This page is one of several pages which are based on articles in our book entitled Royal Leamington Spa, A History in 100 Buildings which was published in 2018 and is no longer in print.
Image Nigel Briggs
“Binsbrook and the quaint little Alpine Bridge by which it was crossed in Portland Place have both passed away, but the sylvan loveliness of this silver streak may be easily imagined by the observer who will glance at its deep delved bed still extant at the east end of old Comber House, Milverton, facing the venerable inn, The Star and Garter”; so reads an extract from prose attributed to James Bissett in the mid-1800’s.
Comber House, was built in 1824-25, on the corner of Warwick Place and Union Road. It is now No 2 Union Road.
Origins and Style
In 1824 the land was owned by Bertie Bertie Greatheed of Guys Cliffe who sold some 3 acres for £1,690 10s to George Goodin Barrett who built the house. The completed house and 4 acres of land was then sold in April 1827 for £6,000 to Thomas Comber Raybould of Kinver House, Kinver, Staffordshire. It would seem that he named the house after himself. With subsequent land purchases, the area attached to the house was in excess of 5 acres.
A mortgage valuation carried out in 1873 records Comber House as having a lawn, walled kitchen garden, Paddock and Pleasure Grounds. The external buildings included stables for 3 horses and a loft, saddle room, coach house, conservatory, green house along with coal, wood and boot houses.
Stylistically, although referred to as a ‘Regency’ building, Comber House was built in the late Georgian period (1790-1840). In a true ‘Regency ‘building (which strictly only covered the period 1811-1820) the design of houses had the principal rooms on the first floor level. At the end of the Georgian period the principal rooms were at ground level, which is the case with Comber House.
Exterior and Interior Features
Comber House was built of brick, stuccoed, and would have been marked with incised lines and painted a stone colour to resemble ashlar. At present, it is rendered on the rear (east) wall with the west and south walls being pebble dashed. The original Portico Entrance on the west side was replaced by a porch in 1886. There followed further modifications in later years.
The house has two storeys with a basement and attic. It was built with four principal rooms on the ground floor, the library, two drawing rooms and a dining room. The kitchen and scullery were also on the ground floor instead of in the basement as had been the usual practice. The lounge, previously the library, has two full-length windows on the south elevation, whilst above, the bedroom windows have three sash windows. The main windows were originally fitted with external blinds and shutters. The ground floor rooms being the principal rooms had 12 feet high ceilings, whereas the four bedrooms on the first floor had 10 feet high ceilings. The ceiling height indicated the importance of the rooms.
The north wing was built some time before 1853. It featured a kitchen fitted with the Patent Kitchener cooking range from William Flavel of Leamington Spa. There were rooms for servants and housemaids and an extensive cellar for storage of beer, wine and coal. The wing was further extended between 1880 and 1886 by George Frederick Smith; he subsequently demolished it in 1911-12 in order to build Nos 2A and 2B, Union Road. The cellar and part of the original wing are now incorporated into No 2A.
Notable features included a substantial entrance hall measuring some 11 feet wide (now reduced), by 22 feet long.
The open staircase to the first floor is lit by a round headed window in the north wall featuring a floral Art Nouveau design in stained glass.
The principal landing is lit by an octagonal cupola set within a small circular dome. The main bedrooms, of which there are now five en-suite, lead off the first floor landing. The original bedrooms were fitted with fire places.
As may be expected the house has had a variety of owners, occupants and uses over the years. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the name ‘Comber House’.
Owners and Tenants
A tenant of note between 1856 and 1877 was one Jeremiah Sharpe Brown, an iron manufacturer who had married Helen Scott Laurie in October 1826 at Gorbals, Lanark in Scotland. Jeremiah was the son of Copley Brown from Halifax.
Helen Barlow, the married daughter of Jeremiah Brown, bought the house in August 1866 for £8,050. She sold the house in December 1880 for £5,600 to G.F.Smith, a local builder, who lived at No.1 Beauchamp Hill. He died in 1918.
For 27 years, between 1882 and 1909, the house was used as a school for young ladies aged 12-17 years, offering “high class education for the daughters of gentlemen.” There were three principals during this period. The school had a maximum intake of 20 pupils who were attended by 4 teachers and 4 ancillary staff.
The house was uninhabited between 1910 and 1913. Between 1914 and 1921 it was occupied by military families.
In 1921 it was sold to Martin Stothart Moore and his wife Elizabeth for £2,350. He was a confectioner and tobacconist with premises in Leamington Spa at No 86 Regent Street, No 64 Warwick Street, No 28 Bath Street, No 25 Regent Street and in 1930 had premises at Church Walk. It was at Church Walk where he made the famous Spa Water Toffee. He died in April 1948, the ownership eventually passing to his daughter, Mary Elliott Moore, who then sold it in 1987 for £121,000.
In 1988 the new owners, Keith and Patricia Dronfield built two houses, Nos 1 & 2 Florence Villas, on land fronting onto Warwick Place. They subsequently sold Comber House to David Shorthouse in 1997.
The parents of David Shorthouse installed three en-suite bedrooms on the first floor of the house and ran it as a guest house between 1997 and 2001.
The present owners, Michael and Sarah Pagan, who bought the house in 2003 have carried out a number of alterations to suit their family’s needs. The ground floor now comprises a lounge, playroom, dining room, utility room and kitchen whilst the first floor comprises five en-suite bedrooms. The basement had been converted into a separate self-contained flat in 1994.
It can be said that Comber House has truly stood the test of time in changing ownership, occupancy and use as it approaches its’ 200th anniversary.
Nigel Briggs, Dec.2017
Acknowledgements. We would like to thank Michael and Sarah Pagan for permission to use their Report by Dr Jane Thompson on Comber House in the preparation of this article.