Yeovil's Virtual Museum

morton terrace

The first buildings in the future Grass Royal

 

The terrace of four, later five, houses known as Morton Terrace still survives and was built as speculative housing in the eastern corner of the field known as Lower Ryalls.

The houses were built by 1886 since they are shown on the Ordnance Survey of that year. However the roadway was, at this time, still little more than a field access track, running across to Brickyard Lane (today's St Michael's Avenue). The track was also the line of the Municipal Boundary and Morton Terrace would remain outside of Yeovil until the 1904 Borough Boundary Extension came into force.

The track would ultimately become Grass Royal, consequently Morton Terrace were the first houses in today's Grass Royal.

Two more houses in Morton Terrace, numbers 4 and 5, were built in 1890 - as seen in the advertisement in the Gallery below.

 

 

The 1886 Ordnance Survey, showing Morton Terrace (as four properties) by what would become Grass Royal at extreme right.

 

The 1903 Ordnance Survey, showing Morton Terrace (as five properties) just above and to the left of the 'N' of New Town. Note that even at this time Grass Royal was still just a narrow track between Gordon Road and North Terrace but was, by this time, much wider where Thomas Chant had built his two rows of houses at top right.

 

Map based on the 1901 Ordnance Survey showing the different speculative housing projects built in the early days of Newtown. Morton Terrace is as centre.

 

 

Newly-erected dwellings in Morton Terrace, Smith's Terrace and York Place advertised for sale in the 2 May 1890 edition of the Western Gazette. It was reported in the Western Gazette the following week "There was a good attendance, but every lot was withdrawn, the reserve price not being reached."

 

Morton Terrace, Grass Royal. Photographed in 2014.