1 & 3 The Green, Grape Vine Villa, Histon

History of 1 & 3 The Green

Listed Building:

Pair of cottages, early C17. Timber framed and plastered with long straw thatch, part weather boarded gable.

James Burkett was born in 1822 in Histon. He married Ana Bushell. They had three children, Edward James (1848-1928), James Watson (1850-1921) and Lizetta Annie (1852-1943).

In 1881 James Burkett (b 1822)  was a farmer of 70 acres at Green Hill, Histon,  employing 2 men and a boy. His father was James Burkett (1795-1845) born in Cottenham and by 1841 a farmer in Histon. He had married Ann Chivers (1791-1859) in 1815 in Cottenham. (source – family tree on Ancestry.com)

In 2021 SB wrote that:

Grape Vine Villa, the home of James Burkett (my great great grandfather) and where the original Baptist Chapel was built ‘in the garden’ is now 3 High Street Histon. It sits on the left had side of the green as you look at it from the main road. James Burkett gave land in his garden to enable the building of the first Baptist Chapel.

Grape Vine Villa passed to Edward James Burkett’s sister Lizetta and the Edward’s family moved out in approx. 1901 to Arbury Road and the house there.

Lizetta (Lyzetta) had been abandoned by her husband. She continued living here with her daughters Daisy (Billy) and Helen but then moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.

In 1979 this was Mrs Northrop’s house. Part used to be a weaving shed. (See Ramble Round the Heart of Histon, 1979)

History of the Inns and Public Houses of Histon and Impington, 1990, describes the Grape Vine public house. The Grape Vine was built on he High Street by James Carter Jnr. It was a beer house for some years and Carter is named as a beer retailer in 1847 & 1858, and as a brewer in 1851.

Both father and son were fined by magistrates for serving outside licensing hours. James Jnr was also accused of assaulting the village constable, Francis Chapman.

However, the actual location of the Grape Vine as a beer house is unknown.