Wellgate House
Wellgate House was one of the elegant houses with which Rotherham was once blessed. In the 1750s it was home to the non-conformist minister Samuel Moult. Moult's grandson John Aldred went into partnership with his brother-in-law Dr Thomas Warwick producing textile dyes and other chemicals on a site adjacent to the house. Aldred lived in Wellgate House from 1852 to his death in 1862.
The house was then occupied by managers of the chemical company until purchased by William Eaton. After Eaton's death in 1889 the house was purchased by Charles Green, a builder by trade, who used the garden as his builders' yard. In 1910s the house was converted by Treherne & Co (another builder) into three dwellings. In the 1930s the garden was used by a taxi firm as a garage. Wellgate House was eventually demolished about 1970 and the now closed: Kwiksave Supermarket now covers the site. Well the Kwiksave has shut down and in early 2007 the builders are in and it is now a PAK supermarket. Funny isn't it - I must have walked passed here hundreds of times in my youth yet I have not the slightest recollection of the house or the chemical works.
Claire has been in touch about Wellgate House:–
"It was my father who demolished the house around 1970 (he can't remember the exact year). The land was bought originally from a Mr Oxley who ran a funeral service from the site for many years. The funeral cars were also used for taxi services. Wellgate House was two dwellings, my father remembers, and a family was living one house whilst Mr Oxley had the other. The sheds on the land in a poor state and were demolished first when my grandfather Mr L Nicholson bought the land in 1964; these sheds may have been the chemical works that you mentioned. My grandfather and his brother wanted the filling station which was already in existence on the site and Wellgate House was demolished to make way for a garage workshop and showroom. Nicholson Bros existed on the site, managed by my father, until my grandfather sold the land to Kwiksave supermarket in 1985. ____ My father remembers having a photo of himself demolishing the house. He believes it was a 3 storey house with about 8 bedrooms."