Points of Interest
 

Chestnut Manor,
Lower Corner

   In 1844, Polly Clough, Holderness, bought 7 acres more or less from Joseph Wentworth. Stephen and Harriet Clough inherited the land and buildings from Polly Clough in 1855 and sold it back to Joseph Wentworth who then sold it to Isaac Adams. To the original house (Mrs. Clough’s) he attached two others he had purchased. He purchased surrounding farms and buildings, some of which were incorporated into the estate. He built barns, stables, chicken and turkey houses, an ice house, and windmill tower. He built a bowling alley, a carriage house (though some say this building was the Sandwich Academy building moved from its former site where the windmill now stands), and a duck pond. Adams had formal gardens laid out and dotted the grounds with statuary. Isaac Adams died at his estate in 1883. Around 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Moorhouse purchased the property and repaired and restored the old Adams estate, renaming it Chestnut Manor for the grove of chestnut trees then growing below the house. They spent summers there. They entertained family, friends and an annual fireworks display to which the townspeople were invited.  In 1943, Katherine Flett Bryer purchased the property and soon after married W. Leroy White. She had extensive alterations and repairs to accommodate her antique business. After the deaths of Mrs. White in 1952 and Mr. White in 1962, the property was purchased by Denley Emerson.
(Excerpts taken from Sandwich Historical Society Annual Excursion bulletins # 54 and 74).
 

The Brick Store 
Lower Corner   

    William Weed built the building in 1845 and conducted a general store. The bricks were made at a brickyard nearby. All the steps were originally large granite blocks. Over the years, as the road running by the store changed, additional steps were added to accommodate the grade changes.
On the first floor, a general store was run out of the building until the 1970s. The Sandwich, NH post office functioned also in the building for 140 years until 1985 (the zip code was 03270).
On the second floor of the building, after Mr. Weed was admitted to the bar, he had his office there. In the 1870’s, Judge David H. Hill held court there on Monday mornings. Ms. Katherine Bryer White began her antique business in a small way there. T.D. Gotshall had his silversmith studio there for many years.
In 2000, the building was purchased and is now used as a private residence.
(Excerpts taken from Sandwich Historical Society Annual Excursion bulletins # 28 and 77).
 

The Great Wall 
 

   The great granite wall, which is said to go almost as deep into the ground as it rises above, was built in the 1870’s by Isaac Adams. Eighty local men and their oxen were paid higher than normal wage to move the stones.  Originally planned to encompass the whole estate, the wall follows the property line through the woods north of the Little’s Pond. A statue of the figure of Niobe, which graced the huge pedestal at the peak of the wall, prompted the changing of Scribner Hill to Image Hill. (Weakened by the hurricane of 1938, the statue fell and broke into many pieces – the pedestal is still there).
(Excerpts taken from Sandwich Historical Society Annual Excursion bulletins # 28, 74, and 77).