History of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea
Kenneth Arthur Cockrill ARIBA
| Parents | William Ballard Cockrill Caroline Thirza Cockrill nee Johnson |
| Born | Landsend, Gorleston. (Wednesday 6th April 1887) |
| Baptised | Not Baptised |
| Married | Mabel Weeks Congregational Church, off the High Street, Gorleston. (Monday 5th March 1917) |
| Children | Kenneth Eric Cockrill |
| Died | Northgate Hospital, Gt Yarmouth. (Tuesday 30th October 1962) |
| Buried | Gorleston New Cemetery. |
When Kenneth was born his father, W.B. Cockrill was running 'Landsend' which was the most southerly building on Gorleston Cliffs as a hotel and lodgings. He went to school in Gorleston but from the age of eight was sent as a weekly boarder to the East Anglian School at Bury St Edmunds, already being attended by his elder brother Gilbert. There he gained a good general education and he excelled at sport, succeeding in captaining the school's cricket and football teams before leaving at a little over sixteen. When Kenneth left school he continued his sporting activities as a player for a while with Gorleston Town Football Club. Kenneth went on to study architecture and succeeded in passing his ARIBA in 1911.
At the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 Kenneth did not join up in the Regular Armed Forces but enlisted into the Inns of Court Officer Training Centre Territorial Force on 19 July 1915. He took up his Commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on Christmas Eve 1915 and was posted to the 15th Reserve Battalion Royal Engineers. For some months he was attached to a unit of the Royal Fusiliers but he spent most of his time serving with a Royal Engineer Field Company in France constructing bridges, earth works and dugouts. For a while he was an Officer-In-Charge of wiring in No-Man's Land. Whilst serving at Ypres Kenneth contracted Gastro-Enteritis and Dysentery and was finally invalided home from Ypres suffering from Shell Shock. Although Kenneth remained in uniform he saw no more active service. During the time he was convalescing and unfit for service he met, courted and married Mabel Weeks. They were married in Gorleston, at the Congregational Church designed by his brother Gilbert. He was discharged from the Army "on completion of engagement" and granted the rank of Lieutenant on 2nd July 1919.
Around about the end of wartime he worked as a trainee farmer with Steward Cook, on the farm that is now the Shrubland Estate, Gorleston. The large, old farmhouse survives as the Shrubland Community Centre. For a while, the family lived at Kenneth's old home, the Post Office Chambers in the High Street. It was Kenneth who sold the Post Office Chambers in 1922 and the family moved to one of a pair of very run down old cottages, out in open farmland, between Hopton and Gorleston.
Upper Picture - the original two cottages.
Lower Picture - Wyncroft.
After the sitting tenant in the other cottage had been re-housed, Kenneth converted the two cottages into one house, known as 'Wyncroft'. At 'Wyncroft' he ran a small holding on the one and a half acres that went with the property. This, however proved to be insufficient acreage so he purchased four and a half acres at Burgh Castle where he built a new family home named 'Hillcroft'. Wyncroft was sold when the family moved to Burgh Castle. Kenneth developed a poultry farm and small holding over the next four years. Whilst he was at Burgh Castle Kenneth bought the old Burgh Castle brickyard together with twenty acres of spare land where, in partnership with a Mr Pratt, developed the site as a holiday camp. This was the time when budget holidays were coming into fashion. He had the brickyard chimney demolished and cleared the old kilns. Many of the bricks being cleaned and re-used in the construction of the kitchens and buildings of the Holiday Camp. Other accommodation was provided by three rather tumble down cottages already on site and by the use of marquees erected upon a hard standing. The holiday camp went well as it was a good base from which to explore, what is now an exceedingly popular tourist area, but was at that time unexploited. At or near the Holiday Camp were tennis courts, a safe swimming area, sailing on the rivers and Breydon Water.
Hillcroft, Burgh Castle.
In 1931 he purchased a small farm of about forty acres at Bradwell. The family moved there at the very end of the year and named it 'Spring-Fields' Farm because several of the fields had natural springs rising in them. He renovated the Victorian farmhouse, added an extension and developed the area around it as an attractive garden, including a sunken water-garden between the house and the old barn. As well as re-establishing himself in the business of poultry farming at 'Spring-Fields', he continued to grow the half-acre of strawberries that were there when he purchased the farm. This business went so he increased the acreage devoted to strawberries. Between 1934 to 1939 Kenneth concentrated on the soft fruits, mostly strawberries whilst his son Eric managed and developed the poultry side of the business. During this time he sold the farmhouse together with the low paddocks and temporarily moved into a bungalow at Spring-Fields whilst he renovated 'Wyncroft' at Hopton which he had re-purchased. This second renovation was done with much more flair than his original work and he created a show piece mock-Tudor house with lots of exposed timber, old brickwork, kiln bottoms and whitened plaster infill. Eric remained in the bungalow at 'Spring-Fields' Farm to take sole charge of the whole farm when his parents moved back to 'Wyncroft'.
During this period Kenneth still did the occasional architectural commission, many of which were for relatives and close friends such as the Post Office with cottage at Burgh Castle, two cottages adjacent to the roadside at 'Spring-Fields', a pair of cottages in Bradwell, one of which was for his daughter-in-law's parents, 'Laylands', at Downham, the home of his brother-in-law (see Appendix).
Kenneth and Mabel continued to live at 'Wyncroft' for a number of years after the Second World War in semi-retirement. The beautiful house and gardens were quite an advertisement for his architectural skills and for much of the time whilst they were there he always had at least one architectural commission on the drawing board. When a would-be purchaser of 'Wyncroft' made him an offer he could not resist he and his wife, Mabel moved to and considerably renovated a small chalet style bungalow, complete with a balcony and a sun lounge overlooking the sea, which they named 'Cliff Score'. It was right on the very edge of the Gorleston Cliffs adjacent to the Hopton Golf Links. They lived there for a few years, it was a lovely place to be during the summer with a colourful garden leading down the cliffs and onto the beach.
After a while Kenneth and Mabel had the urge to return to farming so they purchased 'Hill Farm', Burgh Castle. It was run in conjunction with 'Spring-Fields', which was only about three miles away. About 1954 their son bought out their interest in 'Hill Farm' and they purchased and moved to the 'Old Custom House' on Cliff Hill, Gorleston. The 'Old Custom House', like most of the properties they acquired had been standing empty and in need of renovation. Kenneth very skilfully converted the semi-detached pair of cottages into one house, without in any way spoiling its integrity and symmetry as one building. The gardens, on the opposite side of Cliff Hill, sloped steeply toward Beach Road. He terraced these and created floral displays that were a delight to many and were featured one year on the Gorleston pages of the Borough's holiday guide. It was a fall from a ladder whilst working at the 'Old Custom House' and his neglect of the resultant injury to his foot that left him in considerable pain and less mobile for the remainder of his life. The occasional architectural job still came along but it was a case of being persuaded to do the work rather than him seeking the work. During this period he did work on a cottage on Cliff Hill and a house in Arnott Avenue.
Kenneth and Mabel moved to a semi-detached house, 4 Avondale Road. This, with the Bells Road shops just around the corner and buses past the door, was a much more suitable house for their needs if a little large. By now Kenneth was elderly and the trouble with his injured foot had continued while other medical problems began to manifest themselves. He was finally transferred to Northgate Street Hospital at Great Yarmouth where he died only a short while after admission in October 1962.
Appendix
From time to time after 1911 right through until he was about seventy years old Kenneth produced plans and supervised the building or renovation of various premises. Most are distinctive for his Tudor cottage style, one of his most notable, central and early commissions having been the re-building of the row of old cottages in Church Lane, Gorleston. The following list is not in chronological order and may not be complete.
- Schedule of buildings designed by K A Cockrill:
- Terrace of cottages, Church Lane Cottages
- House, South Church Lane, for Rev Forbes Phillips
- House, Cliff Avenue, Gorleston
- Conversion, pair of cottages to house, 'Wyncroft', Hopton
- Post Office and house, Burgh Castle
- House, 'Hillcroft', Burgh Castle
- House, 'The Chantry', New Road, Bradwell
- House, 'Cherry Tree Cottage', New Road, Bradwell
- Extension and alterations, 'The Poplars', Farmhouse, Bradwell
- Bungalow, 'Spring-Fields' Farm, Bradwell
- House, for Lockhart, Lowestoft Road, Gorleston
- House for Pratt, Garnham Road, Gorleston
- House, 'Raywood', Lound Run, Lound
- House, 'Laylands', Billericay, Essex
- Council Houses, North end, Gt Yarmouth
- Bungalow for Pratt beside Oulton Broad
- Pair of Cottages, Sun Lane, Bradwell
- Renovation, 'Cliff Score', Hopton
- Renovation, 'Hill Farm' Farmhouse, Burgh Castle
- House, for Baldry, Burgh Castle
- House, 'St Anthony's', Gloucester Avenue, Gorleston
- House, Lynn Grove, Gorleston
- House, Claydon Grove, Gorleston
- House, Lords Lane, Bradwell
- House, for Archer, Cliff Hill, Gorleston
- House, Arnott Avenue, Gorleston
