Post Office and Village Stores

A Whiteparish local history page from younsmere-frustfield.org.uk

The Post Office in 2013

The Village Stores and Post Office has been a prominent feature of the village since before the First World War on its present site opposite the church. The house that was already there was altered and extended between 1876 and 1900, probably coinciding with establishment of the business on the site, the Post Office having up to then been further along The Street on the other side of the road, on the site of what is now Hill Rise.

Woodford's Store and Post Office c1902
See whiteparish.co.uk for this and other old views of Whiteparish

[Whiteparish Stores website June 2022, with historical details].

The Post Office in 1876, on the south side of The Street

The shop was run until 2005 by two families, firstly the Woodford family, whose name can be seen on the side of the shop in some of the old photographs below. The second family was represented in 2005 by Julie Barnes, daughter of the then postman, Sid Pegrum. In April 2005 the business was taken over by a village nominated committee as a new company "Whiteparish Village Store Ltd" (05435941), with the objective of growing it to ensure its survival as a village shop. The business grew into a sustainable business and in October 2020, Mandy Webb, who had run the shop as manager from 2005, became the new owner.

An article in the Salisbury Journal [between 1983 and 1987] was illustrated with photographs taken by their photographer Roger Elliott (of Whiteparish). It provides a valuable record of a number of key individuals from the village at the time. Among these were Sid Pegrum, village postman, school caretaker and White Hart barman, and Vera Fortune, who worked in the Post Office for most of her working life and was still helping out in the Post Office at the age of 80 at this date. Roger Elliott himself ensured that Whiteparish was well represented in the Journal for many years until his retirement in ?c2010?.

The village postman, school caretaker and White Hart barman, Sid Pegrum, and Vera Fortune
Photographs from the Salisbury Journal [between 1983 and 1987], taken from WI 050
[see the Roger Keeley page for a full copy of this newspaper article - and create it a page of its own with transcript.]

The two Francis Frith photographs below show the shop in about 1945 and 1955, with the Woodford sign prominently displayed on the side.

The Street c1945 W265008 and c1955 W265010, showing the Woodford family name
Copyright Francis Frith - these pictures are available there to view and can be purchased

The house at the centre of the next photograph was altered to change its eastern part into its present form, with its entrance on the roadside. The buildings alongside are little changed to this day; to its left with two tall chimneys is the Kings Head, and to the right Church View Cottages 3, 2 and 1. This photograph was taken before the changes were made between 1876 and 1900.

Looking westwards down The Street from the church gate - is that an early car on the left?

Between 1876 and 1900 this house was modified, with the right hand (east) side taken down and rebuilt in its present form. As far as I can see the left side of the building is basically still in its 1876 form, albeit with new windows and the white painted "shop" section of wall with its larger window. Extracts of two photographs below show a closer view of the building before and after this conversion. The 1876 and 1900 maps are shown first, with tracings of each showing the difference between the two dates, red showing the 1876 outline and blue 1900. The new part projected to the roadside, doubtless ideal then but not considered such a good idea nowadays.

1876 (red trace) and 1900 (blue trace) maps with tracings overlaid

The two extracts of photographs below show the building in detail at the two dates, with the remaining part of the old building obscured slightly by the projecting newer section. Below that is a modern [2022] view from the west that shows the white painted section and larger window referred to above.

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Left: Detail from the photograph above, showing the house that stood on the site now occupied by the Post Office
Right: The altered building: the near wall is in the same position as that of the original house

The Post Office and Village Stores pictured through the west window of the church on a wet day in November 2019 [107-DSC_0582]
and on the right (c) Google 2022 [replace with own photograph]

A request from the Francis Frith website (September 2009), and it goes without saying that I'd be pleased to learn more as well:

"My great-grandfather's name was Woodford and I believe that he was the post master for Whiteparish during the Second World War. I know very little of that side of my family and for myself and my children, I wish to learn more about the Woodfords. If any resident has any details or knows where I might find some it would be much appreciated.
With thanks to Esther Planner for this memory of Whiteparish"

Jack Woodford on his 100th birthday on 23rd December 2005
See whiteparish.co.uk for this and other old views of Whiteparish