Past & Present

Bucknall House was a large house located at the top of Marychurch Road. At the time of the building being present, the road was named Church Lane - before being renamed to Church Road, and later to its current name of Marychurch Road.

The building was commonly known as Bucknall House, but was also known as Bucknall Hall and St. Mary's Rectory - as well as  'The Big House' when being referred to by local people. When the house was present, there was a condition in the deeds on the land stating that the buildings were forbidden to brew alcohol. This was because they were initially built on church land, lending credence to it having been the rectory at some time. [2]

It is not known when Bucknall House was built, but the house itself and its surrounding buildings were demolished around 1960. There are now 2 semi-detached houses on the corner of Marychurch Road and Ruxley Road (formerly High Street). Whilst there is no resemblance of Bucknall House in the present day, the pavement on Marychurch Road remains lowered to the former entrance of the house. There are no driveways leading to either of the 2 semi-detached houses where the pavement is lowered, indicating that the current pavement path was formed whilst Bucknall House was still present.