Monckton Cottage, Old High Street, Headington
The postcard above shows Old High Street, looking north, in about 1905. Straight ahead, marking the entrance to the Croft, is Monckton Cottage; and on the left is the lodge to Headington House
The name of this cottage before 1912 is unknown. In that year it appears to have been given the name Monckton Cottage by the new occupier, Miss Shelford. In 1923 it was allocated the address 36 High Street, Old Headington; and in 1941 the street was renamed Old High Street and also renumbered, so that Monkton Cottage became No. 56.
Miss Shelford remained in the house until 1938. It was occupied in the early 1940s by Miss E.M. Mercier, and then until 1955 by James Opie Urmson, a Christ Church philosopher.
In the 1960s the derelict cottage next door at 58 Old High Street was purchased by the owner of Monckton Cottage and turned into its garage. This tiny cottage had been the home from 1911 to the 1940s of the village chimney sweep, Edward Aston, and his wife and three children.