Julia Webb
Julia Webb


Children at the school knew her as Miss Webb, the art teacher who imitated the animals they drew. Her family and friends knew her as 'Doola', who had studied Classics at Oxford, and had thoughts of teaching in India or acting.

She come to Bratton in 1937 with her elderly parents at 'The Butts'. When the war began she joined a village committee helping Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Europe and took in a boy named Gurt. Then her three nieces were evacuated from London, followed by a mother and three sisters escaping from Plymouth. When she wasn't caring for seven children Doola was also one of the team of local women building the Keevil aerodrome and collecting door to door for the Seaman's Mission.

Apart from five years back in London in the early '50s, as housekeeper to her nieces, her sister, Dr Peggy Volkov, and supporting her parents in their final years, almost all Doola's adult years were lived on The Butts road, witnessing it's transformation first hand. While visiting friends in Bratton she'd heard 'The Beeches' was for sale, persuaded Peggy to buy it, moved in, and renamed it 'The Wilderness', reflecting its now overgrown grounds. In these years Doola taught art, went to drawing class, helped at the junior club and once won a piglet at skittles.

The house eventually became too large for the elderly sisters, so Peggy's son-in-law, John Annetts, built the 'Random' bungalow for them in the vegetable garden. Having left her creative mark, with plaques and hand painted fire place tiles, in each house she'd lived in, Doola also contributed to 'Risbon' cottage and 'Ploughbell' house, both built by John in the orchard above 'The Wilderness'. Doola and Gurt enjoyed a fond reunion before she passed away in 1993, aged 88. Her path may not have been the one she'd imagined at Oxford, but it was a lifetime dedicated to caring, children, charity, companionship and creativity.




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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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