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GULLET or Gullett? Having grown up seeing the
sign, above left, on Globe House at the Hospital Street end of the short street in
Nantwich (pictured below, left), I had always felt the spelling as used was correct.
But then the second T was questioned. A more recent sign (below) at street
level opted for the single T version - and when Globe House was repainted in
late 2011 / early 2012, the correct spelling was made very clear (above
right).
My first thought was that a clever
metalworker had ground off the top part of the second T, leaving just a full
stop. There had to be something in the space at the end of the name that
would have been left otherwise. And I am sure that is true, but, on a closer
look at the weather worn sign (above, left) it does seem that the top part
of the T had been removed earlier - the older picture was taken in 2009 -
and that the top part of the letter had reappeared somehow over the years. Was
it rust showing through?
THE proper
spelling of Gullet must lie in the source of the name. Is it from the alternative name for
the oesophagus - gullet? Did the short road look roughly like the body part,
or perhaps perform a similar function? Allowing people, in this case, to
pass through?
 Is it from the surname Gullett (run
a check on the Internet to see how popular a name it is)? I am not aware of
any Nantwich Gulletts, but if there were and they were the source of the
name, it would surely be Gullett's Row or something, not The Gullett.
The final "t" is certainly
pronounced, but Johnson's Nantwich Almanack and
Directory (*) for 1956, in an article about the origin of Nantwich Street
names, says: "The Gullet is probably named from the French word 'goulet'
meaning a gulley or channel. One did, in fact, flow along here and it is
often mentioned in leases of the Abbots of Combermere."
[There is, as people holidaying in
Turkey will know, a third spelling - gulet. This is a wooden sailing ship
with masts and sails. But I am sure that is a complete non-runner as a
source of the name!]
ALTHOUGH, as the newer road sign
above shows, the road has no vehicular exit it does have a number of ways in
and out for pedestrians. In street order - from the vehicular access from Hospital
Street (pictured above) - there are: 1, a public right of way through Bowling
Green Court housing development
 to South Crofts.
2, vehicular access to
Rectory Close, for residents only (left). [Another view of Rectory Close can
be seen below]. 3, vehicular access to Wesley
Court, also part of Bowling Green Court,
on the left of the street (below, left). 4, pedestrian access to Hospital Street.
5, a pedestrian way past The
Bowling Green public house to Monks' Lane. And, finally, a gated exit through to the
churchyard.
Note: I have used my own spelling
of Monks' Lane, preferring the idea that it was a footpath for all the monks
from what is now St Mary's, rather than a single monk. The spelling on the
name plates of the path which runs in front of Dysart Buildings, is Monk's
Lane. There must surely be a connection with the Abbots of Combermere,
mentioned earlier.
In passing, an interesting point about the
Bowling Green Court development is that it is a condition of residency that residents must be 55 years or
older.
 There are several homes in the
street now but back in the 1950s there were just six or so houses listed in
Johnson's Nantwich Almanack and Directory (see footnote) - although the house
numbers went up to 17 (below, left). For a while, No 17 seems doomed to go from the Nantwich scene as - it
was rumoured - it
would soon be knocked down to provide access to a new housing development
fronting South Crofts.
But this didn't happen. In fact,
the old house was extended at the back - and in a very clever way which
means that the extension looks like a separate building when seen from The
Gullet.
lJOHNSON'S Nantwich Almanack and Directory was an annual publication from the
Nantwich printer, Johnson's. It contained essential information about the
town (and later Crewe and Nantwich Borough - now replaced by Cheshire East
Council) and surrounding areas, as well
as a street-by-street directory of house numbers and the head of the
individual households. Telephone numbers were also included. There is no
such publication today, although the same information can be obtained from
the Electoral Register, telephone directories and Nantwich Library
(organisations) . . . |
