History in old postcards: Monkton Cottage, Old High Street
The postcard above shows Old High Street, looking north, in about 1905. Straight ahead, marking the entrance to the Croft, is Monkton Cottage (sometimes spelt Monckton); and to the left of the picture is the lodge to Headington House.
In 1923 it had the address 36 High Street, Old Headington; but in 1941 the street was renamed Old High Street and also renumbered, so that Monkton Cottage became 56 Old High Street.
The cottage was named after Monkton near Prestwick in Ayrshire by Flora Hastings Shelford, who moved there in about 1910. At the time of the 1911 census Miss Shelford (37) was alone in Monkton Cottage with one general servant in 1911. She remained in the house until 1938.
The house 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 behind at 58 Old High Street was purchased by the owner of Monkton 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.
