Henry Marrows

My interest in the man who built Cleethorpes Town Hall began when I moved to Healing and bought a house he had built. It set me searching for more about him.

Then several years ago five of his descendants came from across the country to pay a visit as part of the Lincolnshire Wolds Walking Festival where I was leading some walks about Henry around the village he was credited with developing.

Henry Marrows was born in Market Rasen in 1856 and moved to Grimsby where he set up his building firm in Garden Street. He built many of the area’s schools, including Strand Street School with the playground on the roof as well as Cleethorpes Town Hall.

His great grandchildren David and Ben Fawcett, both of Louth; Mary Smith from Maidstone in Kent; Will Jones from Barnet in London, and Helen Jackson from Cambridgeshire enjoyed the history walk in Healing where he lived and shared many stories.

One his great granddaughters, Mary Smith said: “There were five of us today, we are nine cousins in total, all the descendants of the children of Grace, Henry’s daughter.

“We know all our parents would have been delighted to know that Henry Marrows’ buildings were still valued and considered to be lovely buildings as they were very proud of him and so that’s quite moving.”

Henry moved to Healing where he had bought land in 1895 and began building houses on Station Road and The Avenue, where in 1899 he built himself Briarfield, but renamed Hazeldene in the 1950s.

Henry had three daughters, Grace, Lucy and Norah and every house he built in the village, the daughters lived in and as their families grew, further houses were built.

He was a master builder and a joiner. Doors, windows, staircases were all carved on site. Briarfield’s foundations were left to sit for two years and tomatoes were allowed to grow in them, while he built Arden Court next door for the owner of the town’s newspaper, Louis Porri.

The Marrows’ family owned Briarfield until 1952 when on the death of Henry’s second wife it was sold to the late Major Clixby Fitzwilliams, who moved to the village to develop the watercress industry.  It was during work on the house that Henry’s grandson, Joe Johnson saved an intricately carved wooden plaque bearing the initials HM for Henry Marrows.

Helen Jackson, another great granddaughter, had brought the carving back to Healing for the weekend from Cambridgeshire. She said: “When great grandpa built Briarfield it had lovely features on it.

“He was a master builder and carpenter and he did a plaque to fit on the wall with his initials engraved in it. Sadly the plaque was removed and it’s been passed down through the family. The window where it was fixed on the wall is no longer there.”

This attention to detail was also seen on the spindles of the staircase, which according to Mary had been recreated from a piece of embroidery that his wife Jane had been working on.

Great grandson David Fawcett, from Louth, came on the walk with his brother Ben. They lived in one of Henry’s houses on The Avenue close to the Radcliffe Road junction and he had fond memories of growing up in the village.

“We were a close knit community. The house had an enormous garden and the building itself was well constructed. It was wonderful place to live,” added David.

Mary’s brother, William Jones who had travelled from Barnet, echoed that by saying because they had so many relatives, they were always in and out of people’s homes.

As well as houses in Healing, which one estate agent in 1909 described as “a rising garden village with an abundance of spring water and healthy air”, Henry built the County Hotel, Immingham, homes in Barcroft Street and many electricity sub stations.

His houses in Healing include a majority of the red brick houses on The Avenue from the Oak Road junction to Radcliffe Road junction, and the ones on Station Road from number 80 towards the railway station.

They are all distinctive of the Edwardian period, red bricks with black and white timber cladding known as the Queen Anne style with large windows. Slate roofs and details on the gables and woodwork for the more elaborate villas.

Bricks were brought in on the new railway network from Killingholme and the woodwork was crafted on site. Attention to detail was paid in the bricks around busy areas, like doorways, are rounded so you don’t catch yourself on sharp corners.

The houses on Station Road include some cottage style houses in blocks of four, to semi-detached villas. Each has a front garden, a new thing for the Edwardians giving an extra layer of privacy from the road.

“He built so many beautiful buildings in the area, but in Healing the village we see is because of what he did and sadly none of the buildings are protected.”

Emma Lingard, Tour Guide

Henry was a prolific builder across the northern part of Lincolnshire. He had a keen interest in gardening outside of his business and was a member of Grimsby Rural District Council, as it was then.

Healing is his monument, and one we can enjoy. Without it being a conservation area one can only hope that his buildings are admired and looked after by those who choose to call them home.