The Linc Charity Shop, 218 Bath Road

This was formerly 1 Hermitage Terrace, named after a fine 1820s house called The Hermitage, built by John Barke Gustavus Ferryman, which stood on this site. It had stables, a coach house, outbuildings, a garden and a pleasure ground, and an adjoining one acre paddock. By 1842 The Hermitage had been replaced with this row of shops and the houses in Hermitage Street and Francis Street.

This shop at the corner of Hermitage Street was notable for having been a shoe shop for about 116 years, until 2019. From 1903-1974 it was owned by the Lawrence family.

James Lawrence was born in Cheltenham in 1853. By the 1880s he and his wife Caroline lived in Naunton Crescent and started a shoe business there. This was truly a ‘cottage industry’ where they both made and sold the shoes. When, in 1903, these Bath Road premises became vacant the business transferred here. James’ and Caroline’s two youngest daughters, Maud and Minnie, remained unmarried and helped their father run the shop, which sold excellent quality footwear, beautifully displayed in the large windows.

James Lawrence died in 1939 at the age of 87 and was then one of the oldest tradesmen in the Bath Road. Minnie continued to run the business alone until about 1960 but the family retained an interest in the shop until 1974, when one of their shop assistants, Mrs Grace, took over the business.

In 1983, an even older Cheltenham shoe-making family firm, Adcocks, took over. Matthew Adcock, a boot and shoe-maker, started his business at 304 High Street in 1879. His speciality was a clog made with a leather leg front for “carriage-washing and such purposes”. The fifth generation of the Adcock family was still selling shoes here in 2019, representing a remarkable continuity of trade.

Continue along Bath Road until you are opposite the Lee Longland furniture shop.