This cup, ‘The Court Heath Cup’ for ‘Buxton Croquet Tournament’, mysteriously arrived at our club in 2024 with no clue as to who had sent it! Could we solve the mystery and find out where it came from?
Any clues?
It arrived at Buxton Town Hall in July 2024. According to the Post Office stickers on the packaging, the original delivery address was to: Bill Robinson, Sunrise Cottage, Greaves Lane, Ashford in the Water, Bakewell, DE45 1QH.
The date of first attempted delivery was 4 December 2023. A sticker dated 4 January 2024 states “not called for”. It eventually arrived at Buxton Town Hall with no accompanying paperwork and was collected by a member of Buxton Croquet Club.
Who Could Help?
We contacted Buxton Local Historical Society to see if they had any information. Their research has been amazing and this is what they discovered…
Court Heath
Court Heath was a large villa with a croquet lawn attached on land off London Road, opposite the Tesco Esso petrol station.
Phase 1 – Home: Mr Frank Drewry, the Duke of Devonshire’s agent, took up residence in an estate house known as Court Heath in 1881. Census records for 1881, 1891 and 1911 show the employment of a cook/servant, nurse and servant.
Phase 2 – Factory: in 1954 it became Coopers Corset Factory, later advertised as The Court Heath Factory. This closed down in 1991.
Phase 3 – Housing: it was replaced by housing and is now called Wyedale Close.
The Cup
Frank and his wife were very active in the community and held social functions including charity sales and Empire Day Celebrations at Court Heath.
The Cup has a hallmark of ‘Sheffield 1910. James Deakin and Sons”. T’ – they stopped using the Mark JD/WD in 1932. This fits well with the following extract from the Buxton Advertiser in September 1912:
“For the Autumn Croquet Tournament commencing on the 2nd September, Mr F Drewry offered a handsome Cup to be known as the Court Heath Cup (value £10) for which there were 22 entries.”
These croquet tournaments were held in the Pavilion Gardens, not at Court Heath, so we assume its name simply refers to the sponsor, as Frank’s home.
Now we need to decide what to do with it!