The 10 foot Gooseberry Bush

The Mosaic on the wall of Bakery Cottage

 

The story of the 10 foot  gooseberry bush relates to a Mr Peter Such who was born in Davenham in 1823. He was trained originally to work for the Excise but preferred instead to follow in the footsteps of his father, also a Peter Such, who was in the building trade. For a number of years from 1851, he was the overseer and surveyor of highways for the township of Davenham.

In succession of his father, in 1864 Peter Such then became sub-postmaster of Davenham, a position he retained until 1903. He died in 1906.

He was know to be a great story teller, with a store of tales about Davenham and its people. One story was of when a boy he used to play hide and seek in the church graveyard. One day he was hiding under one of the flat tombstones when he found himself alongside an empty coffin. Even Davenham was subject to body snatchers. He was church warden of Davenham when the church spire was struck by lightning and subsequently had to be rebuilt.

With regards to the gooseberries, Mr Such was one of the founders of the Davenham Floral and Horticultural Society and held many honorary appointments in the group. He had a very interesting garden and amongst the variety of plants in there was a gooseberry bush that he notably trained to be 10 foot high.

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