Felbridge & District History Group

This is a study of the development, ownership, and agricultural practice of the Farm at Imberhorne. Located to the South of Felbridge, West of East Grinstead, Imberhorne Farm stands on an ancient East/West Ridgeway. The current Imberhorne Farm was once part of the parish of East Grinstead, but with the formation of the ecclesiastical parish of Felbridge in 1865, this part of the East Grinstead parish transferred to the newly formed Felbridge parish.

It is evident from the artefacts that have so far been found in the area, that there has been human activity in the vicinity of the current farm since the Mesolithic period, (8,300 –700 BC). Field walking has produced a flint arrowhead, microliths and flint cores, by-products of flint tool manufacture, and as there is no natural flint in the area, it would imply that flint was brought in and worked, probably by nomadic people in pursuit of game. The pre-historic Ridgeway that runs East/West through the Farm is intersected by the London to Brighton Roman road that runs North/South to the West of the Farm. Several Roman coins have been found either side of the Ridgeway suggesting that it was also a well-used thoroughfare during the Roman period. A 3rd century bloomery or iron working site has also been discovered within the bounds of the current farm at its Northern boundary, South of the River Fel, within land that once belonged to Gulledge Farm, part of the manor of Broadhurst, now incorporated in the Imberhorne Farm of today. The bloomery is one of at least four that have been identified on the banks of the stream, the other three located at regular intervals heading West, implying that this area was involved in a very early iron industry dating to between the 1st and 3rd centuries.

There are also signs of human settlement dating to the medieval period located to the North West of the house at Gullege, again once part of Gulledge Farm, but now incorporated within the bounds of the modern Imberhorne Farm. Currently, the fields within the bounds of Imberhorne Farm have produced a range of material dating from the Mesolithic period right through to the modern day, implying that there has been human activity in this area for several thousand years. Understanding the pre-history of the area can only be achieved through an archaeological study and/or the interpretation of the artefacts that are found, being that there is no early documentation and only fleeting references to this area in the Doomsday Book. Whilst this is an attempt to trace the development, ownership and agricultural practice of the Farm at Imberhorne, it is not intended to be a detailed study of the development of the manor of Imberhorne, although it is important to try and put the Farm in context within the bounds of the manor, especially as the location of the Farm falls within the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne. The demesne lands of a manor were the lands belonging to a mansion or manor house retained by the feudal lord for his own use.

The origins of the Farm at Imberhorne are unclear, although shortly after the completion of the Doomsday Book, the Farm area formed part of the manor of Imberhorne, and was the most likely site for the original Imberhorne Manor House. The manor of Imberhorne does not appear in the Doomsday Book, although it has been suggested that it may have existed in 1086, either as the 1/2 -hide, (approximately 40 acres), listed under the manor of Sedlescombe or as the 1 1/2 hides of the lost manor of Felsmere. The theory that Imberhorne was the manor of Felsmere rests on whether the pond at Imberhorne is that ancient, as the most likely meaning of ‘Felsmere’ is ‘pond at Feld’. The place-name is derived thus: fel or feld from Old English meaning ‘open land’, although, taking its situation on a ridge, it may well come from Old Norse, fjall, meaning ‘hill’, which in modern English is used as fell, to denote an ‘upland stretch of open land’. Mere has two possibilities, either ‘a boundary’, as in Middle English maere, or Old English gemaere, or ‘a small, usually circular, lake or pond’ also from Old English, the second option being the most likely. However, Imberhorne as a place-name is known to have existed in 1100, being ‘Hymberhorn (e)’ from Old English meaning ‘corner of land where hindberries [raspberries] grow’.

There has been a pond at Imberhorne for over seven hundred years, being documented in the records of St Pancras Priory of Lewes, to which it once belonged, and in 1296, Robert de Wynton, the vicar of East Grinstead, was fined 100 shillings for fishing in the ‘pond at Imberhorne’ without consent from the Prior of St Pancras. It is assumed that the pond referred to is the one located to the South of the Farm complex, although there is evidence that there were two other ponds in close proximity, one, of reasonable size, located to the West of the Farm at Imberhorne until as recently as 1879. There is also evidence for other ponds within the bounds of Imberhorne, and perhaps Felsmere was associated with one of these. This would account for the dramatic name change from Felsmere to Imberhorne in less than the fourteen years between 1086 and 1100.

In 1121, there is a grant from the Priory at Lewes referring to land called ‘Feltbruge, next to East Grinstead’, although this may be a reference to what is now known as Felbridge. In 1275, the Prior of Lewes granted one Walter le Fyke ‘a field of the land of la Feldlond, lying in the parish of East Grinstead, between the lands of the manor of Imberhorne towards the South from the highway that led to East Grinstead from Imberhorne’. Also, c1300, the Prior of Lewes granted eighteen acres in East Grinstead that ‘lay upon la Feldlond’ to Warin le Bat; these two entries imply that Feldlond was a separate entity to the manor of Imberhorne. In 1336, Peter de Joceux, Prior of St Pancras granted another Walter le Fyke and his heirs, land called Feldlonde in the parish of East Grinstead, ‘laying between the manor of Imberhorne towards the South by the highway leading from East Grinstead to Imberhorne’. In 1611, Edward Payne was listed as the copyholder of a tenement called Fellands and Chapman’s House, ‘with garden and pasture adjoining the heath, with the copyhold of John Cole to the East and South’, and in 1693, we find a fine of £10 being paid on the death of Mrs Susan Goodman for ‘a parcel of land called Ffelfields in the manor of Imberhorne’. On the death of Richard Auston, in 1811, he leaves to his wife Elizabeth, ‘a messuage, barn and certain lands adjoining and being called Chapmans and Felt Ffield, otherwise Ffeltlands, being 40 acres 2 perches, lying and being near to East Grinstead Common’. Perhaps these references are the continuation of the place-name Felsmere. It is apparent is that Imberhorne became a large and important manor, whilst the manor of Felsmere disappeared.

The first documentary evidence that has come to light referring to a possible farm at Imberhorne can be found in the Buckhurst Terrier, compiled between November 1597 and November 1598. This was a survey of holdings in the Northeast of Sussex, with written descriptions and maps, belonging to the Sackville family. It is remarkable that the boundaries of Imberhorne Farm, as shown on the 1842 Tithe map, remain almost identical to those of the demesne land of the manor of Imberhorne as shown on the Buckhurst Terrier. Even as late as the 1890’s, the boundaries remain unchanged, only being extended by the addition of the lands of Gulledge Farm, part of the manor of Broadhurst, by the Blount family in 1896. Only when the estate had to be broken up by the Blount family in 1954 to pay off heavy death duties did the boundaries drastically alter. The description in the Buckhurst Terrier reads thus:

Sackville Turnor, gent, holds by indenture dated 11 Feb, 22 Elizabeth [1580] for 99 years, made by Sir Thomas Sackville to John Turnor, gent, deceased, the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses, a little meadow, Little and Great Westfield, Whitefield, Birchenwood, Broomyfields, Upper and Nether Sands, The Upper Wood and Brook Mill with Pightell [a small, irregular shaped piece of land, usually at the edge of cultivation] adjoining. 34 parcels, in all 553ac 0r 8da 1p, viz meadow 67ac 0r 2da 0p, pasture 259ac 0r 4 da 0p, arable 80ac 0r 6da 0p, wood 146ac 3r 5da 2p. all of which demised premises are parcel of the demeanes of the manor of Imberhorne. And all the ore and myne for making of Iron in and upon the premises (exceptional franchise). Except all woods and underwoods and trees, reserved to the Lord with free liberty to hawk, hunt, fish and fowl in and upon the said demised premises at all reasonable and convenient times of the year. Rent of £10.

Customs liberties and priviledges to the said Manor.
Imprimis [firstly] the farmor of the capitall messuage and demeanes of the said mannor haith common of pasture in and upon a parcel of wast ground or common to the said mannor adjoining called Ffelbridge for all manner of his beasts sans [without] number as of right belonging to the said farme of Imberhorne.

From this entry it is evident that John Turner had taken out a 99-year lease on the property at Imberhorne on 11th February 1580, and that he had since died and the said property was, by 1597, in the hands of his son, Sackville Turner. John Turner had also taken out several other leases on the same date including ‘the site, farmhouse and capital messuage’ of the manor of Tablehurst, near Forest Row, ‘the farm messuage and tenement called Ridge Hill’ in the parish of East Grinstead, The Priory and 111 acres of land belonging to the Chantrie of St Katherine’s, and lands called Brokehurst and Harwards in the Chantrie of St Marie. These properties amounted to a total of 473 acres, which when added to the acreage of Imberhorne, brought his holdings to over 1026 acres, with the property at Imberhorne accounting for 54% of the total acreage. On top of this, Sackville Turner held the indenture, also taken out by his father, dated 11th February 1580, for ‘the Glebe Lands, tithes of corn and hay and other tithe rights and profits’ of the Wards of ‘Forrestrow, Bowre and West’ in the parish of East Grinstead. It is interesting to note that the Turner’s had negotiated the rights to the ‘ore and myne in or upon the land’ of several of the properties, but their only link with the iron industry, that has so far come to light, is a reference to Sackville Turner acquiring Cansiron forge and furnace in 1613, and for the sale of the furnace and forge to the Courthope family in 1627. The right to iron and ore increased the rental of their properties approximately five-fold in comparison to other land in the area.

John and Sackville Turner, being gentlemen, were superior in status to yeomen or working farmers, but inferior to Barons [the lowest rank of peerage], being members of the rural society who did not work with their hands. In fact, John Turner had been granted a coat of arms on 27th June 1579, his family originating from Reading, Berkshire. The date of 1579, along with a reference to proceedings against John Turner of Tablehurst for ‘seditious words spoken on livery and the seizin of Brambletye Chapel for Lord Buckhurst’s use’ in May 1579, would imply that the Turner family held Tablehurst prior to 1580, and possibly even Imberhorne. The Buckhurst Terrier lists Sackville Turner as holding the ‘site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne’, capital messuage being the term used to signify a large residential dwelling house and surrounding property, including outbuildings, in other words, the Manor House and outbuildings of Imberhorne. Together with the manor house were orchards, gardens, pigeon houses, various pieces of land, with field names, and a mill and associated land, totalling just over 553 acres. The whole ‘demised [leased] premises’ are referred to as ‘parcels of the demeanes of the manor of Imberhorne’, meaning that they were the lands of the manor that had been reserved for the lord’s own use, but were being leased in their entirety for use by the Turner’s. The terms of the lease also allowed the Turner’s ‘all the ore and myne for making iron in and upon the premises’. This is an unusual term as generally speaking the lord of the manor would exempt these raw materials, especially as there is evidence of iron ore extraction within the manor of Imberhorne as denoted by some of the later field names, Marl Pitt Field and Seven Acre Pitt, indeed, some of the ponds found at Imberhorne may well be old marl pits that have filled with water. However, the lord of the manor did retain the rights over woods and underwoods and the sporting rights on hawking, hunting and fishing. In the privileges section, the Turner’s, as leaseholders of the ‘saide farme of Imberhorne’ were entitled to graze their animals on the Common, adjoining ‘Ffelbridge’.

From the Buckhurst Terrier it seems likely that there had been a farm with a dwelling house at Imberhorne in 1580, when John Turner took out the original lease, but for how long before that date is unknown. Most references before 1580 are for land at Imberhorne or appurtenances, which meant the rights and duties appended to an agreement over holding land, especially within a manor, including rights to grazing, and use of common land. St Pancras Priory of Lewes held the manor of Imberhorne from around 1100 until 1537 when Henry VIII granted it to Thomas, Lord Cromwell, after the dissolution of the Priory. Thomas Cromwell, Chancellor to Henry VIII, was accused of treason and executed in 1540, at which time the manor of Imberhorne was granted to William Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, passing to his son Henry on his death in 1544. Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, was a Godson of Henry VIII and was educated at his palace. He was made Lord Chamberlain and became a Privy Councillor in 1546, and was a member of the council appointed by Henry VIII to govern during the minority of his son Edward VI, after his father’s death in 1547. On the death of Edward in 1553, Henry Fitzalan secured the proclamation of Mary I, under whom he held a series of high appointments, including the Lord Stewardship, which he also retained under Elizabeth I. It was also in 1553, that Henry, 12th Earl of Arundel, granted the manor of Imberhorne to Mary I, in exchange for other lands. It is not known how long Mary held the manor but in 1555, there is a reference to ‘Imberhorne pertaining to Jacob Hawes’ being granted to Thomas Argall who held it for four years before granting it to Sir Richard Sackville on 23rd February 1560.

It is believed that the Sackville family were lords of Sanqueville in Normandy and had come over with William the Conqueror in 1066. They first settled in Essex, acquiring the manor of Buckhurst in Sussex, through the marriage of one Jordan de Sackville who married Lady Ela de Dene, the heiress of Buckhurst, in the mid 1100’s. The manor of Buckhurst then remained in the ownership of the Sackville family for the next four hundred years. In the early 1500’s, Sir John Sackville, father of Richard, was made Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey during the reign of Henry VIII, he married Margaret Boleyn, the aunt of the fated Ann Boleyn, which made Richard and Ann Boleyn, first cousins. Sir Richard was a man of outstanding ability, a successful lawyer, businessman and courtier, and in his early life he had been steward to the Earls of Arundel. As Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations that administered the estates of the dissolved monasteries, he was able to exploit the lucrative opportunities afforded by public office. He succeeded in being a Privy Councillor during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and grew rich through his dealings in land in many counties, acquiring the manor of Imberhorne in 1560. Later Sackvilles gained more estates in Sussex and Kent, including the Sackville stronghold of Knole in Sevenoaks, acquired by Sir Richard’s son Thomas, in 1566.

Sir Richard, like other later Sackvilles, also derived some of his wealth from the sale of timber from his estates, for charcoal production, the fuel of the iron industry that was thriving in the Wealden area. Sir Richard also invested directly in several ironworks in the Wealden area including Sheffield furnace in Fletching and Worth furnace in Worth, profiting from the production of cast-iron guns and shot, and at one time, even dabbling in arms dealing. Involvement with the iron industry appears to peak with his son Thomas, Baron Buckhurst and 1st Earl of Dorset, who, in the last quarter of the 16th century, was listed as owning and leasing the following furnaces and forges in Sussex: Burchenden forge, Maynards Gate furnace and Sheffield forge at Rotherfield, Brede furnace at Brede, Coushoplay furnace at Mayfield, Fletching forge at Fletching, and Parrock furnace and forge at Hartfield. It is possible that the manor of Imberhorne was acquired for its woodland and with its location being close to the thriving iron industry, with furnaces and forges in the Felbridge and East Grinstead area, would have been an appealing purchase. Imberhorne was to continue in the ownership of the Sackville family for the next 312 years, until the demesne lands of the manor, consisting of nearly 531 acres, (only twenty-four acres smaller than 1597), were purchased by Dr Thomas Fielden Campbell for £16,000, in 1872.

Using the Buckhurst Terrier it is possible to work out the percentage breakdown of the agricultural use of the Farm at Imberhorne in 1597, although when the same area is compared with the Tithe map of 1842, it is evident that nine acres of land termed rough or other are not accounted for. The vast majority of the land was put to pasture, 259 acres, which equates to 46%. This was followed by woodland, at nearly 147 acres or 27%, with arable land slightly higher than meadowland at 80 acres or 15 % compared to 67 acres or 12%. This implies that at that time, the Farm was predominately used for livestock, as the term ‘pasture’ refers to grass or other vegetation eaten as food by grazing animals. From studies of the parish of East Grinstead during the 16th century, it is evident that there were many tradesmen dependent upon the produce of the farms in the area. There is mention of drapers and clothiers selling cloth in London implying that there was an excess of woven fabric after satisfying local needs. The evidence of excess cloth could mean that at least some of the livestock at the Farm at Imberhorne could have been sheep, their wool being used in the manufacture of cloth. There is also evidence of leather working, with associated tanneries in the East Grinstead and the Crawley Down area, suggesting that there were also cattle for leather, as well as dairy products and food. From as early as 1516, Welsh cattle were driven to the Winter Fair held at East Grinstead. These were purchased locally for fattening, to be driven up to the London markets for Christmas the following year, indeed in 1683 in excess of 900 head of cattle changed hands, meaning that it was big business. All the indications are that it was a time of great prosperity for agriculture and excesses in this area could easily be sold in London, only thirty miles away, as well as the local markets and Fairs held at East Grinstead.

Livestock played a central role in farming in the Weald, of which Imberhorne is a part, and in general the Wealden farmer devoted over half the acreage of his farm to the production of animal foodstuffs. Evidence suggests that arable acreage broadly equated to the size of the farm, with larger farms being able to produce some wheat for market, whilst smaller farms concentrated heavily on animal foodstuffs. The demesne lands of Imberhorne, if farmed as one entity, would have been considered very large by Wealden standards in 1597, and would therefore have been able to support the growing of a cereal cash crop, wheat, along with the required quantities of animal foodstuffs. As well as the pasture for livestock at the Farm, there were eighty acres of arable land. The soil of the Wealden district was considered to be poor quality, but it was recognised that fertilising or marling the land, combined with the rotation of arable and pasture made it possible to farm the Weald. A possible source of fertiliser, apart from dung from the livestock, was marl, a fine-grained mixture of clay, calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate, forming a loam, and there is map and field name evidence for several marl pits within the bounds of Imberhorne, supporting the theory that it was used to enrich the soil on the Farm at Imberhorne. This would have allowed the Farm to grow cereals such as wheat, for human consumption, and oats for animal feed, with the straw (the stalks of the threshed grain) making useful bedding for the livestock. The growing of cereals would have operated within a system of crop rotation, along with pulses, such as peas and beans, root vegetables such as turnips or mangolds (primarily used for winter animal feed) and clover, all of which add nitrogen to the soil. The fact that the lease for the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne included a mill, would strongly suggest that grain was being produced in some quantity, requiring milling and the security of owning a mill. The sixty-seven acres of meadowland would have provided grass to be mown for hay, which again was used as winter-feed for the livestock.

The remaining one hundred and forty-seven acres, nearly one quarter of the land at the Farm at Imberhorne was woodland, reserved for use by the lord of the manor, Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, providing a substantial cash crop that could be managed for the manufacture of charcoal, the fuel of the expanding iron industry in the area from the mid 1500’s, or other wood dependant trades such as barrel making and trug making, both evident in the area in the 1590’s, with a trug maker of East Grinstead being listed in the Calendar of Wills at Lewes in 1592.

Unfortunately, no detailed evidence has emerged as to whether the demesne lands of Imberhorne, leased by John and Sackville Turner from 1580, were farmed as a whole or were divided and sub let. However, from the available evidence it would appear that Sackville Turner may have leased some of the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne, as in 1600, the East Grinstead baptism records list Jon Byrstow, of Imberhorne. Sackville Turner died on 6th December 1636, with forty-five years left to run on the initial lease taken out by his father, John Turner, in 1580. Sackville Turner had no surviving male heir, and unfortunately, nothing has yet come to light detailing what happened to this lease. What is evident, when studying the court books for the manor of Imberhorne, is that ‘the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses’ does not appear, either in the rent rolls, or lists of copyholders or freeholders.

In 1657, the land would appear to have been sub-let, as a survey of the manor of Imberhorne in that year lists the following:

Goodman Bannister: 159 acres of plain land and 5 or 6 acres of woodland.
Edmund Bristow: Lower Parcell, 59 acres of plain land, Upper Parcell, 126 acres of plain land and 3 acres of wood.
John Bowyer and Robert Bowyer: 106 acres of plain land and 24 acres of coppice.
Mr Sherman ‘hiresth of’ Mr John Pickering: Mouse Well coppice of 20 acres.
John Budgen ‘hath of’ Mr Pickering: 16 acres of arable land.
Goodman Greene, the miller: the mill, house and a backfield of 1/2 acre of land.

The area surveyed, totalled 519 acres, only thirty-four acres less than the demesne lands leased by the Sackville Turner in 1597, again there is no mention of ‘the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses’ which would have been part of the original acreage. Although the survey is listed ‘of the manor of Imberhorne’, it would appear that it is actually of the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne, as the total acreage of the manor of Imberhorne was over 2,111 acres. Along with the land there is mention of a mill, house and small back field, which would equate to the entry of ‘Brook Mill with Pightell adjoining’, as listed in the Buckhurst Terrier. Another piece of evidence to suggest the Survey refers to the demesne lands, is that on the death of Edward Bannister in 1658, he is listed of Imberhorne. If the demesne lands were sub-divided, as would seem the case, it would make farming the area more in keeping with the Wealden farming practice of the period for smaller farmsteads in preference to one large farm. The Survey of 1657, suggests three possible farms, that of Bannister, that of Bristow, (later referred to as Birstow), and that of Bowyers. In Wealden farming practices of the period, these farms would have been classed as medium sized and more heavily reliant on livestock compared to large farms, as their arable land was devoted to providing crops solely for livestock foods rather than wheat for sale.

Over the next forty years little evidence has come to light that would give an indication as to the sub-division of the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne, apart from a reference in the Sackville papers in 1667, which reveals that a Mr Jones was granted a lease ‘upon Imberhorne desmeane land’, but no indication of what was leased. There are also several other leases for various pieces of land being granted to Thomas Chapman, including Mouse Well coppice held by John and Robert Bowyer in the Survey of the manor of Imberhorne in 1657. As a point of interest, it is probably Thomas Chapman, or a descendant of his, that lend their name to Chapmans Lane, replacing the original name of the lane known as Imberhorne Lane, as the Chapman family held land to the North of Chapmans Lane, opposite what is now St Peter’s School, and further East of the school on the South side of the Lane, for several generations.

In 1688, there is mention of the moiety or half share of the manor of Imberhorne, with 110 acres of land, being granted by Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, 1st Earl of Middlesex, Baron Cranfield, to James Linfield. The land mentioned in this moiety lease was probably the ‘106 acres of plain land’ held by John and Robert Bowyer in the Survey of the manor of Imberhorne in 1657. In 1697, nine years after being granted the moiety lease of the manor of Imberhorne, James Linfield was granted a moiety lease on ‘the farm in East Grinstead’, consisting of 110 acres in the tenure or occupation of a James Woodman, with the ‘said premises and also all that messuage, garden and orchard in the occupation of James Linfield’. From this entry it seems likely that James Linfield had been granted the use of ‘the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses’ in 1688, and that the moiety lease of 1697, granted him the 110 acres of land that had once formed part of the demesne lands of the manor. In October the same year, 1697, the burial register for the parish of East Grinstead records the burial of Henry Burstow of Imberhorne. This could imply that Henry was possibly a descendant of the Jon Byrstow of Imberhorne, mentioned in 1600 and a relation of Edmund Bristow who appears in the Survey of the manor of Imberhorne in 1657, as holding Lower Parcell containing 59 acres of plain land, Upper Parcell containing 126 acres, and 3 acres of wood.

1702, sees the return of a Turner family to Imberhorne, when John Turner takes over from James Linfield after his death, by paying the executors of the will of James Linfield, £123. 4s. 6d, the agreed value of the moiety lease. In 1710, John Turner further increases his holding at Imberhorne with a counterpart lease from Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset, 2nd Earl of Middlesex, for ‘the demesne of the manor, and Imberhorne and a barn lately built, late in the occupation of John Matthews, now in the occupation of John Turner, yeoman, and for Barne Lands and Barnefield’. These fields can be identified from the Buckhurst Terrier map as being North of ‘the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses’, containing just over 37 acres, indeed a barn in this area is depicted on the draft Ordnance Survey map of 1805/8. The Rent Roll for the manor of Imberhorne for 1718, indicates that John Turner had further increased his holding at Imberhorne as he was listed a paying £28 for ‘the scite and part of the demesnes thereof’, £26 ‘for the other part (vice executors of Henry Bristow)’, and £16 for ‘Cardinals Ffarm’. John Turner died in 1733, leaving his estate to his son John, who added to the property inherited from his father, six years later in 1739.

On 6th October 1739, Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, granted John Turner a lease for ‘the mansion or mansion house wherein the said John Turner dwells, together with a stable and granary over, a cart house, two stalls for beasts, two barns, four closes or yards and a hay barn with the said premises, with orchard and appertainment by estimation 3 acres 2 perches, and all that other house and orchard containing about ¼ acre, called Old Millhouse, late in the occupation of Richard Dawes. Together with pieces or parcels of arable, pasture and woodland of about 230 acres 2 perches, part and parcel of the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne’.

Field name Description Acreage
Upper Coles Wood Field Arable 5 2 29
Middle Coles Wood Field Arable 4 3 20
Lower Coles Wood Field Arable 7 0 01
The Scrub Rough 4 2 00
Upper Field leading to Three Gate Coppice Pasture 9 1 26
Next Upper Field Pasture 8 2 16
Coles Wood Coppice Wood 3 1 29
The Great Coppice Wood 9 3 17
Two Acres Arable 2 1 27
Three Acres Pasture 4 1 16
The Seven Acres Pasture 7 0 25
Seven Acre Pitt Rough 7 1 00
The Marl Pitt Field Pasture 8 0 29
Pound Field Pasture 7 3 32
Four Acres Pasture 4 2 15
The Pond Coppice Wood 5 0 04
The Long Four Acres Pasture 4 0 27
The Cross Field Shaw Rough 0 3 06
The Cross Field Pasture 5 2 08
Pond Field Arable 10 2 17
The Six Acres Arable 6 3 16
Nine Acres Arable 9 0 12
The Long Ten Acres Arable 11 0 17
The Second Ten Acres Arable 11 2 39
The First Ten Acres Arable 10 3 34
Barnefield Pasture 7 3 11
Bramble Croft Pasture 9 1 30
Taints Field Pasture 8 3 36
Barnefield Four Acres over against the Leg Arable 4 1 21
The Haugh Field Arable 11 0 03
The Six Acres lying & being against the Leg Arable 6 0 04
The Little Mead Meadow 2 2 39
The Leg Mead Meadow 6 0 02
Soanes Great Mead Meadow 5 0 28
Soanes Little Mead Meadow 2 1 36
Total 230 0 02

Together with ‘all those parcels of arable, meadow, pasture and woodland containing by estimation 111 acres 35 perches called or known by the name of Cardinals Farm, now in the occupation of John Turner. All called as Cardinals, together with ways, wastes, corn on the ground, water etc’.

Field name Description Acreage
First Common Field Pasture 5 2 07
Second Common Field Pasture 4 0 13
Barnefield Arable 8 2 00
The Five Acres Arable 4 3 38
The Nine Acres Arable 9 1 36
The Four Acres Arable 4 0 25
Shaw Field Arable 9 0 21
The Shaw Wood 3 2 28
The Shaw lying & being over against the Five Acres Wood 3 2 05
Flatt Heath Field Pasture 12 0 16
Great Heath Field Pasture 14 2 02
First Heath Field Pasture 3 0 17
Second Heath Field Pasture 2 3 26
Third Heath Field Pasture 4 3 14
Fourth Heath Field Pasture 6 0 06
Heath Coppice Wood 2 3 11
The Three Acres Arable 3 2 35
Fifth Heath Field Pasture 6 0 05
Martin’s Mead Meadow 2 0 00
Total 111 0 35

The lease refers to ‘the Site and capital messuage of the manor of Imberhorne, with orchards, gardens, and pigeon houses’ as described in the Buckhurst Terrier, together with ‘Brook Mill with Pightell adjoining’. It would appear that by 1739 the mill was possibly no longer in use, being referred to as Old Millhouse with no mention of a mill, supporting the theory that medium sized farms produced little excess grain for milling. The acreage of these two leases totals 344 acres a shortfall of 209 acres compared to the Buckhurst Terrier, although it is evident from the Rent Roll of 1718, that John Turner (senior) had acquired the land that had belonged to James Linfield, 110 acres, therefore John Turner (junior) would appear to be leasing 455 acres of the original 553 acres of demesne land referred to in the Buckhurst Terrier, 99 acres less. In 1728, John Turner (senior) was listed as occupying the site and part of the demesne lands of Imberhorne, with ‘Thomas Chapman occupying part of the demesnes and John Knight another part’, all paying rent to the Duke of Dorset, therefore Thomas Chapman and John Knight were probably leasing the remaining 99 acres of the demesne lands between them.

The leases granted in 1739, reunites the dwelling house at Imberhorne with the majority of the original demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne, although the Land Tax Records suggest that the farms were known as two separate farms. A breakdown of the total acreage for the two farms in 1739 reveals several changes from the Buckhurst Terrier details of 1597:

Land Usage 1597 Acreage %
Pasture 259 46
Wood 147 27
Arable 80 15
Meadow 67 12
Total 553

Land Usage 1739 Acreage %
Arable 142 41
Pasture 140 41
Wood 28 8
Meadow 18 5
Rough 13 4
Other 3 1
Total 344

For a comparison between the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne as detailed in the Buckhurst Terrier of 1597 and the land detailed in the leases for Imberhorne and Cardinals Farms of 1739, it is necessary to amalgamate the acreage of the two farms. From these figures it is evident that pasture was still a dominant land usage. This would imply that the farm was still fairly reliant on livestock. However, by 1739, the proportion of arable land had greatly increased, being only 15% in 1597, compared to 41% in 1739. The proportion of meadowland had decreased from 12% in 1597, to 5% in 1739, but by far the biggest difference in land usage was woodland, decreasing from 27% in 1597, to only 8% by 1739. The reduction in woodland could be influenced by the usage of the unaccounted 99 acres. However, the reduced area of woodland is consistent with the reduction in iron working activity in the region during the early to mid 1700’s. It would appear that with a less buoyant iron industry requiring less charcoal, much of the woodland may not have been restocked and was cleared, therefore providing open land which was then turned over to arable. To convert the open land to arable land would have required heavy applications of fertilizer, initially marl, perhaps as much as 500 loads per acre of pasture or woodland that was ploughed up to sow corn. Despite the effort required to convert the open land, the increase in arable land would have enabled the Farm to produce wheat to sell at market as well as the required animal foodstuffs, and therefore create more profit.

Farming practices had also moved on by the 18th century and it was accepted that improved crop yield could be gained with the intensive application of lime. As the use of lime as a fertiliser became more general, the earlier traditional Wealden use of marl lost its position in farming practice. The use of lime required cartloads of chalk to be transported to the area, where it would be burnt in kilns and converted to quicklime. Every two tons of chalk or limestone, when burnt, would produce one ton of quicklime. The average quantity required for agriculture was one to two tons of quicklime per acre, added as a rotational dressing every four to six years. There is much evidence that the Farm at Imberhorne practiced liming, as small pieces of semi-fired chalk can still be found in the soil to this day. By the 18th century most major farms had their own limekiln, often in the corner of a field, or on a road verge. However, there is no evidence, to date, for the existence of a limekiln at Imberhorne, although perhaps they did not need one of their own as there were two locally, the first was a public limekiln located in the vicinity of what are now the Allotment Gardens between Imberhorne Lane and the London Road and the other a short journey Westwards along the East/West Ridgeway (then called Kiln Lane), at Hophurst.

A new system of rotating crops was introduced to Britain from Holland in the 18th century, known as ‘four-course rotation’. In each field, the farmer grew wheat one year, turnips the next, then barley or oats and finally clover. This system of rotation meant that crops could be grown all the time and the soil was still kept fertile, whilst still providing animal foodstuffs for the winter. There is evidence from the Knights Carriers Accounts that the Farm at Imberhorne had probably adopted this new system, as there are many references to the types of arable produce being transported to and from the Farm:
1763 9th April Carried up to Caterham for Mr Turner at Timber Hurn, 6 quarts of weat.
12th April Carried 1 Bushel of Clover seed to Mr Butcher.
Carried 2 Bushel of Clover seed and 2 sacks of Peas to Godstone.
5th September Master Turner, bought 2 halfe a loade of ots.
1768 12th March Mr John Turner of Ember Hurn, Bill
Brought from Croydon and Ridley’s Down, 11 sacks of Peas and Beans.
3rd November Brought 1 sack of weat for seed, £1. 2s. 0d.

Farming was still the most important industry in Britain and most people still worked on the land. Wealden farming was particularly labour intensive, especially with the existence of the clay soil, as found on the Farm at Imberhorne, which needed fertilising and was heavy to plough. Ploughing was generally carried out using teams of oxen, as the clay soil was too heavy for horses, and ox shoes have been found in the fields at Hill Place Farm, to the Southeast of Imberhorne, implying that the use of oxen was general practice in the area. To back this up, there is an entry in the Knights Carriers Accounts that states, ‘3rd June 1775, Paid to Master Turner for oxen £8. 0s. 0d’. The livestock element of the Farm at Imberhorne would have generated much employment, especially with the maintenance of shaws, (strips of woodland retained around fields, particularly in the Weald), hedges and ditches that surrounded the fields to contain the livestock and prevent them from trampling arable fields. The Farm at Imberhorne would probably have continued to fatten cattle and run a dairy herd, which would have also provided constant employment with milking and processing dairy products such as butter and cheese. As farming practices improved, more grain, milk and dairy products were produced, making food cheaper than ever before and Britain became one of the best-fed countries in the world.

Despite the reduction in woodland acreage, it is also evident from the Knights Carrier Accounts that the Farm was still producing wood as a cash crop with numerous entries referring to the carriage of wood from the Farm:
1767 4th August, Had of Master Turner of Ember Hurn,
1 stake and 5 foot of cord wood.
1 stake and 8 foot of cord wood.
5th August, 1 Hundred and quarter of Top faggotts.
15th August, 1 stake and 5 foot of cord wood
1 stake and 8 foot of cord wood, being 2 staked and 13 in all.
1 stake and 4 foot.
1 stake and 5 foot
1 stake and 5 foot.
From these entries it would imply that wood was still being sold for charcoal production, as a cord of wood is a unit of quantity for cut wood for charcoal making, being equal to about 128 cubic feet/3.625 cubic metre, in a stack measuring 4ft/1.2m by 4ft/1.2m by 8 ft/2.4m, and charcoal production requires a stake or motty-peg to be erected at the centre of the clamp (the stack of wood to be burnt for charcoal). The faggots were probably being used to fire kilns, such as a limekiln. The sale of faggots for firing limekilns is backed up by an entry in 1769, ‘for the Lime Kell, 2 Hundred and 3 quarters of Kell faggotts’. However, other entries imply that large quantities of timber were also being transported, generally to Vauxhall possibly for shipbuilding. Between the years of 1767 and 1768, Knights Carriers carted timber from the Farm at Imberhorne on no less than eighty-seven occasions.

The lease of 1739, gives a description of the farm buildings that went with the ‘manor or mansion house wherein the said John Turner dwells’. The lease lists, a stable and granary over, a cart house, 2 stalls for beast, 2 barns, 4 closes or yards and a hay barn. The evidence of a granary supports the theory that wheat or grain was being grown on the farm. Stables imply that some horses were present on the farm, and the stalls for beast suggest the presence of oxen. The four closes or yards imply that cattle featured highly in the livestock of the farm. It is interesting to note there is no mention of sties for pigs, pigs normally being a mainstay animal found on farms of all sizes, right down to the back garden of a cottage. It is also evident from the Window Tax Records of 1766 that the ‘manor or mansion house wherein the said John Turner dwells’ was fairly substantial as he was recorded as paying for fourteen windows, the same as John Saunders was paying for the house at Gulledge, West of the Farm at Imberhorne. This implies that the house at Imberhorne was of similar proportions to Gullege, and local legend suggests that the old house at Imberhorne is buried within nos.1-3, Imberhorne Farm Cottages. Indeed, although there is no visible evidence from the exterior to suggest a date of construction, the roof timbers, although badly damaged by fire, would suggest that an early medieval property lurks beneath a later skin.

As previously stated, it is evident from the Land Tax Records that from 1739 to 1760 Imberhorne and Cardinals were considered separate entities, with John Turner paying £6. 10s. 0d, rising to £8. 13s. 6d in 1756, for Imberhorne, and £2. 2s. 3d, rising to £2. 16s 4d in 1756, for Cardinals. However, from 1761, the two farms were classed as a whole entity with John Turner paying £17. 6s. 8d for Imberhorne and Cardinals Farm. In 1767, a counterpart lease was made between Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset and Mr John Turner, gent, for:
‘The manor or mansion house wherein the said John Turner dwells, together with a stable and granary over, a cart house, 2 stalls for beasts, 2 barns, 4 closes or yards and a hay barn with the said premises with orchard and appertainment by estimation 3 acres 2 perches, and all that other house and orchard containing about ¼ acre, called Old Millhouse, late in the occupation of Richard Dawes, and also those several pieces or parcels of arable, pasture and woodland of about 230 acres 2 perches, part and parcel of the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne, and several parcels of arable, meadow, pasture and woodland containing 111 acres 35 perches called or known by the name of Cardinals Farm, now in the occupation of John Turner, made by the Duke of Dorset on 6th November 1739 for a term of 20 years, the old mill pond, late in the occupation of John Knight and 2 barns, 2 stalls and 2 closes late in the occupation of Richard Chapman, 6th October 1739, partly in the demesne manor of Imberhorne’.
By this lease, John Turner appears to have added to his property holding of 1739, a mill pond, possibly the one attached to the old mill referred to in the Buckhurst Terrier of 1597, and two more barns, stalls and closes or yards that had been previously in the occupation of Richard Chapman.

The Land Tax Records of 1772 show John Turner paying £13 for Imberhorne and Cardinals, and also that ‘John Turner was paying of him for His Grace the Duke of Dorset’s Manor, £1. 6s. 0d’, His Grace being John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. John Turner continues paying for the ‘Manor’ until 1779, when it reverts to His Grace the Duke of Dorset who is recorded as paying for the ‘Manor’. John Turner died in 1785 and according to his will left, amongst other bequests, £30 to be paid to Edward and Walter Creasey of East Grinstead, husbandman working under him. This implies that Edward and Walter were the people who actually farmed Imberhorne for John Turner and it is interesting to note that Creaseys were listed as working at Imberhorne Farm up until the 1960’s. Also bequeathed in his will was ‘the messuage or tenement with all appurtenances situate in the Borough of East Grinstead’ (Imberhorne), along with ‘all that piece or parcel of land situate lying and being in the parish of East Grinstead aforesaid near the farm called Gullage which I lately purchased of Sir Whistler Webster, Baronet, deceased’ jointly to his brother Robert Turner, a Shop Keeper of the High Street, East Grinstead, and his nephew William Turner, son of his brother William Turner. The purchase of land ‘near the farm called Gullage’, suggests that John Turner had increased the size of the farm to the size that it appears in the early 1800’s. From 1785, it is Robert Turner who was paying the land tax of £17. 6s. 8d for Imberhorne and he continued to pay this until his death on 6th October 1795. Robert Turner died without issue and most of his estate was divided between his nephews and nieces, his Godson and servants. However, he too bequeathed ten pounds each to Edward Creasy and Walter Creasey, husbandmen, suggesting that the Creaseys were still working Imberhorne Farm for the Turner family. The remainder of his estate, including Imberhorne, was bequeathed to his nephew William Turner, of Crowhurst, son of his brother William. After the death of Robert Turner, William Turner took over the responsibility for paying the Land Tax for Imberhorne until his death in 1807.

William Turner had been occupying the dwelling house at Imberhorne as his will leaves to his nephew Benjamin Head, son of his sister Sarah, ‘all my household goods and stock both in and on the ground of my farm Imberhorne and Tillchurst (Tilkhurst) in the said parish of East Grinstead’, but that after twelve months the farm should be ‘devised [given] unto my nephew John Head’, the brother of Benjamin. From the available information it would appear that John Head granted the Farm to William Hubble as he appears in the Land Tax Records of 1808 occupying the property and paying £24. William Hubble was born in 1780, in Kent, and moved to Imberhorne with his wife Elizabeth in 1808, where their first child was born on 25th June. William Hubble was not only paying the land tax for Imberhorne but a further £1 for a second property, also owned by Arabella Diana Sackville, the Duchess of Dorset, widow of John Frederick, 3rd Duke of Dorset, who succeeded her husband as Lady of the manor of Imberhorne. It was during the occupation of William Hubble that a new house was built at Imberhorne, what is now the Georgian style Imberhorne Farmhouse, and the bulk of the farm complex that we see today. William Hubble had a second child baptised at East Grinstead on 2nd July 1810 and paid the land tax for Imberhorne in 1810.

In the Sackville family papers can be found a survey of the Farm at Imberhorne, completed on 5th October 1810, listing all the field names, a description of their usage and their acreage, with the total acreage of the farm standing at 528 acres 1 rood 16 perches. The land usage breakdown of the farm is as follows:

Land Usage 1810 Acreage %
Arable 285 54
Pasture 119 23
Wood 63 12
Meadow 48 9
Rough 5 1
Other 5 1
Total 525

Comparing the land usage of 1810, with the land usage of 1739, it is evident that the trend for increased acreage of arable land had continued and by 1810 was over half the acreage of the Farm. It is also evident, from the list of crops being grown, that a system of rotation was definitely being practiced, growing wheat, oats, turnips, beans, peas, seeds, (clover or Black Medick, Medicago lupulina known locally as Non-Such, and frequently mentioned in the Knights Carrier Accounts), and then being left fallow. The acreage devoted to pasture had nearly halved from 41% in 1739 to 23% in 1810, this would imply that the numbers of livestock must have decreased, although with the evidence of crops such as oats, turnips, peas and beans there was still some livestock requiring winter foodstuffs. It is possible that the farm had become less dependant upon fattening livestock and had moved towards the production of milk and dairy products. Meadowland had increased from 5% to 9% and there is evidence that more land on the Farm had been brought into productive use with the reduction from 4% to only 1% of land described as rough or furze. Some woodland re-planting and management must have taken place as this had increased from 8% to 12%. This may be connected with the resurgence of the iron industry in the Felbridge area under Edward Raby and his son Alexander in the second half of the 18th century requiring large quantities of charcoal again, but may equally have been connected with requirement of faggots and wood for firing lime kilns with the growth of liming as an agricultural practice from the mid 1700’s. By Wealden standards of the period, Imberhorne Farm would appear to be fairly substantial with a large proportion of Wealden farms erring towards the small size, being made up of small individual fields and in the opinion of the eminent agricultural writers of the time ‘not much more progressed’ than they were in the early 1700’s.

Sometime after October 1810, the Hubbles moved to Higham, near Gravesend, Kent. William and Elizabeth Hubble went on to have a further three children in the Gravesend area and in 1829, William took out a fifteen-year lease on a ‘messuage, barns, stables, garden and orchards, and several parcels of arable land, meadow, pasture and brook land totalling 87 acres’ in Northfleet, near Gravesend. Elizabeth Sayer, and Jane and Frances Lane jointly owned this. On the death of Elizabeth Sayer in 1841, William Hubble was listed as leasing Brook Vale Farm and Struttons Farm, both in Northfleet, both properties being owned by her. Elizabeth Sayer was the grandmother of Frances Sayer who married George Gatty esq. who purchased the Felbridge Place estate in 1855.

It would appear that on the departure of William Hubble from Imberhorne, Mr William Buck occupied the property as he was paying the land tax from 1811. It is also around 1811 that the balances of accounts were being paid for the work at Imberhorne, implying that the house and farm buildings were nearing completion. William Buck was paying the land tax in 1812, but on the 14th September 1812, there is a note in a letter written by John Hoath to his friend William Hall, an Excise Officer born in East Grinstead but at that time living in Shoreham, Sussex, that ‘Mr Buck has let the Farm of Imberhorne with corn on the ground etc. to Mr Onger, a gentleman from Eastbourne’. The ‘Mr Onger’ referred to was actually Mr George Auger, who continued to pay the land tax until 1815. However by 1816, the Land Tax Records show the Duchess of Dorset paid £24 and £1. 14s. 8d for Imberhorne Manor and John Tulley was occupying and paying £1 for part of Imberhorne. The Duchess had now taken over the payment of the £24 land tax previously paid by the leaseholders of the Farm at Imberhorne and John Tulley had taken over the payment of the £1 land tax that had been paid by the lease holder of the Farm at Imberhorne since 1808.

In 1815, Mr Edward Auger took over the responsibility of paying the £24 land tax for Imberhorne, however in 1816, it was the Duchess herself who paid the £24 land tax for Imberhorne as well as the £1. 14s. 8d land tax. It is perhaps of interest that possibly the first mention of a road running through the lands of Imberhorne raises its head in 1817, as a result of an unfortunate gentleman having to pay 1/- to a boy to run ahead of him and his horse and open all the gates between Horsham and East Grinstead. It was proposed that a new road be created running from the Carfax in Horsham to the Toll Gate in the High Street, East Grinstead. Permissions were sought from all the landowners, who all consented, but the proposed road was never constructed. From the map accompanying the Quarter Session Roll that deals with the proposed road, Imberhorne was listed as Imberhorne Lodge owned by the Duchess of Dorset and occupied by ‘the overseers of the poor’.

The Duchess of Dorset continued to pay the land tax for Imberhorne until 1820, when there was a fleeting re-appearance of a Turner at Imberhorne, one Colonel John Turner. However, the next year, 1821, saw land tax being paid by Mr E Leaf, £24 for a house and land, and £1. 14s. 8d for the Manor, both in the ownership of the Duchess of Dorset. Four years later in 1825, Arabella Diana, the Duchess of Dorset died, and her estates, including Imberhorne, were divided between her two surviving children, Mary, wife of the 6th Earl of Plymouth, and Elizabeth, wife of George West (later to become Sackville West), 5th Earl de la Warr, with Mary succeeding her mother as the Lord and Lady of the manor of Imberhorne. There then began a series of short-term leaseholders at Imberhorne starting with S S Slater esq. paying the land tax between 1826 and 1829 followed by Mr David Wibley between 1830 and 1834 and then John Wright esq. of Bellsize Park, Hampstead. He succeeded David Wibley, shortly after his death, in March 1834 and remained there until 1841, when Mr Charles Worsley paid the land tax.

Charles Worsley was the son of Rev. George Worsley and his wife Ann Cayley, a branch of the Worsley family that have held Hovingham Hall in Yorkshire since 1550. It is evident that although Charles Worsley paid the land tax in 1841, he was not residing at, nor personally farming Imberhorne Farm as the census details for 1841 record that James Isted a farm bailiff with his wife were occupying the ‘New House’, the current Imberhorne Farmhouse, and that the old farmhouse, now nos.1-3 Imberhorne Farm Cottages and then referred to as ‘Old Wallage’, was occupied by John Stringer an agricultural labourer with his wife and family. Thus John Isted was working as the farm bailiff at Imberhorne for Charles Worsley and that at least one member of the agricultural workforce was called John Stringer.

A year later in 1842, the East Grinstead Tithe and Apportionment lists Imberhorne Farm in the Ownership of Lord Amherst (William Pitt, 1st Earl Amherst), the second husband of Mary, Countess of Plymouth and in the occupation of John Wright possibly the farm bailiff of Charles Worsley. By 1842, the acreage had increased to 549 acres and 13 perches. A breakdown of the farm from the 1842 tithe apportionment is as follows:

Land Usage 1842 Acreage %
Arable 305 55
Wood 115 21
Pasture 62 11
Meadow 43 8
Rough 19 4
Other 5 1
Total 549

Between 1810 and 1842, arable land remained unchanged still accounting for over half the acreage of the Farm. Perhaps surprisingly, woodland had increased quite significantly from 12% to 21%. It is unlikely that iron-working activity was behind the planting up of woodland as by the late 1700’s that had ceased completely in the area. One reason for the increase in woodland may be due to the fact that in the Timber Merchant family of Stenning had moved into the area making the sale of timber easier and thus more likely to be a cash crop. There was the continued practice of liming fields for increased crop yield, the lime kilns requiring faggots and wood for firing. There would also appear to have been the introduction of hop growing to the locality by the early 1800’s and hop gardens not only required large quantities of hop poles, but also wood for fuel for drying once harvested and there were known hop houses or oast houses at Hophurst Farm in Crawley Down, Ward’s Farm and Park Farm in Felbridge and Ridge Hill Farm in East Grinstead. In 1842, Imberhorne Farm had its own hop garden of nearly three acres, running Southeast/Northwest in what is now Imberhorne Way, off Imberhorne Lane. Based on 19th century calculations, the three-acre hop garden would have yielded between 24 and 72cwt (1219 and 3658kg), with an average yield being about 48cwt (2438kg). Based on the fact that it took 4lbs (1.8kg) of hops to produce a barrel of beer, the Imberhorne hop garden would have produced between 672 and 2,016 barrels, with an average of 1,344 barrels. There may well have been other hop gardens, nearer the current farm complex, as hop tokens have been found in Gullege Field, West of the farm complex, and Heath Field, North of Gullege. The largest decrease in land usage between 1810 and 1842 was in pasture, reducing from 23% to only 11%, indicating a radical cutback of livestock. A comparison of field sizes has not been possible to make between 1597 and either breakdowns of Imberhorne Farm for 1739 and 1810, as no maps have yet come to light and it has not been possible to locate all the fields by their field names. However, a comparison of field size can be made between 1597 and 1842. It is interesting to note that in general the size and quantity of open fields had remained unchanged the biggest change being in the amount of woodland that had been cleared to create fields. For example, within the current bounds of the Farm five new fields were created out of the woodland that had been cleared.

Charles Worsley retained Imberhorne Farm until 1852 with a change of farm bailiff sometime between 1842 and 1849 when Henry Batchelor was recorded as the bailiff at Imberhorne. The 1851 Census records that Henry Batchelor was the agricultural bailiff and overlooker, occupying the farmhouse with his wife, five-year old daughter and her nursemaid. Thomas Geer was recorded as occupying Imberhorne Cottage, (the old farmhouse) with his brother George Geer, both listed as farm labourers. In 1852, Frederick Cayley Worsley esq. is listed ‘of Imberhorne’ in the Kelly’s Directory, implying that he may have actually been in residence. Frederick is the older brother of Charles Worsley and was one of the Provisional Directors of the East Grinstead Railway Company responsible for the railway cutting, now the Worth Way that divided the farmland of Imberhorne in half. One benefit from the railway cutting was the installation of a personal siding at Imberhorne Farm below the pond. This enabled heavy goods to be delivered directly to and from the Farm without having to use the roads, which were not generally very good, especially during the winter.

1855 saw the enfranchisement of some of the lands of the manor of Imberhorne. This came about due to land with copyhold status being worth virtually nothing by the 19th century to the Lord of the manor, inflation having made the unchanged copyhold rents unrealistic and other fines and payments scarcely worth collecting. However, the demesne lands of the manor of Imberhorne were retained by the Sackville family and not freed from manorial jurisdiction. Frederick Cayley Worsley must have left Imberhorne in 1855 as the Sackville papers contain the accounts received from Charles Marchant for woods and arable land ‘in hand at Imberhorne’ and a list of property ‘put on the stampt inventory from Mr Worsley to Lord Amherst, retained in hand by his Lordship and not let to the incoming tenant’, dated November 1855. The most likely incoming tenant to Imberhorne at this time was Joseph Turner as by 1858, he is listed in the Melville’s Directory and Gazetteer of Sussex as a ‘land agent and appraiser of Imberhorne’. Joseph Turner was the son of William Turner founder of Turner, Rudge & Turner and joined the business at the age of fifteen. It is interesting to note that Joseph was the six times great nephew of Sackville Turner who held the demesne lands of Imberhorne in 1597, although he appears not to be directly linked to John Turner who leased the Farm at Imberhorne in the early 1700’s as that John was married to Anne whilst Joseph’s grandparents were John and Elizabeth Turner.

It is also evident from the Sackville papers that a programme of tree planting was undertaken around this time, as outlined in the Imberhorne Planting Book of 1856/7:

Trees sent from Knole Nursery to Imberhorne, November 1856 to February 1857:
Ash, 20,675
Chestnut, 15,450
Larch, 1,600
To be sent to William Taylor, Edward Taylor, George Laker and George Kemp.

November 20th, 1857
Acres Roods Perches
Planted part of the 9 acre field – Stubbets 0 2 02
Planted Shepherds Field 2 2 00
Planted North of Stubbets Field 7 0 06
Planted Gatland Field 1 3 14
Planted the corner of Green Wood and
Part of Shepherds Field and Gatland Shaw 2 0 00

Summary:
Ash, 20, 675 @ 8/6 £87. 17s. 4d
Chestnut, 15,450 @ 8/6 £65. 13s. 3d
Larch, 1,600 @ 5/- £4. 0s. 0d
Total £157. 10s. 7d

37,725 trees in 13 acres 3 roods 22 perches

Woodland appears to be a fairly substantial cash crop for the Farm at this time, bark was being sent to London for use in the tanneries, trees were being marked for sale to Messrs. Stenning & Son, Timber Merchants and Richard Day, Charcoal Merchant from London Road, North End and the underwoods at Imberhorne were providing:
Kiln faggots, bush faggots and top faggots, used for firing kilns and fires in general.
Hoop bounds, cooper’s ash poles, used in barrel making.
Hop poles and alder poles, used in the hop gardens.
Cordwood, and stakes, used for charcoal making.
Cords of alder and bundles of ash, general, good all round wood used for a variety of purposes.
Bundles of dogwood, generally used for gunpowder making.
Chips or bark, used for tanning leather.

Payments for woodland harvest can be found in the Imberhorne Account Book for 1855-1857 listing typical uses for the trees and underwoods:

August 1856.
Received of John Thurley for 6,600 kiln faggots £28. 9s. 6d
Received of George Lynn for 6,950 kiln faggots £29. 10s. 9d
Received of Messrs. Charlton & Sons for 3,200 12ft hop poles £22. 8s. 0d
Received of Richard Gibbs for 50 10ft hop poles £0. 2s. 6d
Received of Gosling for 100 bush faggots £0. 8s. 0d
Received of Gatty for 300 bush faggots £1. 4s. 0d

November 1856
Received of Mr Monk for 1,981 14ft hop poles £19. 16s. 3d
Received of Mr Monk for 4,832 hop poles £33. 16s. 5d
Received of Mr Stenning for 3,950 withs [long, flexible twigs] £1. 12s.1d

It is interesting to speculate whether the faggots purchased by Gatty, a trustee of the Beef and Faggot Charity, were being used to cook the beef dinners allocated to the deserving of Felbridge and the local area as set up by James Evelyn of Felbridge Place in 1793.

To accommodate a growing workforce in the Imberhorne area several workers’ cottages were built. A study of the Imberhorne Account Book from April 1859 to April 1862 reveals that in April 1860, the Rt. Hon. Mary, Countess Amherst was over seeing the payment of tradesmen and labourers at Imberhorne for the construction of ‘New Cottage’, with bakehouse, stable and hedges. From the details available, ‘New Cottage’ would appear to have been located on the extreme Northern boundary of Imberhorne Farm between Crawley Down Road and the River Fel, and was later known as Birches Cottage, although by the early 1900’s it had been converted to a pair of cottages lived in by Frank and Lucy Wells and Frederick ‘Taddy’ Redman and his family. The cottage had stood within the grounds of Birches Bungalow, Crawley Down Road, but was demolished to make way for the current bungalow. It is also apparent, from the 1861 Census that the old farmhouse may have been divided into two properties, although there are no specific references to the work carried out in the Account Books.

The census details reveal that in 1861, Joseph Turner and his wife and family with their governess, occupied Imberhorne Farmhouse. Joseph was aged 35 and was listed as a farmer of 400 acres (presumably the acreage of Imberhorne Farm at the time) employing three labourers and two boys. Residing in Imberhorne Cottages were John Simmons a labourer aged 42 with his wife and family. Both his sons William aged 14 and Albert aged 11 were listed as agricultural labourers, presumably the two boys employed by Joseph Turner. Also listed were Richard Baldwin an agricultural labourer aged 42 with his wife; and lastly, James Fools a groom aged 40 with his wife. The fact that there were now three households at Imberhorne suggests that either the old farmhouse had been divided into three dwellings or that had been divided into two cottages with Mr and Mrs Fools living in one of the farm buildings, as evidence suggests that the detached farm cottage, now no.4 Imberhorne Farm Cottages was not built until sometime between 1872 and 1898.

It is evident from the Sackville papers that a great many improvements were being carried out at Imberhorne Farm during the 1850’s and 60’s overseen by Robert Jones who received £40 a year for ‘looking after the work people’. The workforce included George, Henry, James, Thomas and William Buckland, William Butcher, Edmond Coomber, Thomas Creasey, Thomas Daniel, William Gattan, Richard and Thomas Gibb, Mark Godley, Peter and Thomas Pattenden, Henry Payne, Henry Stone, Henry Theobold, Amos Tollhurst and John Watson, to name but a few. Many of these names coming from the Felbridge area. The work being carried out included such things as cutting oats for which Edmond Coomber was paid £1.12s. 3d, grubbing 62 1/2 rods of bank at Imberhorne for which Henry Theobold and William Buckland received £3. 2s. 6d, digging a well for which Amos Tollhurst received £1. 8s. 3d, sawing for which Thomas Pattenden received £6. 12s. 2d, and for putting in 1,296 rods of drainage at 4ft 6ins deep and 11 per width in Gulledge Field, for which James and William Buckland received £59. 8s. 0d.

A typical entry regarding costs at Imberhorne Farm can be found in the Account Book for 1864:
7th April, Costs
Woods £155. 7s. 1 d
Manure for ploughing £9. 19s. 9 d
Fencing at Imberhorne Lane £6. 14s. 0 d
Tarring fencing £1. 18s. 0 d
Making path £1. 18s. 0 d
Burning turf in Birches £1. 18s. 0 d
Planting, cutting and loosing growth £22. 8s. 0 d
Draining £112. 4s. 11 1/2d
Insurance on house and outbuildings at Imberhorne £4. 5s. 7 d
Norwich Union Fire Policy no. 468224

In 1864, Mary, Countess of Amherst died leaving no issue and her estates, including Imberhorne and the Ladyship of it, passed to her sister Elizabeth, Countess de la Warr reuniting the Sackville inheritance left by their mother Arabella Diana, Duchess of Dorset.

It is unclear when Joseph Turner left Imberhorne but the Kelly’s Directory of 1866 lists Richard Dawson as ‘farmer of Imberhorne’, so presumably Joseph Turner had moved on sometime between 1861 and 1866. The Census of 1871 reveals that Richard Dawson was still residing at Imberhorne with his wife Martha and a general servant called Fanny Stripp aged eighteen. Richard Dawson was listed as a farmer of 371 acres employing five labourers and two boys. Residing at Imberhorne, undoubtedly in the cottages were George Simmons a labourer with his wife and children including George aged 14 and Edgar aged 12 both listed as farm assistants. A second household contained Henry Chatfield a labourer with his wife and children. There is no entry for a third household at Imberhorne as there had been in 1861.

Elizabeth, Countess de la Warr died in 1870 leaving Imberhorne to his second son Charles Sackville West, 6th Earl de la Warr. The decision must have been made to sell Imberhorne, for in 1872 Dr Thomas Fielden Campbell purchased the freehold of it. This was a time of decline in agriculture and trees were no longer required for charcoal as fuel or for ship building, resulting in the gradual drift of the rural workforce into large towns and cities. As a result large estates were being sold in small sections to land speculators or the wealthy middle-class businessman who wanted to emulate the landed gentry on a much smaller scale by moving out of the towns and cities to the countryside and surrounding themselves in small country estates of parkland. Little is known about Thomas Campbell although a quote from The Blounts of Imberhorne by J G Smith states, ‘He appears to have played little part in the farming side of the estate, allowing his tenant farmer [Isaac Rust] free rein in cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock, whilst he and his family occupied the nearby three-storied Georgian house previously occupied by the Earl de la Warr’s bailiff’. It has been suggested that Thomas Campbell organised the restoration of a 17th century farm bailiff’s cottage that stood to the East of Imberhorne Farmhouse about half way between the farmhouse and the site of what is now St Peter’s School. However, there is no depiction of an earlier building in this position on any maps. In 1876, the property he constructed (later called Imberhorne Manor) standing in three acres of parkland was advertised to let or for sale. It comprised of ‘a two-storied house with jettied gables, rough stone façade, stone-mullioned and transomed windows, with wooden dormers in the attic projecting from both sides of the double-pitched slate roofs. Near-by was a coach house and stable to accommodate three carriages and four horses. The grounds comprised of lawns and shrubberies, a conservatory with forcing greenhouse and a gardeners cottage’. In 1877, Sir Edward Charles Blount took out a one-year lease for Imberhorne House, as it was then known, along with 100 acres of parkland.

The Blount family can be traced back to three brothers who came over with William the Conqueror, one returning to France, leaving Sir Robert and Sir William le Blound who settled in Shropshire, the family seat of Sir Edward’s branch of the Blount family being Bellamour, near Rugeley, Staffordshire. Sir Edward Blount, who was made a Commander of the Bath in 1871, was a banker and promoter of the French Railways. Within the year of their leasehold, Sir Edward Blount had been persuaded by his son Henry Edmund Blount, to take out the option of purchasing the property and acquired the largely self-supporting farm of Imberhorne from Thomas Campbell. In 1878, Sir Charles Blount allowed his son Henry to supervise modifications to Imberhorne House and Imberhorne Farm’s future programme and workforce aided by the Blount’s newly appointed farm bailiff Isaac Rust, former farm bailiff of Thomas Campbell.

Whilst Sir Edward and his wife resided at Imberhorne House, Henry Blount took up residence at Imberhorne Farmhouse, which for a short period of time housed a Roman Catholic Mission prior to the building of the Blount’s Roman Catholic school, known as Imberhorne School, now St Peter’s School. All children of the Blount’s workforce were encouraged to attend first the Mission and later the School, regardless of their religious beliefs. By 1881, Henry Blount must have moved into Imberhorne House with his parents Sir Edward and Lady Gertrude, as the 1881 Census reveals that John Charles Davis and his family were occupying Imberhorne Farmhouse along with two female servants and a male farm servant. Isaac Rust must have moved on as John Davis was listed as the farm bailiff. Occupying Imberhorne Buildings as the cottages were called in the 1881 Census, were John Marden a farm labourer and his wife and family; Thomas Pollard a farm labourer and his wife and family; and Henry Tingley an agricultural labourer with his family and grandparents Mr and Mrs William Brown. Also listed were John Steadman a domestic gardener with his wife and family with boarders Martha Marden, his sister-in-law, and John Kellick a servant and engine driver. By now the old farmhouse had been divided to create a third cottage and a fourth cottage had been built to house the ever-increasing Imberhorne workforce. This fourth detached cottage, now no.4 Imberhorne Farm Cottages, appears on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map but is not depicted on the 1872 Ordnance Survey map implying it was built between these two dates.

After purchase by the Blounts, farming at Imberhorne was carried out in accordance to the instructions given by the bailiff, who had the personal responsibility of employing sufficient labour to make it a profitable business. In addition he had to ensure that Imberhorne Manor, as it had become known, was supplied with fresh produce not only on a daily basis but also for the numerous social events that the Blount family held. A sporting tradition was also introduced by the Blounts, with the breeding of partridge and pheasants and the woodland of the Farm being turned over to the game birds.

Sometime between 1887 and 1891, the position of farm bailiff passed to Thomas Pentecost aged 39, having been previously employed by William Ramsden Price of Harts Hall, Felbridge, as a gamekeeper. The 1891 Census records that Imberhorne Manor Farm was occupied by Thomas Pentecost with his wife and family, three school assistants and two boarders Knighton? C Curtis a governess and Edward Wells aged 18 a gamekeeper. Living in the Imberhorne Farm Cottages were Thomas Young aged 37 a farm labourer with his wife and children; Thomas Pollard aged 38 a horse carter with his wife and family and his sister-in-law Margaret Payne; and Henry Tingley aged 46 a stockman with his wife and children who included William aged 21 a groom, John aged 18 a cowman and James aged 16 a pig man. Also living in the Tingley household was Mrs Brown, Henry Tingley’s grandmother aged 79. Living at Imberhorne Farm Cottages were Henry Stone aged 42 a farm labourer with his wife and their sons George aged 16 and Thomas aged 14 both farm labourers; and finally George Stone aged 71 a farm labourer with his wife Mary Ann, parents of Henry Stone. There were by now six households of farm workers residing at Imberhorne Farm suggesting the terrace of farm cottages had been built between 1881 and 1891. Several of the farm workers had been at the Farm for more than ten years and sons were following fathers into employment at Imberhorne suggesting that it was a good working environment.

Indeed, although Sir Edward and Lady Blount moved in High Society circles they did not neglect their Imberhorne staff and farm workers. Consequently, for many years about fifty employees and their ladies were invited to play an annual game of cricket on a pitch in the middle of Gullege Field, West of Imberhorne Farm complex. After the match the whole party moved to the coach house at the Manor for a dinner. The event concluding with the bailiff acting as chairman and proposing the ‘Good Health’ of their generous employer and his family. They also threw an annual Christmas Party particularly enjoyed by the children. Employees were also entitled to accommodation, a cottage for married couples with family, free skimmed milk, free rabbit and free wood for the fire. Many of the cottages built at North End and along Crawley Down Road were built by the Blounts to house their workforce and two men were employed to keep the cottages in good order.

In the late 1890’s, Sir Edward Blount began to extend his estate. He purchased Gulledge Farmhouse, conveying it to his grandson Edward Aston Charles Blount in 1895. In 1896, Sir Edward Blount purchased the freehold of Gulledge Farm, to the West of Imberhorne Farm, and two more adjoining farms Tilkhurst Farm, to the Southwest of Imberhorne Farm and Hill Place to the Southeast of Imberhorne Farm. With the purchase of Gulledge Farm ,the lands of Imberhorne had extended beyond the bounds of the manor of Imberhorne crossing into the manor of Broadhurst. These new acquisitions enlarged the Blount’s estate to over 1,000 acres of pasture, arable and woodland with Imberhorne as the primary farm. In 1899, with Sir Edward Blount in his 90th year Edward Blount his grandson took over the responsibility of managing the farm estates, employing over fifty people – herdsmen, ploughmen, gamekeepers, blacksmiths, carpenters, carters and general hands, all under the experienced head bailiff Thomas Pentecost.