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Howe House and nursery, OS 1903

Howe House, Howes, The Close, Hotel Felix, Huntingdon Road

History of Howe House

A H Nelson mentions in Early Cambridge Theatre p.100  that ‘an apparently minor open air venue was the Howes now recalled by such names as Howes Place and the White House.

1580 one Robinson, a neighbour of Sir Francis Hinde of Madingley, obtained a licence ‘to show, and exercise certaine games at or nigh vnto the howse next Cambridge‘

1595 the Vice-Chancellor decreed that no student should go to ‘common bowling places.’ One of these may have been the ‘green about a mile from Cambridge called Howse‘.

1611-12 the university acted to stop baiting here

1618 Sir Symonds D’Ewes reported that he had played bowls at ‘a green about a mile from Cambridge called Howse‘ and received refreshment at ‘the cottage that standeth there.’

See Enid Porter, Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore p228.

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British History Online contains the following about  Howe House and associated land:

From the mid 16th century until the mid 19th century all the Girton manors passed with John Hinde’s Madingley estate to his descendants and their heirs the Cottons. The Cottons steadily bought up the smaller properties in the parish,  so that at inclosure in 1813 they emerged with 1,368 a. out of 1,676 a.  The only other large non-corporate estate was a 130-a. farm in the north owned until the 1880s or later by the Cockaynes and Ryders.  In 1847 Sir St. Vincent Cotton, to pay his debts, sold all his 725 a. in Girton parish north of the Huntingdon road, by auction. Most of the Cotton land to the south, c. 735 a. in 1856, was, on the division of the estate in 1859, assigned to Miss Philadelphia Cotton. (fn. 48) After her heir Maj. W. A. King died in 1886, c. 666 a. in Girton, including Catch Hall and Howe House farms, were sold with the Moor Barns estate in Madingley, in 1895 to Frederick Crisp and in 1903 to Trinity College, Cambridge.  The college still retained most of the 560 a., that it had owned in 1910, in 1984, although Howe Hill farm was acquired by the university in 1923 and c. 80 a. was taken for road works c. 1975. 

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1851 Huntingdon Road

Berry Wayman, 31, farmer of 460 acres employing 20 men, b Girton

Thomas, brother, 29, b Girton

George, brother, 24, b Girton

Ann, sister, 26, b Girton

Sarah How, 18, servant, b Madingley

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1852 Pevsner- Buildings of England states that the ‘stark gabled Jacobean villa’ was built in 1852.

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1858

Cambridge Ind. Press:

29.5.1858: Deaths

Lawson: At Howe House Girton on the 17th instant aged 36 Mary Ann, eldest daughter of the late Mr Robert Lawson.

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1871 unnamed and unnumbered

George Wayman, 44, farmer of 780 acres employing 25 men and 10 boys, b Girton

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1878

Herts and Cambs Reporter 15.11.1878:

Action Against a Lady for Slander. At the Cambridge County Court, on Wednesday last, Mr. Farren, photographer, brought an action against Miss E. T. Minturn, a student at Girton College, Cambridge, for slander and libel. Mr. Cockerell for plaintiff, and Mr. Morten, for defendant. It appeared that in May last, small-pox broke out at the College, and that Miss Minturn and other students went to lodge at plaintiff’s residence, Howe House, near Girton College, but in a few days Miss Minturn left, and at Peterborough wrote a letter plaintiff stating that she and others had been affected by exposure to sewage gas ; that she noticed terrible smells in the sitting room, bedroom, and water closet. “If you have any regard for the health of your family, you will have your drain pipes examined.” This assertion was, it was said, circulated to the injury of plaintiff, who did not sue for damages, but for an apology and the cost. His Honour said that the letter which was written in reply by plaintiff could not be justified, and said that he would give his judgment next Court-day.

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1879 Camb Ind Press 25.10.1879

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1881

Mary E Wayman, widow, 36, farmer 600 acres employing 14 men & 7 boys, b Cambridge

John L, brother in law, widower, 65, farm manager, b Girton

Thomas Wilson, 15, servant, b Girton

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1902

Cambridge Daily News 11.2.1902

Wanted at once a good general servant. Apply Miss Goode Howe House Stud Farm Girton Cambs.

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1903 advert in press:

To Let immediate possession if required a good mixed farm; about 300 acres. Write for particulars, Pettitt, Howe House Farm, Girton Cambridge.

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1913 included in Girton village

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1924 Mr H C Haslam of Howe House Girton Cambs adopted as Conservative candidate for the Horncastle Division of Lincolnshire. He was formerly engaged on scientific and medical research. (Portsmouth Evening news 13.8.1924)

Haslam owned the nursery next door.

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1962 Howe House

1. James P G Runciman
2. A W Andrews

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Hotel Felix awarded a certificate of immunity from listing until 29.11.2025.

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