originally an annex to the 1767 cottage, and subsequently incorporated into the late-1840s extension?
There is a curious joint in the stonework in the loft space, above the corridor, outside room 2. It looks very much as if the wall has been built out, so that it's flush with a chimney breast, but the wall beneath was re-plastered in 2015 and there is no joint (or fireplace) below ceiling height on that side of the wall.
What was the purpose of the alcove, which was removed between rooms 6 and 7?
Stonework near the bottom of the ‘arch’, on the front of the building, is oddly, or incorrectly, finished. Why?
Henry Kear, James Kear's son, inherited the houses opposite the Fountain Inn. There are records of him being a barber in Parkend in 1871 and 1872; so it might be assumed that the photo of the barber's shop (in the Fountain Way chapter) is of him. However, the fashions depicted suggest the photo to have been taken c1900. Henry died in 1889.
George and Margaret Gunter's daughter, Elizabeth, died giving birth. A funeral report in the Dean Forest Guardian, 14 May 1926, suggests that the baby survived, but I can find no record of the child, or its gender. What happened to the baby?
Edwin William Kear’s baptism record shows him registered as William Gething Kear. Gething was his mother’s maiden name, but this is the only known time that it appears and all other references use the middle name William.
Why doesn’t Edwin William Kear seem to appear on the 1881 census?
George Gunter’s brother, Frederick (1866-1897) was master of Monmouth Workhouse but disappeared during a government audit and was found dead in the River Wye. It was said that he had not defrauded the workhouse and his death was unexplained.
Under the window in room 3 there is external brickwork (behind a sign). This is clearly out-of-place, but why is it there?
The wall at the western end of the building is remarkably thick; from the ground floor to the roof. The top of the wall (room 7) also incorporates a fireplace, but without a chimney breast; so the wall extends to the edges at the same thickness as the chimney breast. Why?
