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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Rippedflesh69 on Wednesday 27 August 25 19:53 BST (UK)
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Hi, on an 1880's OS map there's a building just outside the village called "Letch Houses". What was a letch house? Something of ill repute?
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What village? You have posted on the Common Room board but no indication as to where you are referring to. County or Country??
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Possibly these? Long Houghton? In any case, a "letch" is a small stream or creek.
Saturday, Sept. 6, 1873
Publication: Alnwick Mercury
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In any case, a "letch" is a small stream or creek.
Here are some examples of that usage from the Northumberland O.S. Name Books
https://namebooks.org.uk/browse/main/?OSref=346&Page=17.0&terms=letch&case=i&words=y
https://namebooks.org.uk/browse/main/?OSref=384&Page=32.0&terms=letch&case=i&words=y
https://namebooks.org.uk/browse/main/?OSref=393&Page=5.0&terms=letch&case=i&words=y
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This is the 1:2500 OS map surveyed 1861-64. To the west of Letch Houses is a contour line suggesting an escarpment, where each V-shaped section probably indicates where water drained out of the hillside. From Letch Houses there is a stream shown running eastwards towards the coast at the lifeboat station. It crosses a similar contour on the way.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/102346296#zoom=4.8&lat=4670&lon=11329&layers=BT
ADDED: This is a 6-inch map surveyed 1897-99. Letch Houses have gone.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101026851
I have not found an 1880s revision for this area at either scale. Were you looking at a smaller scale? It would have been derived locally from the 1860s information.
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Many thanks to you all. Very interesting finds.