History of Beecroft revealedHead (From Penarth Times)

History of Beecroft revealedHead

IN last week's Penarth Times, we featured a picture of Beecroft, a house on Stanwell Road, and asked readers if they had any recollections of the premises.

The present owners Liz and Terry Wood contacted us, to give readers an insight into Beecroft.

The former Stanwell Road Clinic is a Victorian building with a fascinating history that was handed to the town of Penarth by a sea captain and his wife for use as a maternity clinic.

Beecroft was built around 1884 and the first occupant was a Mr Henry Millward.

Around 1890 the house was then purchased by a master mariner, captain W.E. Raymond.

Nine years later the property was taken over by another master mariner Captain James Jenkins.

When Captain Jenkins and his wife Catherine moved to Cardiff in 1924 they presented Beecroft to the town.

In March 1925, Beecroft became the town's maternity and welfare centre.

Influential in the change of use was the chair of the Penarth Urban District Council at the time, Mrs Constance Maillard whose father Henry James Vellacott was a shipowner and a founder member of Penarth Yacht Club.

Vellacott was the son of a ship's captain and was born rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1948 the council took over Beecroft using it as an all-purpose clinic until the Health Centre was built on the other side of Stanwell Road.

The building lay derelict for many years until it was fully refurbished and returned to its former splendour by the present owners.