This house was a girls school in 1800 and the next owner, Dr James Riddlesden, re-named the house in honour of his brother who had fought at Waterloo.
No 14 Compton House, Waterloo House, is a Georgian House with a later shop front. James Riddlesden, a doctor, named the house in honour of his brother who had fought at Waterloo.
The house has a Georgian appearance but is probably older. When new windows were fitted, it was found that the building had been refronted. It is likely that a number of older buildings in Ashbourne were “modernised” in the Georgian period to give them the latest look. Mary Holland ran a girls' school here in 1800 and the house was subsequently sold to Dr James Riddlesden in 1804. His brother fought at the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and, on his return, he built the house next door which he called Waterloo Place (now David Neils). Dr Riddlesden also changed the name of his house to commemorate the victory against Napoleon.
The 2 Riddlesden brothers came from Doveleys near Rocester, and they had another brother who was a mercer (a shop keeper dealing in dry goods) in Ashbourne Market Place. There was a bakery and stables at the rear of No 14 and, at one time, 2 sisters called Cooper lived here. Their father lived next door, now Bargain Booze.
During the 1930s Henry Dodd Bayliss, along with his son Albert, ran a bus company from a garage at the rear of the building. Albert Bayliss' wife, Kathleen, remembered a beech tree being cut down in the garden of Waterloo Place when the property was extended. The tree had been planted by Col Riddlesden after his return from the Napoleonic wars.