The Tory, Bradford on Avon

The three views above of the Tory are by Mrs Elizabeth Tackle painted c.1850

A view of the Tory looking towards St. Mary`s c.1910

A view of the Tory c.1910

The Methuens owned most of the land in the Newtown area and the building erected in 1698, on what is now Conigre Hill, was part of a close of land called the Grove, in Budbury. A few years prior to 1698, Anthony Methuen had started leasing out plots of land in the Grove for periods of 99 years, on the understanding that those buying the leases would erect dwelling-houses, and so Lower Rank and Second Rank (Middle Rank) started to emerge. One lease was purchased by a William Dangerfield near or where the Mason's Arms is now. This could be the same man who was the first Pastor of the "Grove Meeting".