Ivy Cottage is the house built near the junction of Limestone Hall Lane and Coventry Road, overlooking the road and opposite the area known as “The Bank”. The full history of this house appears to merit further exploration given the location and longevity. It was a separate lot in the 1918 auction, where it was stated there was an existing tenant “Miss Prew”, who was guaranteed a tenancy for life at a low rent.
That perhaps did not tell the full story, as at that time “Miss Prew” – actually Maria Prew, was living there with her sister (Emily Brown) as a carer, having been bedridden for over 40 years (at that stage). The generosity first of Lady Scott, and then the Duke himself meant she was awarded a pension as well as the continued tenancy for many years after her parents had been allocated the house by the late Lord John Scott (who had died in 1860). The rent was three guineas per year, free of rates and taxes.
The lot was originally bought by a person named Miss Meadows, who could not get possession of the property in the short term, so sold it on to a commission agent. He too realised that the nominal rent did not cover the costs of maintaining the property, and those costs were tending to increase as Miss Prew needed better insulation in her bedridden state. Miss Prew lived there until she died in 1930.
Perhaps it was this story that gave it an air of mystery to those children in the area in following years.
