Soham Roots - Waddingtons Store, Grocers, Drapers, Furniture etc, Churchgate Street, Soham.

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SOHAM PARISH
Genealogy and Local History, East Cambridgeshire

Waddingtons Store
Drapers, Grocers, Furniture etc
Churchgate Street

Waddingtons Store in Churchgate Street.

The photograph on the left shows Mr Richard Waddington standing in the doorway of his Churchgate Street Shop in the 1920's, also pictured are some of his Staff : Mrs Leek, Mrs Clark, Mrs Audus, Dolly Moore, Tiny Fordham (later Mrs Bullman), Gertie Leonard, and Mrs Musk. Richard Waddington was Proprietor of one of the best known and respected businesses in Soham.
At the back of this shop was Waddingtons Warehouse, which was originally the Soham Workhouse, stock used to be bought in bulk and housed in the warehouse which enabled

them to supply most of the Shops and Pubs in Soham at cheaper prices that they could buy from bigger wholesalers and tobacconists. Through the War years Waddingtons would take people on trust and supplied many families with the necessities they needed, being paid when the customer could afford it. In the early years everything was delivered by Horse & Cart. Later when Motor Vans arrived they increased their rounds to include Fordham, Isleham, Burwell, Wicken & Stuntney. Between the Wars, Waddingtons bought the old Wesleyan Chapel in Churchgate Street, and the

Waddington's Furniture Store was born, later in 1929 they bought the premises of Mr Reuben Long, a Corn Merchant in Churchgate Street, and turned them into a Shop for Mens Suits, Boots, Shoes and Drapery. The Furniture Store (the old Chapel) was later to become the Soham Carpet & Bedding Centre, and then the Arc Centre, a Local Community Centre and today is the Viva Centre. In addition to these shops they also had another premises in Churchgate Street. The photo on the right was taken in the 1920's showing Waddingtons exhibiting at the Church Hall in the High Street, which has also recently been demolished.

Waddington Exhibition in the Church Hall.

Waddingtons China Shop.

The photo on the left is of Waddingtons China Shop that was taken in about the 1920's/30's, the picture shows Mrs Bullman, Dolly Frost, & Mrs Morley. This was situated in Churchgate Street the opposite side of the road to their Grocery Shop, these premises later housed the Town Library until it moved to its present premises in Clay Street, the old Infants School. The War & Rationing forced the Waddingtons Grocery Shop to sell out to Burtons Stores which closed in 1976 and became Fine Fares, which also closed in 1985 and is now a Kitchen & Bathroom Centre. The other Stores were sold to Duponts that still traded under the Waddington name, who also eventually sold out, and that ended the Waddington trading name in Soham.

If anyone has any memories of this store that they would like to share, we would like to hear from you.

Advert for R. Waddington, Draper, Grocer and Warehouseman
Quality is the true test of cheapness, dated 1914.

Advert for Waddington's of Soham (Soham's Leading Stores)
Departments
Menswear, Fashions, Drapery, Furniture, Bedding and Footwear.
The Store for friendly service
Dated 1958.

Soham Cemetery Inscriptions.

This Record of the Monumental Inscriptions at the Fordham Road Cemetery, Soham, was made by Tim and Julie Webb of Soham between 2004 and 2010 as time permitted. This electronic version comprises the full text of the transcript, with the addition of photographs of the graves as well as purchase and burial details taken from the original purchase and burial registers.

Safe for all ages.

Quakers of Cambridgeshire
and the Isle of Ely.

This is a very interesting book that we have extracted the Cambridgeshire part from, the full title of the book is, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, and was published in 1753, but gives accounts as far back as 1653, has many names from this area and details of what became of them including their punishments because of their Faith, is an absolutely fascinating read.

Cambridgeshire and
Huntingdonshire Leaders.

A great resource for anyone with interest in the political and social history of both Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire

Cures for Beasts.

This is a little handwritten book dated 1817 in our possession, that once belonged to a local Live Stock Farmer, it is unique and is a book of recipes of old fashioned Cures for all manner of disorders in Cattle, Sheep and Horses, you can read how they cured these things with local ingredients, some sound pretty hair raising. Only available from us.

CREDITS

Copyright © 2011 Soham Roots * Tim & Julie Webb creators of Soham Roots
* Theme by and Webmaster Tim Webb * Thanks goes to all those people who have contributed to this website and to the Soham Roots collection.