Saddlers Court

These pages rely on Valerie Kerslake's "Today & Yesterday", published by the Society

Saddlers Court was built about 1975 with the same sensitive blend of old and new brick and tile as Forge Court. Part of the present building (next to Trythes) covers the site of a 15th century farmhouse and a pair of tiny cottages. A saddler’s shop was set up in the front room of one of these by Mr Newman of Crowthorne before the First World War. It opened on Tuesdays and Thursdays; shoes would be taken to Crowthorne for repairs. Later he was able to have one of the little cottages for a saddlery and shoe shop that closed down only when the site was redeveloped. Customers approached it through a wicket gate and narrow garden.

The ground floor of the old house on the left of the archway was cement-rendered in the early 20th century. A modern, pillared entrance has replaced the earlier, more homely, gabled porch - its marks can still be seen on the brickwork - and the redundant chimney has been removed. On the left is a new brick extension.

The upper storey of the building that links this old house to The White Lion continues the line of the pub’s roof and facade. The archway were built about 1980, and is high enough to allow hearses through, for the premises then belonged to G. Parker and Sons, the undertakers. The ground floor rooms used to accommodate a cashier from Barclays Bank in Camberley for a few hours each week, his guard sitting on a chair just outside. This was the only banking facility in Yateley until the new Barclays branch was built opposite in 1965.

NEXT