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5 St James Terrace

For the greater part of its existence this property was associated with the food trade. In 1841, when St James Terrace was quite new, this was a pork butchers belonging to Mr Joseph Lambourn. He lived on the premises with his wife Hannah and two sons Joseph (junior) and William and a daughter named Caroline. In due course the two boys were included in the business, which then became Lambourn and Sons.

In December 1843 a young man called Edward Williams was convicted of stealing 4 lbs of pork from the shop and was sentenced to 5 months in the penitentiary, whilst in January 1857 a woman called Emma Buttriss, from Montpellier Retreat, was found guilty of stealing about 4 lbs of pork from the shop and was remanded for a week in gaol at Gloucester.

The southern area of Cheltenham was developed in a rather piecemeal fashion in the mid 19th century and the urban landscape we perceive today evolved gradually, with large tracts of agricultural land existing within the built up area. This is indicated by the fact that in 1858 Joseph Lambourn was summoned before magistrates for creating a public nuisance, by keeping pigs on his land near to Angle Villa in Grafton Road, Leckhampton. A month later, he had still not resolved the problem and was allowed two weeks to sort it out. The lack of modern refrigeration meant that the slaughtering of animals was carried out relatively close to the butchers shop.

Hannah died in 1875, followed in 1877 by their son Joseph (junior), at the very young age of 44. His inquest was held at The Beehive in Montpellier Villas, where it was decided that he had died from “natural causes”, although newspaper reports of the time are very suggestive of a fatal heart condition. The shop changed hands later in the 1870s and the father Joseph died in 1884, at the age of 78.

1879

The new occupants retained the same trade and were firstly George Tarr, a pork butcher with another shop in the High Street, and then Charles Fryer and his wife Ellen. The Fryers were to relocate across the street to 5 Suffolk Parade before 1891 and remained in business there until Charles Fryer died in 1922, aged 80.

Sometime after 1885 this house may have reverted to residential use, until 1902 when Alfred and Alice Caudle set up their greengrocery business here. Their son Ron inherited the business when his parents retired in 1930. The Caudles were at these premises until 1972 and you can read more of their story on our Local Memories page. Many of their comments about customer service still seem relevant today.

Ron with his sister and father, at the door of the shop. c.1908
Alice Caudle outside the shop c. 1920
2016
5 St James Terrace 2023

Within just a few years this shop then became one of the many antiques dealers in the area, called Martiniques Antiques. In the early years of the 21st century the trade changed to a garden design shop named Capability. In July 2022 it changed again to become Once, a gift, plants and card shop owned by Jo Mitchell. The property is now residential.

See also our Local Memories page for this property.

5 St James Terrace – Private Residence

Researcher: Stuart Manton (November 2025)

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