'The Rest'

Successful art dealer, Andrew Matthews, visited Southwold with his family in the early 1900s. They loved the town and bought a home on the corner of Lorne Road and Queen Street. They became generous benefactors to the town. In 1908 they had four cottages designed in the Arts and Crafts style and built in the nearby village of Reydon on Covert Road. It is, even today, a charming, quirky complex complete with gardens, statue and six terracotta pelicans on pillars as a symbol of piety. The little turrets may be a reminder of Bruges, Belgium where Andrew Matthews had much business success.

It was a charitable housing development for eight people. Residents had to be natives of Southwold, to have lived there for more than twenty years, to have a limited income, to be over 65 years of age and to be of good physical and mental health.

The houses might be considered primitive by today’s standards, with no running water, electricity or gas and no WC. They were, however, fully furnished to a high standard.