Felbridge & District History Group

Gate House Farm

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This document will cover the history and development of Gate House Farm and the property known as Gate House Farmhouse.  It will also cover the ‘freehold’ owners up until 1936, the tenant farmer/occupiers between the late 1700’s and 1936, and the owner-occupiers from 1936 onwards.

The earliest history of Gate House Farm can be found in the manorial records for the area, however as can be seen from the map below the area around Newchapel is complex. Firstly, there are three parishes involved with Tandridge to the east and Horne to the west and Godstone in the centre, but immediately north of Gate House the parish of Horne divides Godstone parish into two detached parts. You can see there are places where there are alternative parish boundaries, these are taken from the various ‘beating of the bounds’ in the 18^th century and indicate that the exact position of the parish boundaries where Horne abutted Tandridge were uncertain at that time. It is clear that Gate House Farm held land in both Godstone and Tandridge parish.

The manorial holdings in this area are complex with the manors of Lagham, Sheffield-Lingfield and Tandridge all having parcels of land in Godstone and Tandridge parishes with few obvious ancient boundary features dividing them. Ancient manorial boundaries can normally be traced on the ground as landscape features such as ditches and banks or following water courses, landscape ridges etc. There are a number of instances below where the manorial bounds respect the parish boundaries or water courses, but the majority of the boundaries are irregular indicating a potential subdivision of the manorial lands after the formation of the principle manors of Lagham (a division of Walkhamsted) and Tandridge. Tandridge manorial records are impacted by the Reformation as there were two distinct manors, Tandridge (later called Tandridge Court) and Tandridge Priory which administered the lands held by the Priory that had been founded in the 12^th century. As the gifting of property to a Priory in the early medieval period was a means of reducing time in Purgatory[1], the Priory received a wide scatter of properties in Surrey, Sussex and Kent.  A couple of pre-reformation rentals survive for Tandridge Priory, but after the reformation both Tandridge Court and the dissolved Tandridge Priory lands were held by the same lord and several pre-reformation Priory holdings then appear in the Tandridge Court manorial records, whilst the majority cease to be recorded. The history of Sheffield-Lingfield manor is unclear as it is not an ancient manor, it appears to be the result of a sub-division of dispersed properties held by the Dallingridge family to create the manors of Sheffield-Grinstead and Sheffield-Lingfield by 1408. The Grinstead division had the Sussex lands and the Lingfield division held the lands in Surrey.

Manorial map only in the illustrated version

The map indicates that Gate House Farm includes land within the manors of Tandridge and Sheffield-Lingfield, the exact position of the division between these manors is unclear and the map indicates its potential position based upon the areas recorded within each manor and the extension of this boundary to the east aligning with the Tandridge-Godstone parish boundary. Whilst the map does not indicate any part of Gate House Farm being within the manor of Lagham, it is clear from the manorial records that Lagham manor held the land that is now the A22 and the roadside wastes either side of it, thus entries relating to the owners of Gate House Farm can be found within the Lagham court books where they concern the roadside boundaries.

The earliest document for the property later called Gate House Farm is c1526 in a rental of Tandridge Priory[2] that records ‘Edmund [later addition] RobertStanford for land in Tandridge called Bisshes lately Weller de Bisshe formerly John de la Bisshe, per annum 5s’. Robert Stanford first appears in the Newchapel area in 1490 when he is executor to the will of James Shaw[3] who probably lived at Shaws abutting Gate House to the east. This will was witnessed by John Weller and ___ Bysshe, the Wellers are known in the Newchapel area from 1429[4] and it is possible that this rental is recording a Weller who lived at Bisshes rather than Weller being a first name, in 1558, the roll for Tandridge Court names the property ‘Weller de Bisshe at a rent of 5s’[5]. Robert Stanford, father of Edmund, died in 1510, although this may appear to contradict the c1526 rental, it is not uncommon for manorial rentals to continue to record the prior tenant before the Steward realises the change of tenure. The earliest dating for the rental is 1526 as Sir John Gage is listed as a tenant and he was knighted in 1525, whilst many other names in the rental closely match those of the court roll for Tandridge Court in 1526[6]. John de la Bisshe is potentially the father of Sir Thomas Byshe who inherited the manor of ‘la Bysshe’, Horne in 1382[7]. As a religious order, Tandridge Priory are recording some very early holders of their properties in the rental, potentially the original benefactor. For example, the property held by Sir John Gage is part of Hedgecourt Park and the rental records this was ‘formerly John de Berewyk, later John Sainclere’. John de Berewyk died in 1312 and Hedgecourt passed through many hands before John St. Clare died holding it in 1418[8], thus John de la Bysshe was potentially the donor of this land to Tandridge Priory as no later John’s appeared to style themselves ‘de la Byshhe’. However, the property does not appear in an earlier Priory rental of 1407/8[9], but this rental includes very few of the identified Godstone & Tandridge holdings, listing more in Kent and Sussex so potentially is only recording a portion of their properties. The 1407/8 rental includes ‘John Stannton for land and tenement formerly William Scott at a rent of 1d’, later alterations to the rental show this property to be held by Edward Stanford formerly Robert Stanford. This property is Stantons Hall, immediately north of Gate House Farm, and this shows that Robert Stanford must have held that property during his lifetime, which is confirmed by his will below.

The 1576 roll for Tandridge Court manor[10] records the death of Richard Stanford holding ‘lands called Estbishe otherwise Byshes otherwise Weller de Byshe containing by estimation 30 acres at yearly rent of 5s lying at and near Crokers Lane with the appurtenances in Godstone’. As discussed above, this was actually a Tandridge Priory property and this entry is mistakenly recorded in Tandridge Court, but the entry gives us the approximate size of the property held of Tanridge Priory, acreages given in medieval and post-medieval documents are not the actual size of the land in the way that we would measure it today, they are the size of the useable (or cleared) land, therefore what today is a 40 acre holding might historically only be recorded as 30 acres. This entry also has East Bysshe as one of the property’s aliases, a name still used today for the land on the west side of the A22 that is now a cross country course and showground, and Crockers Lane was still used in the late 20^th century as the name of the road that ran parallel, and south of, Hare Lane which is now a footpath.

The 1616 Chancery Court case[11] discussed later records the whole property as being 105 acres excluding the house, yard, garden and orchard; thus we expect the part of the property held of Sheffield-Lingfield to be much larger than the 30 acres held of Tandridge Priory. Due to the lack of surviving records, it is not until 1651 that we have an entry for the manor of Sheffield-Lingfield[12] which records that ‘Thomas Stanford held a message & 80 acres called Bishes lying in Godstone & Tandridge on both sides of the highway leading between Godstone & Eastgrinstead at a rent of 13s 8d’, which confirms the approximate size of this holding and that it crosses the highway and also into Tandridge Parish. With a total of 110 acres of useable land recorded by the early 17^th century, this relates well to the 1840’s extent shown on the map above which covers a total area of 137 acres.

As mentioned above, there are entries for the owner of what became Gate House Farm in the Lagham court books[13], the earliest surviving records for this manor include both the view of Frankpledge and Court Baron. The view of Frankpledge recites the appointment of the tithing men and their reports covering diverse matters such as roads, bridges, flooding, ditches, brewers diluting their ale and bakers making undersize loaves, whilst the Court Baron is only recording matters relating to manorial property such as alienations, deaths of tenants, new grants etc. There are no entries for the owners of what became Gate House Farm in any of the Court Barons, which demonstrates that no part of this property was held of Lagham manor and as such they are not themselves tenants of the manor, but they do appear as jurors for the combined courts. As they are not tenants of the manor, but have been compelled to attend the Lagham manor courts, this suggests that they must be under-tenants of the manor, i.e. they are occupying a manorial property that they do not own. The property they are occupying, which could include farming the land, is not recorded as the courts are only interested in the manorial tenant, who would pay the manorial rent and fines.

The Stanford entries are all in the Blindley Heath tithing from the earliest surviving court record which was held in 1559 until 1565 after which the Lagham records cease only resuming in 1644 after which there are no entries relating to the area of Gate House Farm. The entries for 1559 to 1565 all name Richard Standford who is recorded as infirm and unable to attend court in 1559, he is listed as a juror in 1560-1562, and elected to the position of Tithingman for Blindley Heath in 1565. In all the years 1560-1565 he is instructed, upon penalty of a fine, to scour his ditches from Chapel Green to either ColleysBridge or Shawlands Hatch, in 1564 he also has to lop all the trees overhanging the highway from CollysBridge to his house. ColleysBridge is north of Gate House Farm where the road bends at White Gates Farm, it is named as such on a 1761 map of the commons of Bletchingley and Godstone[14]. Chapel Green End is the northern end of Newchapel Green and Shawlands Hatch has to be the entrance to Shawlands immediately north of Gate House Farm as shown on the c1760 map of Shaws Farm[15].

Structure

The structure of Gatehouse Farm has previously been written up following a survey by Martin Higgins, SCC Historic Buildings Conservation Officer, in 2014[16]. To be consistent, I have used the same nomenclature for this survey which focuses on the two earliest structures forming the main range of the house. The timber-frame and building terminology used for this section complies with ‘Recording Timber-framed Buildings: An Illustrated Glossary’[17] which now has an online version to assist the reader[18].

The main range is orientated north-south, it has a Horsham stone roof with a gable at the north end and a hip at the south, the chimney stack straddles the ridge towards the north end of the range. It is constructed of thin bricks and appears to contain four flues in a single construction with an over-sailing cap upon which later brickwork has been built. There is a drip course just above the roof and vertical columns of single width projecting bricks on the north and east side that follow the profile of the capping but stop above the roof surface.

There is a face-wing towards the southern end of the east (rear) elevation, this also has a Horsham stone roof and ends with a gable, it has an external brick stack at this eastern gable end. Along the rest of the east elevation of the main range is a single-storey lean-to with a tiled roof. There are later porches on the front elevation and on the south.

The north, west and south elevations have exposed modern timbers which are in-filled with brick on the ground floor, the bay divisions on the west elevation appear to be reused rails as posts as there are multiple redundant peg holes on their southern edges. The east elevation has the historic timber-framing exposed consisting of wide curved down-braces that are nearly the full height of the storey. Post A’ is visible and is about 30cm behind the outside face of the current north elevation indicating that the modern timbers visible on that elevation are a facade constructed outside the line of the earlier timber-framing.

Plan only in the illustrated version

Structure X-Y-Z

This consists of two bays orientated east-west, the ceiling of the ground floor has a dragon beam towards X indicating that this structure was originally jettied on the south and west sides. The southern jetty has been under-built whilst the west jetty has been removed by cutting it back. The joists are 130mm wide and have no chamfers. The underside of the girding beam Y-Z has mortices for a mullion window immediately east of Y and another close to Z. No sill beam is visible and the only original posts that survive (Y’ and Z’) have been extended by the addition of 75cm at their bases. Girding beam X’-Y’ has no infill under the west end for 790mm after which there is a stud and stave holes for partitioning up to Y’ which is faced to the north, this infill continues from Y’ to Z’. The mid-tie Y-Y’ also has staves for partitioning faced towards the east below it as well as a chamfer only on the east side, there is a gap in the stave holes close to Y’ indicating a former door in this partition. Post Y’ has chamfers on both the northeast and northwest corners and is un-weathered, post Z’ has a run out stop on its southwest corner and has a ‘V’ carved into it towards its base; no other post numbering was visible. There is a pegged in trimmer for a stair at the northwest corner of bay Y-Z, this would appear to have risen from the east as the west end would have been partially obscured by the partitioning under Y-Y’.

The first floor of X-Y-Z has bay posts with long tapered jowls, there are mortices and carpenter’s marks for short up-braces to the tie-beam at Y and Y’. The original wall-plate X-X’ survives but has been turned around so the weathered face in now internal, it has been raised and sits upon the wall plate extending from C through frame D. This wall plate has a notch on the underside where it originally sat upon the wall plate X’-Y’ which has since been removed.

Within the roof space, the roof of the range A-D extends over east-west range X-Z, although its structure is much altered with many inserted and nailed timbers. There is a wattle and daub partition at D which is clean on the southern side although there is smoke bleed around the edges staining the principal rafters. The crown-post survives above tie-beam Y along with a collar and some rafters, the pitch of the crown-post rafters is 50°; the crown-post is down-braced only to the north, but is up-braced to the collar-purlin both east and west. The crown-post roof timbers are 100-110mm wide and are un-sooted.

Structure A-B-C-D

This consists of three bays orientated north-south, the largest bay is C-D, then A-B with a narrow bay (B-C) between them. The sill beam survives in part along the east wall and makes it possible to identify that the original floor height in this range was probably about 10cm below the current floor level in bay A-B, the floor level has been lowered in bay C-D and this lowered floor then continues through X-Y-Z. All of the bay posts survive on the east elevation and B, C, & D are all visible in part, mainly on the first floor, the outside faces of the eastern posts are weathered to some extent, but not extreme. There are some vertical mortices partially visible in the outside of the eastern bay posts at girding beam level which could indicate a later outshot along this elevation.

The ground floor bay A-B has an axial beam chamfered on both sides with a step-stop, this is matched on the north face of transverse beam B with the chamfer on the transverse beam being interrupted where the axial beam joins into it. The ceiling joists are 140mm wide x at least 110mm deep and are not chamfered, their ends are sat upon the girding beam. There is an inserted axial beam towards the east of the bay supporting the joists which have been cut for a (now closed) stair across the east side of the bay. There are no stave holes or pegs for a partition beneath the mid-tie B. The interval post in the middle of A-A’ has pegs either side for a potential window sill, although there also appear to be upper pegs for the window head, which would make this a very short window, the current window to the west of the interval post is within this opening. There is a former doorway to the south of the current door into the rear range, there is no evidence to determine if this is an original opening as the underside of the girding beam is obscured.

Ground floor bay B-C contains the stack which has hearths opening into bays A-B and C-D. The hearth into A-B has a carved stone surround dated 1626 with the initials TS, the hearth itself is constructed with modern bricks where it is not concealed by plaster. The hearth into C-D is larger and has a carved oak bresummer with a floral motif in the spandrels, there is a filled section of the face of the bresummer which could relate to a spit jack. The bresummer is supported on modern brick piers and most of the brickwork of the hearth appears to be modern bricks although there are numerous patches and in-fills making it difficult to identify any original fabric that survives.  To the east of the stack is now a stair. The west of the stack is currently a baffle entry with a door and porch opening into B-C.

Bay C-D has an ornately moulded axial beam and joists with step-stopped chamfers, the ends of which are sat upon the girding beams. Mid-tie C has a deep chamfer, but unlike the north face of mid-tie B the chamfer is not interrupted for the axial beam which crudely obscures it. This chamfer has a shallow step-stop at the west end but has no stop at the east end where it runs up to the post at C’. Several of the eastern ends of the joists clash with the down-braces and interval posts above the girding beam C’-D’. Mid-tie D has a chamfer for a door against D (matching the door opening observed beneath girding beam X’-Y’), the remainder of mid-tie D has mortices and stave holes beneath it for a partition faced to the north.

The first floor of bay A-B has an exposed curved down-brace to the east of A, above the central interval post of frame A there is a filled-in mortice in the tie-beam for an axial beam, this is mirrored by a similar mortice in the north of tie-beam B, the ends of any joists in this axial beam would have sat upon the wall plates. The chamber is currently ceiled by an axial beam and pegged upright joists supported by timbers raising the axial beam and joists above the tie-beam. There is no evidence for a partition beneath tie-beam B.

The entire roof A-D is smoke blackened. Above tie-beam A there are pegs for two queen struts 1240mm apart, within the attic there is a ‘vent’ between these struts which is 510mm high. The centre of this vent is a 70mmx70mm diamond mullion either side of which is a gap of 250mm then a 100mm wide rectangular mortice then another 250mm gap to the queen strut. There is a timber door that has been inserted in the west side of the vent, above the east two-thirds of the vent there is a cleaner area on the collar indicating a timber was nailed there whilst the collar was still being exposed to smoke. On the sill of the vent a thin un-sooted timber has been fixed which has mortices for three small diamond mullions either side of the central large mullion.

Sections only in the illustrated version

The roof is clasped side-purlin with two purlins set at a pitch of 45°, the upper purlins are clasped by the collar in all the frames although frames A & D have deeper collars with three pegs attaching them to the principal rafters, whilst frames B & C have shallower collars (290mm) with two pegs, the upper purlins have straight wind-braces beneath them to each of the principal purlins, which are diminished above the collar. The lower purlins are secured by two different methods, in frames A and D they are clasped by raking queen struts that are pegged into the tie-beam and the purlins are trenched into the principal rafters; frames C and D have the lower purlin clasped by a straight inner principal that abuts the principal rafter between the tie-beam and the collar and is pegged into both. All the rafters are bridled at the apex, they are all numbered in sequence with pair 1 adjacent to D, pair 6 is on the south of C, there are 4 rafter pairs in bay B-C but there are no numbers visible as the rafter tops have been removed by the insertion of the stack, the numbers restart at pair 8 north of B and continue to pair 12 adjacent to A. The principal rafters and frames have no visible numbering. The upper and lower purlins are 160mm high x 100mm wide. A small section of the outer surface of the rafters is visible from the attic above the east face-wing, the stone has been stripped off and there are only a few nail holes which are appropriately spaced for the lower courses of a stone roof, there are not enough nail holes or closely enough spaced for tile battens.

The roof structure had started to fail historically, there is no deformation at the frames, but the upper and lower purlins appear to have sagged in bays A-B and C-D resulting in the insertion of a larger un-sooted third purlin between the upper and lower purlins re-using the wind-brace mortices in the principal rafters and being clasped by additional raking queen struts.

The first floor of bay B-C contains the tapering chimney stack which has an exposed hearth opening into bay A-B, this hearth has a cambered bresummer with a plain chamfer and curved stops. The hearth is plastered and above the bresummer is filled with random bricks and stone blocks. The shape of the stack above the roof implies that there was a first-floor hearth opening into bay C-D, although this couldn’t be seen internally. The roof over this bay has been discussed above, but it is worth noting that only one of the four rafter pairs in this bay was numbered therefore the others must have been visually different.

The first-floor bay C-D has the roof exposed up to the top of the collar and there are no additional observations to record about it. There is no evidence to suggest there was originally a partition below tie-beam C, above the tie-beam the frame is faced to the north. In looking for potential window locations, there are a pair of studs in wall C’-D’ which also have pegs for a rail between them 640mm below the wall plate, which could provide an opening about 1m wide x 60cm high. The west wall (C-D) only appears to have a single down-brace which is at D, there is a peg in the bottom edge of the wall plate for a stud only 77cm from C which does not provide sufficient space for a brace. The bottom edge of the wall plate C-D is partially obscured making it possible that other pegs exist for a window opening in this wall.

Whilst I said that I would not detail the eastern rear face-wing, it is worth noting that its roof is constructed from re-used sooted rafters from a crown-post roof, the donor roof pitch was 52° and the rafters are now set at 45°. Each re-used rafter pair has been cut and carefully jointed at the apex and a new carpenter’s assembly marked chiselled into them. The roof is clasped side-purlin with raking queen-struts, the east end wall has a pair of long curved down-braces.

Discussion

Structure X-Y-Z forms part of a high-status building to have been jettied on two elevations. It was always floored and the ground floor was divided into two chambers the eastern one containing the stair to the first floor, but the doorway through to the western room is partially tucked under the stair which is an unusual arrangement, the door to the north at X’ and the lack of weathering on the north face of post Y’ indicates that this structure was built against a pre-existing structure to the north. The first floor was a single large chamber as evidenced by the short up-braces at Y-Y’. With a crown-post roof we would expect this jettied structure to be either a parlour or service serving an open hall; however, this structure does not easily align with either of these purposes. 

If it was a parlour, then I would not expect the door into the far chamber to be partially under the stair, I would have expected the western chamber to have a chamfer on the west side of Y-Y’ but this is plain, with only the eastern side chamfered. The partition beneath Y-Y’ on the ground floor is also faced to the east suggesting that the eastern chamber is of a higher status than the western one, or more likely to be seen by guests, potentially suggesting it was entered from the east.

If it was the services to a building lying to the east then it would be usual for it to be divided into two chambers with one to the north and the other to the south as a buttery and pantry. If it was the services for a building to the north, then the room division is appropriate, but the stair restricts the ability to enter the eastern room from the north, and there is no obvious door location east of the stair under Y’-Z’; having a chamfer in only one service room is also unexpected. The services end of a dwelling would be jettied on at least one elevation if it was a Wealden design although there is no evidence to indicate this was part of a Wealden [Bayleaf[19] would be a good example of a Wealden service end with jetties to the front and side].

Perhaps this eastern chamber provided a circulation space with access to the first floor. A date of mid to late 15^th century would be anticipated for this structure.

The eaves at X-X’ were probably raised when the west jetty was cut back, this post-dated the construction of structure A-D, the wall plate of which was intended to sit upon the wall plate X’-Y’. I believe the crown-post roof was most probably hipped to the west, as this would require the eaves to be raised when the jetty was removed as cutting back the sloping jack rafters by the depth of the jetty would require them to be supported higher up. If it was a crown-posted gable end, then cutting back the jetty would only require moving the end crown-post eastwards to support the shorter roof with no need to raise the eaves.

Structure A-D has a very unusual roof structure for which no close parallels can be identified in the south-east. The section of exposed outer rafter faces south of Z’ indicate that the roof covering was always Horsham stone and the structure had a roof design with two purlins to support the additional weight of the roof, the cross-section of the purlins was clearly insufficient for the roof weight and a later heavier purlin was installed, perhaps this indicates the carpenter was not experienced in Horsham stone roofing.

The sooting of the entire roof A-D indicates that this structure had an open hearth for heating/cooking and thus was open to the roof in at least one of the bays. The first floor of bay A-B appears to be original with the chamfer on mid-tie B stopping either side of the axial beam.  Bay B-C would appear to have been open originally, the rafter pair numbering indicating that three of the rafters in this bay were visually different from all the others, I agree with Martin’s suggestion that this was potentially the location for a louvre. I am not convinced that the flooring over bay C-D is original, particularly because the chamfer on mid-tie C runs behind the beam when it was interrupted on mid-tie B. Thus it would seem likely that we have two open bays at the southern end and a floored bay at the north. Having identified that bay C-D was open to the roof, we have to assume that the mortices for an axial beam between the tie-beams relates to a later ceiling over, now removed. Very similar tie-beam mortices are seen at Lowlands Farm less than one mile to the south where they are above a known open hall. 

This could be a two-bay hall with a service/parlour beyond, but there are other features that do not align well with a domestic use for this structure. There is no evidence of a partition below tie-beam B, this would mean that this first floor chamber had no wall at its southern side. Even if bay B-C was originally floored (assuming the evidence was hidden by the stack insertion) and the floored end continued up to C, then there is still no partition below tie-beam C, so again no southern wall to the chamber. The potential first floor window in C’-D’ is too small for a hall window and has a pegged sill below it, implying that it is not full height. The ‘vent’ design in the gable of frame A does not conform to a mullion window design with the single mullion with long mortices either side, and large gaps between the elements. The fact that this opening was later modified to have more and smaller mullions and therefore become a window suggests its original design did not achieve that function.

I think it is more likely that this structure was originally a kitchen, the typical design being an open hall with a floored end for storage which was open to the hall. Two of the features used to indicate a kitchen rather than a house are; the plan form is non-standard for a house and the absence of double height windows and the presence of few windows except for high in the walls. The plan form with no first-floor internal walls and the identified window locations would support this interpretation.

The stair at the east side of bay A-B would appear to be an insertion as the joist ends are supported upon an axial beam that is upon an inserted post, rather than the axial beam being jointed into mid-ties A & B.

The facing of frame D to the north and the absence of weathering on its southern face indicates that this structure was built against the pre-existing 15^th century structure X-Z, therefore replacing whatever had stood there previously. 

The upper chimney stack appears to be a single construction and thus the insertion of both heaths is most likely to date to 1626, and this would include the flooring over of C-D thus converting it into a floored heated dwelling.

The dating of this original structure is difficult as there are no examples of this roof structure to compare it with. The use of straight wind-braces, clasped side purlins, diminished principal rafters and heavy curved down-braces would loosely place it within the 16^th century, although the known dating of these features in Surrey may be of less relevance when it is likely that the carpenter responsible was not from this area.

In summary, there was a structure on this site pre-dating the earliest surviving structure, against which the 15^th century structure X-Z was built. I believe that earlier structure was replaced by a kitchen in the 16^th century, but this would mean that there was a high-status house elsewhere on the site to require a kitchen. That high-status house was potentially gone by 1626 when the former kitchen was converted into a dwelling.

Martin dated the eastern face-wing to the 17^th century, the use of full height curved down-braces in the east gable wall might imply it dates to the first half of the 17^th century and therefore could be contemporary to the 1626 conversion of the kitchen to a dwelling.

Map evidence

Whilst the property is depicted on earlier small-scale maps these do not show enough detail to enable interpretation; the map of the property in 1777[20] provides a very detailed layout of the farm complex.

Map only in the illustrated version

The domestic buildings have been coloured red and the farm buildings brown, the key to the map states that the plots marked ‘O’ include the ‘house, buildings, closes, gardens and orchards’. The buildings all are shown with north-south or east-west alignments, rather than the haphazard orientations normally seen in medieval farm complexes. The house is depicted as a long north-south range with an addition across the southern half of the rear elevation, there is a small detached domestic building shown behind the north end of the house. The sinuous pond to the west and south of the house is interesting as it appears to be the remnants of a former moat, particularly the right-angled bends. The curved boundary north of this pond could reflect a northern arm of the moat with the gap at the west end being the access over the moat to the house. The position of the ponds to the north and west of the house are also potentially remnants of a moat which would have provided a typical size for a homestead moat of which many survive in Surrey[21]. These moats are believed to have been constructed as a status symbol rather than as a purely defence nature[22].

The farm buildings are all to the west of the sinuous pond from the house, there are three larger structures shown with a smaller one against the west side of the sinuous pond. The smaller building is in the location of the current timber-framed building known as ‘The Granary’ which is now joined to the surviving barn shown to its southwest. The larger building depicted to the north of the central yard is the other barn that survives today. One building is depicted very close to the main road which no longer exists.

The next detailed depiction is the Godstone Tithe map of 1840[23], this shows the house similar to the 1777 map, but the rear addition now appears to extend beyond the southern end of the main house range. There is a detached building to the rear of the house in a similar location to the earlier depiction but it is much smaller and on a different alignment and is therefore likely to be a later structure. The two farm buildings immediately west of the sinuous pond are shown as being conjoined as they are today, there is an additional structure joined to the northern end of this range. The barn to the north is shown but with an additional small structure at its southwest corner. The ponds have enlarged and lost the defined shapes shown in 1777. Plot 30 is an orchard which is likely to have been its location in 1777, although now extended to the south east by the removal of the boundary.

Map only in the illustrated version

The first and second edition of the Ordnance Survey[24] are below and have identical depictions of the buildings and ponds with the later edition hatched and coloured to show them more clearly.

Map only in the illustrated version

The 1870 depiction of the pond to the northeast of the house that was shown in 1777 but absent on the 1840 Tithe map would imply its omission on the tithe map. The sinuous pond is shown with an additional arm on the east running up to the rear addition of the house, again this could be the former moat, although this would give a rather small site for the homestead. The house is depicted with a porch in the centre of the front elevation and the south end of the rear addition has changed. There are no material changes to the depiction of the range of buildings on the west of the sinuous pond, whilst the barn to the north is now shown with a new L-shaped structure joined to the east. The east-west part of this new structure survives today as the single storey building converted to a cottage. The extension of this building to the south at the east end appears to be a pigsty at the southern end.

The 1910 and 1937 Ordnance Survey maps have identical depictions of all the structures, the only differences since 1895 are a small addition at the west end of the northern barn whilst the long range on the west of the sinuous pond has two additions on the west side, both appear to be pigsties. The structure projecting south from the east end of the north barn range has been removed and the southern projection at the west end of the same range is shown to have an open front to the east implying that it is a cart-lodge or similar structure.

Map only in the illustrated version

The 1910 edition does not show the eastern arm of the sinuous pond, but it is shown again in 1937.

The house is set a distance away from the main road, and it has been suggested that this is due to the common wastes between the house and the road being enclosed at a later date[25]. There is considerable evidence contrary to this theory; whilst it is clear from their records that Lagham manor holds the road and the roadside wastes, if the wastes were previously much wider, these too would be within the manor of Lagham and as such an encroachment would be recorded if attempts were made to enclose them. There are records for encroachments of only a few feet onto Lagham wastes at Newchapel Farm and thus enclosing depths that create a new field would certainly have been recorded, the result would also be that significant acreage of the property would be then be within Lagham manor and as such recorded in their Court Baron, but no such records exist, nor is there a large enough discrepancy between the earliest recorded usable land size and the modern acreage for it to have gained the land between the house and the road by later enclosure.

Enclosure of common wastes would also normally leave evidence of the earlier boundaries and access routes across the open common land. This is clearly visible at in the immediate vicinity Frogit Heath, Blindley Heath, Felcourt Heath and Copthorne Common, but none of the typical funnel shapes or boundary deviations are visible either side of the main road north of Newchapel Green. Even very early enclosures of the common such as the 14^th century dwelling enclosures on Felcourt Heath have left evidence of their encroachment into what was otherwise open heath[26]. The suggestion that this was a moated site would better explain its distance from the road.

Land Usage over time

The earliest breakdown of land use is in 1616 in the Chancery Court[27] which lists John Standforde’s land in Godstone and Tandridge being 40 acres of land, 20 acres meadow, 40 acres of pasture and 5 acres of wood plus a house, barn, orchard and garden. The 40 acres of land is likely to be rough grass, as either arable or heath land would almost always be described as such as they are respectively much more or less valuable than the meadow or pasture, rough grass is not as valuable as meadow or pasture and would have provided for grazing animals. The meadow is used to provide hay for Winter fodder as well as grazing once it has been cut, whilst pasture provides higher quality grazing for sheep or cattle. Without any arable land, this is clearly a livestock farm although the stock could be either cattle or sheep, however the Stanford family appear to have been cattle farmers, with Robert Stanford gifting 16 cows in his will written in 1508[28].

The 1777 map of the property[29] provides a detailed breakdown of the land use with a split of 73% arable (88.5a), 8% meadow (10a), 6% pasture (7.5a), 11% wood (13.5a) and 1% other (house, orchards & garden 1.5a) which clearly shows that it was a predominantly arable farm although there was probably still a small number of grazing livestock other than the horses or oxen needed to work the farm as the horses are unlikely to need 17 acres of grazing.

The next indication of land usage is the Tithes due to the Vicar of Godstone at Easter 1794, when ‘Stephen Woolger of Gatehouse Farm’ pays the tithe for 4 milk cows and their calves, 1 breeding sow, poultry, wool of 20 sheep, pasture and meadow. Whilst this does not give us a breakdown of the land itself as this tithe only records 47 acres of land, it does show a mixed farm with dairy cows and sheep supporting the acreage of grazing land in 1777; the poultry and a single pig would have been commonplace even for small cottage dwellings and therefore would not indicate poultry or pig farming of any scale.

In 1828 there is an inventory of Gatehouse Farm upon the death of Stephen Woolger[30] which provides an insight into the farm at that time; there are milk cows, a few beef cattle, a pig and seven piglets, several horses for riding and work but no other livestock implying that the livestock are purely for feeding the family. The field crops mentioned are potatoes, wheat and oats although wheat appears to be the predominant crop which had already been sown in a number of the fields when the inventory was taken in May. The orchards must be productive as there is a cider mill, cider press and over 330 gallons of cider stored in the cellar plus three barrels of vinegar in the barn. Whilst we only have a single pig and piglets, it is likely that a number of pigs were slaughtered at the start of winter as there are 90 stones (570kg) of bacon and pork in storage as well as two tubs of cured pork and two crocks of lard. The lime kiln is in use at this time as there are large quantities of firing wood and a kiln’s worth of chalk at the kiln.

The 1844/5 Tithe apportionment[31] provides a detailed land usage with the split of 72% arable (98.75a), 7% meadow (10.5a), 8% pasture (11.5a), 10% wood (14.75a) and 3% other (house & pond 1.5a) which confirms it is still predominantly an arable farm although there was probably still a small number of grazing livestock other than the horses needed to work the farm as the horses are unlikely to need 22 acres of grazing.

The 1907 sale[32] details the land use with the split of 67% arable (84a), 20% pasture (24a), 11% wood (14a) and 2% other (house, pond, orchard & buildings 2.5a) which shows a similar land use to the mid 19^th century Tithe.

The 1936 sale[33] details the land use with the split of 54% arable (68a), 33% pasture (41a), 8% wood & shaws (9.5a) and 2% other (house, ponds, orchard & buildings 2.5a) which shows a similar land use nearly 30 years later with only slight reductions in arable and wood which has been converted to pasture.

Stanford Family

As already stated, Robert Standford died in 1510 holding the property called ‘Bishes’ which later became Gate House Farm, his sister had married James Shaw who most probably held the property called Shaws (later Shawlands)[34] that abuts Gate House to the east and was the father of William Shaw who owned it in 1509. Robert Stanford wrote his will on 5^th July 1510 and it was proved 18^th October 1510[35], the extracted details are;

Margaret Huntt was to receive 26s 8d yearly from his lands for her life, son Edmond was to have his ‘hede place’ with all the lands, pastures etc, plus Dayses, except two meadows in Godstone which his son John the younger shall have to a tenement called Stantons.  To John my son the elder he left his tenement in Kent called Lythinge and 12 kyne (cows), while to son James he gave his place in Etonbrugge and a plot of land in the parish of Hever lately bought of Henry Nicholas of Hever.  His daughter Alice was to have two tenements in Grensted.  Servant and kinswoman Jane to have 40s towards her marriage and 2 keyn (cows) and Christopher Benson, my servant, to have a heyford (heifer) of 3 years and a calf. 

Thus we have the five surviving children of Robert as Edmond (also known as Edward), John Snr, John Jnr, James and Alice; it is likely that his ‘Hede’ [head] place was Bishes as this was the property Edmond was holding in the modified c1526 rental[36], unfortunately the will does not state what parish it lies within to confirm this. ‘Dayses’ has not been positively identified, but it would seem likely that it is in the vicinity of the land in Horne around Hare Lane and Crockers Lane to the northwest of Bishes as this would make it plausible to have two meadows in Godstone that were gifted to John Jnr to farm with Stantons, a property he must have been given by his father before his will. Stantons still held land in Godstone in this location in the mid 19^th century Tithe.  The spread of Robert’s landholdings including Hever and Edenbridge as well as the unidentified ‘Lythinge’ is not unusual as the late 15^th century still regularly relied upon river transport and thus communication with Edenbridge and Hever, both on the River Eden, was common.

Edmond was holding Stantons in the later alterations to the 1407/8 rental of Tandridge Priory[37] which are likely to date to c1520; in 1553, he is a Church Warden of Lingfield[38] and died about 1554 holding Bishes at a rent of 5s[39]. The descent of Bishes in the second half of the 16^th century is difficult to trace as there are very few church records for this period and the manorial records are also sparse with only a few surviving records for Tandridge Court and none for Sheffield-Lingfield. We have already covered the Lagham manor records above recording between 1559 and 1566, a Richard Stanford having a dwelling on the east side of the main road between Chapel Green End and Collys Bridge which is therefore Bishes. Richard dies about 1574 and his death is reported in the 1576 court roll for Tandridge Court;

Richard Stanford who held lands called Estbishe otherwise Byshes otherwise Weller de Byshe containing by estimation 30a at yearly rent of 5s lying at and near Crokers Lane with the appurtenances in Godstone died seized since last court and that Richard Stanford is his eldest son and next heir.[40]

It is likely that the Richard Stanford who has just died was married to Julia as a Julia Stanford widow is recorded for the 1576 lay subsidy in Godstone[41]. The next owner is John Stanford although the only record of him is in the property descent presented at Chancery Court by Edward Stanford in 1662[42] where Edward says;

That John Stanford my great grandfather was in his lifetime seised of a farm, messuage or tenement called Bysshes of about 140 acres in Godstone and Tandridge at yearly value of £60, that the said John did make his will and devised said premises to John his eldest son my grandfather, and soon after John the elder died and his son John entered the property and held it for many years.  About 37 years ago, John my grandfather having several sons and in consideration of a marriage between Edmund Stanford the eldest son (my father) and Elizabeth my mother did make a deed of settlement of the said premises upon my father the eldest son of John and Thomas Stanford his youngest son. And my father for many years enjoyed the premises.  About 20 years ago in the time of the great troubles he departed this life seized of the property, my mother already being dead, leaving only issue of John his eldest son, me and Thomas my youngest brother, and the property came to my brother John who held and enjoyed the same, and about one year ago he died without issue and I entered the property and hoped to enjoy the same, but Richard Constable, yeoman of Lingfield, and Alice his wife who was formerly the wife of Thomas Stanford (my uncle) lately deceased and John Friend, yeoman of  Lingfield and Brian Stiddal yeoman of Lingfield colluded with ___ Stanford and ___ Stanford daughters and coheirs of my uncle Thomas Stanford and have entered into the premises and had the deed of settlement in their possession.  They say publically that there never was a deed of settlement.  And they say that Thomas Stanford purchased the premises at considerable cost of my father. 

The answer of the various defendants is that they agree with the descent of the property but there never was a deed of settlement and that Thomas had purchased Byshes from Edmund, Edward’s father. Whilst it is not possible to know the truth behind whether Thomas stole the inheritance of Byshes from Edward, we know that the Court agreed with Thomas as the property descent from then is through his daughters.

Returning back to John Stanford, the great-grandfather of Edward, it is unclear what relationship he is to our previous known owner, Richard, who had received the property about 1574. John could be his son or his brother, considering the 40 year timeframe from the death of Richard c1574 to 1613 when John Stanford, Edward’s grandfather has already died[43], and that we have to get Richard eldest son Richard and Edward’s great-grandfather and grandfather to own the property for their life before passing it on, it seems more likely that John is a younger brother of Richard.

The descent then records the property passing to his Edward’s grandfather, John, who we also find documented in a Chancery case against Edmund Stanford Edward’s father, regarding Bishes. Unfortunately the complainant’s bill is missing, although it is likely that the complaint relates to a claim of a loan by John Shawcross against the property, and thus we only have the submitted answer of Edmund written in 1616;

The answer of Edmund Stanforde is that John Standforde my father did convey a messuage or tenement a barn a garden an orchard 40a land 20a meadow 40a pasture and 5a of wood in Godstone and Tandridge to George Holmden and William Heathe and their heirs to the use of John Standford for his life and then to my use. That I for the sum of £200 did sell my reversion of the premises by way of mortgage unto the said complainant upon repayment of £260 some three years later for the sale to be void. That there was a mortgage of the property to Edward Drewe but that was repaid with £51 on the date required. .... I have heard that my father granted an annuity of £10pa to Thomas Standford younger brother of this defendant and it is charged £10pa to one Filders widow but they’re are not acts of this defendant[44].

So, Edmund’s father/Edward’s grandfather, John must have died before 1613 for Edmund to have taken out a mortgage on the property that was paid off three years later, this also confirms that Edmund was born before 1592 to have been old enough to make such a transaction. Thus, this second John is likely to be the one listed in the lay subsidies between 1593 and 1599 for £2 of land, and in 1610 for £3 of land[45]. On John’s death the property descends to Edmund who died about 1642 which was the start of the English Civil War, which Edward called ‘the time of the great troubles’ in his 1662 Bill of Complaint.

As already discussed, Bishes is either purchased or stolen by Thomas, Edmund’s younger brother as it appears in his will written in 1653;

The will of Thomas Stanford of Godstone, yeoman.

To Thomas Stanford son of Thomas Stanford of Burstow and godson of my son Thomas Stanford deceased £16 which was given by Thomas Stanford my son to his said godson to be paid at his age of 12, to wife Alice, the lease of the lands I have from George Bird and Humphrey Mitchell in Blindley Heath for 6 years and then to my kinsman John Stanford now living with me.  To Edward Stanford of Lingfield £5. Residue of my good and chattels to wife Alice and brothers-in-law Thomas Burgess and John Freind. I give unto Alice the messuage where now I live commonly called Bishes in Godstone and Tandridge with all lands and appurtenances until my four daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Alice and Dorothy achieve age 21, when they reach age of 21 then I devise the house or messuage to my wife Alice for her life but she is to pay £5 a piece by even and equal portions to my daughters.  After my wife’s decease the messuage is to go to my four daughters to be divided equally.  [Witnessed by George Fuller and Bryan Stedolfe][46]

The first gift is to ensure that a legacy granted by Thomas’ deceased son Thomas will still be paid to his godson, but this shows that there were at least four Thomas Standford’s alive at the same time showing how difficult it is to trace this family using parish records. It is unclear from this will who the ‘kinsman John Stanford now living with me’ is, but Edward had said his eldest brother John had occupied Bishes for several years after the death of Edmund, perhaps John did occupy the property, but only as a guest of Thomas his uncle. It is also this Thomas Stanford who had his initials and the date 1625/6 carved into the stone mantle of the hearth at his house, most probably the date that he invested in the property by installing the chimney and associated range.

This Thomas Standford who occupied Bishes until his death in 1653, had married Mary Huntley of Hartfield in 1620[47] and Mary was probably the mother of their son Thomas for him to be old enough to have become a godfather before his death. Thomas remarried a widow from Westerham called Alice Strudnell or Stiddell in 1639[48], Alice had previously been married to a Bryan Stidolf and had at least two children by him which were still her wards when she married Thomas. Bryan Stidolf, her son, took a lease of Bishes after the death of Thomas, living there from about 1661 to 1664[49]. Alice married for a third time after the death of Thomas, to Richard Constable, a yeoman of Lingfield. The only surviving daughters of Thomas in 1661 were Dorothy and Alice, who were recorded as the heirs to Bishes in 1665 by the manor of Sheffield-Lingfield. We now have the individuals that Edward accused of colluding to defraud him of his inheritance. Dorothy and Alice the surviving daughters were the blanks in his bill of complaint, Bryan Stidall is the son of Thomas’ wife Alice and Alice is now married to Richard Constable.

It is the last line of Thomas’ will above that determines the future ownership of Bishes as it requires the property to be divided between his daughters, with only two of them surviving they each get an undivided half of the property which is known as a moiety as they now jointly own it. Alice and Dorothy Stanford both marry in 1667, Alice to Jeremiah Johnson and Dorothy to Robert James[50]. In 1677, the manor of Sheffield-Lingfield records Bishes being held by Jeremiah Johnson and Robert James in right of their wives[51].

Jeremiah Johnson was originally of Charlwood and was living at 26-28 High Street, East Grinstead in 1669, moving to 1-2 Judges Terrace by 1674 as his and Alice’s initials and the date are carved on the overmantle in the parlour there[52]. Jeremiah Johnson held the lease of Woodcock Forge from 1664 to 1701 thus obtaining a significant income from the local iron industry[53]. Jeremiah and Alice had at least nine children[54] with Henry the youngest son baptised in 1681 inheriting the moiety of Gate House Farm following the death of his mother Alice in 1719.

The husband of Dorothy Stanford, Robert James was a yeoman of Lingfield at the time of his marriage in 1667, but rose to be recorded as a Gentleman of Cowden in 1694[55]. Robert and Dorothy had a son, Thomas baptised in 1671 at Cowden who purchased what is now called Dorset House, adjacent to the Dorset Arms in East Grinstead High Street in 1695[56]. This Thomas James married Katherine Williams in 1697 in London[57] and they had a son Thomas baptised in 1698 in Cowden who was the vicar of East Grinstead 1746 to his death in 1757.

In 1731, Henry Johnson writes his will of which an extract is;

To sisters Katherine Jackson & Sarah Snatt £10 per annum annuity to be paid out of the messuage called Gate House Farm, in Godstone & Tandridge. The messuage & lands called Gate House to wife Philippa for life, remainder to nephew Captain John Jackson and his heirs male, remainder to nephew Thomas Jackson, remainder to nephew Henry Humphrey son of Cornelius….[58]

This is the first recorded use of the name ‘Gate House’ for the property, it is unlikely that this relates to a gate onto the common because as discussed above, it would appear that there was no open common to the north of Newchapel Green. Whilst the Godstone to East Grinstead [and later extended to Highgate (Forest Row)] became a turnpike in 1730, there was no toll gate on the main road at Newchapel. The toll gates were at Blue Anchor, Blindley Heath to the north, Star Inn, Felbridge to the south and from 1770 along West Park Road[59], thus it is unlikely that Gate House was named after a turnpike toll gate. It is more likely that it took its new name after the construction of a gatehouse on the east side of the main road immediately north of Bishes land-holding which was at the north end of a new access to Shaws Farm which was renovated by Nathaniel Newnham Senior when he acquired the property just prior to 1716[60]. The gatehouse is depicted on the Budgen survey of 1762 and the Rocque map of 1768 as well as the map commissioned by Nathanial Newman junior when he inherited the property in 1760/1[61].

Phillipa the widow of Henry Johnson survives until 1760 and at that point Gate House would descend to Captain John Jackson, but he has already died and thus it transfers to his brother Thomas Jackson, both of whom were the sons of Henry’s eldest sister Katherine.

In 1766, the manor of Sheffield-Lingfield catches up with the holders of the moieties with the following entry;

Henry Johnson & Rev. Thomas James, clerk, held as tenants in common freely for 13s 8d lands and tenements in Godstone & Tandridge, 80 acres called Bishes.  Henry Johnson has died, for which a heriot of an old Coach horse is seised. Thomas James has also died, for which a heriot of a horse has been seised.  Thomas Jackson is heir of Henry Johnson, Mr John James is the heir of Thomas James[62].

Thomas Jackson was of Deerswood, Ifield in 1771 when a marriage settlement[63] was made upon the intended marriage of his son Henry and Henrietta Collier youngest daughter of John Collier of Hastings; Henrietta was the great aunt of Frances Sayer who married George Gatty, who became Lord of the Manor of Felbridge[64]. The settlement specifically notes Gate House and a deed of trust is set up that ensures this property will descend to Henry’s heirs whilst the majority of the property will go to Henrietta’s heirs[65]. It would appear that about 1777 John James who held the other moiety has sold it to Henry Jackson, as there are no records after this date indicating the moiety’s still exist. A map of the farm was commissioned by Henry Jackson in 1777[66] listing him as the owner, supporting the idea that the moieties had been combined, restoring the property back to the sole freehold ownership of Henry Jackson who continues to be listed as the landowner in the land tax until his death in 1820[67].

Henry Jackson’s wife Henrietta nee Collier died in 1794 without issue and most of the lands in the marriage settlement were dispersed to her Sayer and Collier relations by her will. Henry married for a second time a woman called Elizabeth and had seven children including a son Henry Humphrey Jackson born in 1801. Upon his father’s death in 1820, Henry Humphrey Jackson inherits the property, although it is held in trust until he is aged 21[68]. Henry Humphrey Jackson married Charlotte Cecelia Sheffield in 1830[69] and Henry is listed as the landowner in the Land Tax until his death in 1841[70]. The property descended to his wife Charlotte Cecelia Jackson who was the landowner in the 1845 Tandridge Tithe[71] and she sold the property in 1852[72] to Richard Baker, Wingfield Baker and Philip Henry Pepys, trustees of the Earl of Cottenham[73], thus ending the descent of Gate House Farm through a single family for over 300 years, from 1510 to 1852.

Owners 1852-1937

The Earls of Cottenham held Gate House Farm as part of their Felcourt Estate, being owned by Charles Edward Pepys, 2^nd Earl of Cottenham until 1863, William John Pepys, 3^rd Earl of Cottenham until 1881 and Kenelm Charles Edward Pepys, 4^th Earl of Cottenham until 1907 when it was put up for sale by auction[74].

   

 

       Lot 22

A valuable

FREEHOLD FARM AND WOODLANDS,

lying on both sides of the Brighton Road, in the Parishes of GODSTONE and TANDRIDGE, with

EXTENSIVE ROAD FRONTAGES,

well suited for sub-division into small holdings.

About 14 acres of Woodlands, and a well-preserved Estate adjoins.

 

“GATE HOUSE FARM”

consists of

A Good Farmhouse,

standing back from the high road, with GARDEN and ORCHARD.  It is brick and stucco, with stone

slab roof, and contains: SITTING ROOM, KITCHEN, Pantry, Scullery and Dairy, and SIX BED

ROOMS; Cellar in basement, good Well of Water.

 

RANGE OF FARM PREMISES,

timber and tiled, viz, TWO BARNS, STABLE, COW-HOUSE and Yard, Granary, Piggery, etc, and

about 124a. 3r. 22p of good deep soil ARABLE, PASTURE AND WOODLANDS,

for the most part with frontage to the road, as set out in the following

SCHEDULE

No. on Plan	DESCRIPTION	AREA
	Parish of Tandridge
Pt. 404	Wood	.774
410	Pasture	6.587
	Parish of Godstone
7	Wood	8.827
8	Arable	4.419
10	Ditto	14.754
19	Ditto	9.573
18	Wood	4.709
20	House, Buildings, Orchard etc	2.236
21	Pasture	3.684
22	Arable	3.440
23	Pasture	6.643
24	Arable	4.642
25	Pond	.246
26	Arable	12.474
27	Pasture	7.440
28	Arable	4.701
30	Ditto	16.711
43	Ditto	6.666
44	Ditto	6.359
	Total	124.885

“Gate house Farm” of 103a 3r 38p is let to MR H SMEED, on a yearly Michaelmas tenancy, at the rent of £90  per annum; No.410 is let with other lands to MR W BURGESS, a yearly Michaelmas tenant, the rent apportioned to this lot being £3 10s per annum, making a total rent of £93 10s per Annum.

The Woods and Sporting are in hand.

apportioned Tithes amounting to £18 15s 6d charged upon this Lot and vested in the Vendor will be

merged in the Sale.   Land Tax, in Godstone, £2 5s 11d.

Alfred Palmer, son of George Palmer, purchases Gatehouse Farm in 1907 for the sum of £2,650 and adds it his estate of WestPark in Horne. Alfred Palmer dies in 1936 and the farm is again put up for auction, but now as part of the West Park Estate[75].

LOT 3

GATE HOUSE FARM

NEWCHAPEL

Area: 121a 0r 1p

Tenants: Mrs Smeed and Mr. Edward Uwins Gillate (with Lowlands Farm)

Tenancies: Yearly, 29^th September.  Little Gatehouse Wood and other Woodlands are in hand

Rents: £98 0s 0d (apportioned) and £5 0s 0d (apportioned) respectively.

Tithe Rent Charge, Present Value – Parish of Godstone (Det) ……. £12 5s 0d

 

A Valuable Dairy and Mixed Holding

fronting both sides of the main East Grinstead-Eastbourne Road close to Newchapel Corner about

three miles from East Grinstead, one mile from Blindley Heath and about 1 ½ miles from Lingfield.

 

The Fine Old Farm Residence

stands well back from the main road and is reputed to be one of the oldest buildings on the Estate.  Its original construction was of brick and half timbering and wide beamed eaves support a Horsham stone slab roof.  Parts of the house have been encased with brick walls and it is entered through a brick PORCH.  The Accommodation comprises: SITTING ROOM, with register fireplace and cupboard; DINING ROOM, a large apartment which is practically in its original condition with a ceiling of massive oak beams, fireplace deeply recessed and also supported by an oak beam, and containing an iron hearth-plate and back which bear the date 1661.  At the back of the open flue are quaint cubby holes; Office and Store Room; Scullery with brick floor and having an open fireplace, copper, sink and back staircase; Larder, and Back Entrance.  Below is a Cellar with a brick floor and Spring of Water.

 

On the Upper Floor are Six Bedrooms, three which open from the Main Landing which has an old oak-turned balustrading, and several of the rooms have oak flooring while most of them display large quantities of oak beams in the walls and ceilings.

 

Well Water Supply (Tenant’s Pump)                                                                                 Cesspool Drainage

Two Outside timber and tiled Coal and Wood sheds.

 

                The Farm Buildings

are mainly of timber and tile construction but include a modern brick and tiled Cow House for 12 with channelled floor; Cooling Room, fitted with semi rotary pump, and a Workshop; Barn with Two-bays and cement run-way; Open Shed and Yard; Three-bay lean-to Cart Shed; Four-stall Stable with Loft and Chaff place; Four-brick and tiled Pigsties; Barn with Two bays and wood run-way; lean-to Fatting Shed; Four-bay open lean-to Shed; large Waggon House with Granary over, and a Pony Stable.

 

The Land

Includes six useful Pastures of about 4½ acres and a further 11 acres in Nos. 28 and 43 have been sown down by the tenant.  The Land on the west side of the main road is wholly arable in useful level enclosures, all of which are within easy distance from the main farm buildings.  Little Gate House Wood and the Shaw on the north-west boundary of the Lot contain some very useful oak timber.

The Lot is intersected by the main road for nearly a mile and will have a future development value, Companies Water and Electricity Mains being available at Newchapel Corner.

Note – This Lot will be sold subject to and with the benefit of an Agreement with the Sevenoaks & District Electricity Company Ltd, dated 8^th in respect of electricity cables (partly underground, poles and stays which are situated on it.

The tenant claims the fire hearth plate and back

SCHEDULE

 

Having established the manorial history and names of the freeholders of Gate House Farm until 1937, the structure and potential for the site to have originally been moated, the following section covers the lives of the tenant farmers who made Gate House Farm their home between the mid 1700’s and 1937, followed by a section on the owners and occupiers from 1937 to the time of writing.

Tenant farmers/occupiers between c1749 and 1937

Woolgar/Woolger Family (c1749 – c1853)

The first member of the Woolgar (later Woolger) family to have been recorded as having specific connections with Gate House Farm was Stephen Woolgar in 1780, when he appears in the Land Tax returns as the occupier of ‘a house and land’ in the parish of Godstone and ‘land’ in Tandridge, both holdings in the ownership of Henry Jackson, which as established above, is Gate House Farm. In 1794, Stephen also appears as ‘Mr Stephen Woolger of Gate House Farm’ owing manorial tithes due to the vicar of Godstone to the value of £5 10s 6d. However, it is possible that Stephen’s father John Woolgar held the tenancy of Gate House Farm prior to Stephen.

Through the use of various parish records it is possible to identify that John Woolgar, and his wife Mary, originate from the Henfield area of Sussex before moving to Godstone (possibly Gate House Farm) by 1749. This is borne out by the births and baptisms of their children; William baptised in 1744 in Henfield, possible twins John and Mary born in 1745 and baptised in Henfield, although it would appear that if they were of John and Mary Woolgar who moved to Godstone they may have died before reaching the area as a second Mary was baptised in 1747 in Henfield of John and Mary and a second John was baptised in 1750 of John and Mary in Lingfield. The remaining children were Philadelphia baptised in 1749 in Godstone, Sarah baptised in 1751 in Lingfield (sadly dying the same year, being buried in Lingfield) and Stephen baptised in 1752 in Lingfield.

A previous history of Gate House Farm commissioned by the Atkins family (see below), referred to as the Gatehouse Booklet, identified that John Woolgar was an Overseer for the Poor of the parish of Godstone in 1752, Local records shows that he died ten years later in 1762, being buried at St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church, Lingfield. His will[76] was proved on 20^th November 1762, stating that he was a ‘yeoman [a farmer, above the rank of husbandman who was not a servant and who owned and cultivated land] of Walkhampstead (aka Godstone)’. He left freehold property in Sussex, including a messuage, tenement, barn and lands called Bilsborough in Woodmancote, near Henfield, that he had inherited on the death of Samuel Woolgar (relationship not yet established), which in 1752 was in the occupation of William Vernon, to his wife Mary for the remainder of her natural life (she died in 1779) when it was to revert to his sons William and John. Bilsborough still exists and is today known as Little Bilsborough. John also left a freehold property called Coblers Acre, also in Henfield, to his wife Mary for the remainder of her natural life when it was to revert to his daughter Mary, her assigns and heirs. Again, this still exists but has now merged with Little/Long Field. John also left money and various pieces of silverware and furniture to all his surviving children listed as, sons William, John and Stephen and daughters Mary and Philadelphia.

At the time of his death in 1762, John Woolgar stated that he was from Godstone but did not detail the property in which he was residing. What is known is that by 1780, John’s youngest son Stephen is recorded in the Land Tax returns for the property owned by Henry Jackson, which became known as Gate House Farm.

As established above, Stephen Woolger had been born in 1752, in Godstone (possibly at Gate House Farm), being baptised in Lingfield, and was aged 10 and therefore still a minor when his father died in 1762. Stephen married Elizabeth Barker in 1774 in Godstone; Elizabeth having been born in 1752. Sadly, Elizabeth died seven months later and was buried at Lingfield in 1775; they appear not to have children. Stephen married for the second time, Ann Whapham, in 1784 in Godstone; Ann had been born in 1762. Stephen and Ann had seven children; Elizabeth born in 1784, Stephen born in 1789, Mary Ann born in 1792, William born in 1794, John born in 1796, George born in 1799 and Henry born in 1803; potentially all the children could have been born at Gate House Farm.

Like his father before him, the Gatehouse Booklet states that Stephen was an Overseer for the Poor of the parish of Godstone in 1804, and that he also served as churchwarden for Godstone parish between 1781 and 1812. However, it does seem strange that the family’s affiliation seems to be with St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church in Lingfield and not St Nicholas of Godstone or even St John the Evangelist, Blindley Heath after its construction in 1842. Stephen died in 1828, aged 76, and was buried at Lingfield; his wife Ann having pre-deceased him in 1823.

Stephen Woolger’s Will was proved in 1828[77], in which he stated that he was a farmer of Godstone. He executors were his eldest son Stephen Woolger and friend John Aynscombe. The Will states that he held a copyhold farm in the manor of Streatham in the occupation of John Cook and that he resided at ‘The Gate House’ in the parish of Godstone. He requested that all his household goods and effects, plate, linen, china, book ….. and all his live and dead farming stock, collected and growing crops and lands where I now occupy’ to be equally divided between his children Stephen, William, John, George, Henry, Elizabeth and Mary Ann (the daughters still retain the name of Woolger suggesting that they were still single at the time of their father’s death). The accompanying inventory[78] made by William Turner of East Grinstead at the time of Stephen’s death gives a wonderful insight into the life and contents of an early 19^th century farmhouse and farm; for example there are nine beds in the property all of which have at least two blankets and a quilt each and most have hangings, in the linen stores there are 21 pairs of sheets. Under the household furniture there is one long table form and benches but there are 12 long table cloths; dotted around the house are seven silver-plated tea spoons, plated sugar tongs, tea pots, two tea trays, ‘cupboard of sundry tea ware’ and two tea kettles.

With the absence of court records, the next documented Woolgers that can be found residing at Gate House Farm are brothers George, John and Henry in the census of 1841. By 1851, they had been joined by their brother William and sister Mary Ann, both un-married and the latter listed as housekeeper. George was listed as the head of the household, un-married and a farmer of 130 acres, employing 2 labourers. William, John and Henry were also listed as un-married and working as farm labourers. Also living within the household were Anne Skinner who’d been born in Lingfield about 1830, who was working as a house servant and Robert Buckland who’d been born about 1836 in Horne, working as a farm labourer, both un-married; Robert was no doubt one of the two farm labourers employed by George.

In December 1852, George Woolger died, being buried in 1853 at Lingfield. George’s Will[79] states that he was of Gate House Farm in the parishes of Godstone and Tandridge. George left to his executors, all his farming stock and effects and his personal estate was to be reverted into money and after all his debts and expenses had been paid, the residue was to be equally divided between his brothers John and Henry and sister Mary Ann. The executor of the Will was Joseph Turner of Limehouse Farm, Lingfield, and it was witnessed by David Aynscombe of Shaws Farm [Newchapel] and William Turner, Land Agent of East Grinstead.

John and Henry, had by 1861, moved to Bowerland [still standing] in Crowhurst, Surrey, where Henry was listed as the head of the household but he and John farmed in partnership, 131 acres, employing 3 labourers and 1 boy. Their move was probably afforded by the need to find a new dwelling/farm and the monetary bequest from their brother George and it is most likely that Mary Ann went with John and Henry to Bowerland as housekeeper on the death of George. This is borne out by the fact that on her death in 1856, Mary Ann died from Crowhurst and was buried in 1856 at Lingfield. On the death of Mary Ann, her sister Elizabeth, still un-married, assumed the role of housekeeper for her surviving brothers John and Henry, as she is recorded in their household as housekeeper at Bowerlands, aged 75, in 1861. As a point of interest, in 1851 Elizabeth had been housekeeper for David Aynscombe at Shaw’s Farm, Newchapel, but he had died in January 1857. As for William who was not mentioned in George’s Will, he died from the East Grinstead Workhouse in 1856, being buried in 1856 at Lingfield.

With the departure of the Woolgar/Woolger family from Gate House Farm around 1853, they were succeeded by William Wallis and his family.

William Wallis (c1853 – c1870)

William had been born in 1808 in Horne, Surrey, and married a woman called Phillis/Philadelphia (possibly Phillis Terry in 1828 in Croydon); Phillis had been born in 1808 in Westerham, Kent (according to the census records). William and Phillis had at least 11 children including; Ann born in 1829, William born in 1830, Thomas born in 1832, Jane born about 1835, Alexander born in 1837, Henry born in 1839, Mary Ann born about 1841, Rosina born about 1843, John born about 1845, Emma (sometimes listed as Amy) born in 1848 and Albert born about 1852; all baptised in Horne. In 1841 the Wallis family were living at Oak Wood, near Horne Court, in Horne, moving, by 1851, to the area known then as Hook Stile, adjacent to Newchapel, before moving to Gate House Farm by 1861. William was listed as working as a bricklayer until his move to Gate House Farm when he is listed as a ‘bricklayer and farmer’. Like William, his sons are also recorded as bricklayers, but in 1861, son John was recorded as ‘assistant farmer’, presumably at Gate House Farm.

The Wallis family had left Gate House Farm by 1871, moving to a cottage on Lingfield Common (the nearest cottage named being Killick’s Cottage); William working as a master bricklayer, employing two men. After the Wallis family had left Gate House Farm, two families moved in, that of William Young and John Leach, implying that the house may have been sub-divided or that an outbuilding had been converted as a dwelling. Neither the Young nor Leach family remained at Gate House Farm for long.

William Young (c1870 – c1876)

William Young had been born in about 1845 in Tandridge, the son of James Young, a farmer, and his wife Mary. In 1851, William was living with his parents at Doggett’s in Lingfield and by 1861 the Young family had moved to High House Farm at Newchapel, just southeast of Gate House Farm. In 1868, William married Annie Lock (also known as Anna and Ann); at the time of their marriage William was listed as a carpenter. William and Annie had at least six children; Frederick James born in 1870, Agnes Emma and Lucy Mary born in 1872, Kate Frances born in 1875, Harry born in 1877 and William born in 1880. The children born before 1877 were all registered in Godstone, whilst Harry and William were registered in East Grinstead implying that the Young family had left Gate House Farm by 1877 and in 1881 they were living in London Road, East Grinstead (later censuses list 4, Rock House, London Road); William recorded as either a carpenter or joiner.

John Leach (c1870 – c1872)

John Leach had been born in 1845, in Caversfield, a small village near Bicester in Oxfordshire, the son of John Leach, a labourer and his wife Hannah. In 1861, John, together with his older brother Benjamin, were living with his sister Sarah and her husband Frederick Berdel and family at 2, Alma Cottages, Reading, Berkshire; John working as general labourer. In 1867, John married Phoebe Walton at Bicester and they had at least 14 children, including; Sarah Ann born in 1866 (base-born daughter of Phoebe), Mary Ann born and sadly died in 1868, Alice born in 1871, Mary Ann born in 1872, Arthur George born in 1873, Matilda born in 1874, Alfred William born in 1875, Emily born in 1877, Edith Maria born in 1876, William born in 1879, Minnie Eliza born in 1881, Henry Albert born in 1889, Nellie born in 1890 and Phoebe Ellen born in 1891. Using the birth places of the children it is possible to determine that John Young and his family had moved to Gate House Farm by about 1870 as Alice was born in Newchapel in 1871, probably at Gate House Farm; the census records list John as an agricultural labourer. However, the children born between 1872 and 1875 were registered at East Grinstead and Arthur born in 1873 was recorded as having been born in Felbridge. This would suggest that the Leach family may have left Gate House Farm by 1872 and by 1878, the family had moved to Buxted, Sussex, where the remaining children were baptised.

After John Leach and his family departed, Gate House Farmhouse may have reverted to just one household, that of William Young and his family until around 1876 when the Young family moved to East Grinstead being succeeded at Gate House Farm by William Fairman and his family.

William Fairman (c1876 – 1887)

William Fairman was born in 1820 in Brenchley, Kent, the son of Samuel and Barbara Fairman. By 1841, William had left home and was living in the household of George Jupp (his future father-in-law), at Whitewood, Horne (between the Jolly Farmer and Birch House Farm), working as an agricultural labourer. Later that year, William married George’s daughter Amy Jupp, who’d been born in 1821 in Horne, the daughter of George Jupp and his wife Mary née Winchester. William and Amy had six sons; Francis born in 1843, born in 1847, Walter born in 1849, William Tatlock Boughton born in 1850, George Jupp Reeves born in 1855 and Ernest Samuel James born in 1863 but who sadly died in 1864; the first three sons baptised at Horne and the last three at Blindley Heath, where Ernest was buried.

William and his family had close ties with Amy’s father George Jupp and were still living in his household in 1851, having moved from Whitewood Farm to Lower South Park Farm, Bletchingley, where William was still listed as an agricultural labourer. As a point of interest, George Jupp had been born about 1790 in Burstow and had married Mary Winchester in 1820 in Horne; sadly, Mary had died by 1841. At the birth of their daughter Amy in 1821, George was recorded as ‘miller of Horne’ but by 1841 the Jupp family had moved to Whitewood in Horne and eventually to Howett’s Farm, South Park, Bletchingley, where George died in 1868, being buried at Horne.

Returning to William Fairman, in 1855 he is listed as ‘Gamekeeper at South Park’ and in 1861, he and his family were living at South Park, where he was listed as a ‘farmer of 223 acres, employing 5 men and 3 boys’. Sadly, his wife Amy died in 1864, leaving William with five sons, the youngest being just a year old. In 1865, William Fairman, now aged 44, married for a second time, 19-year old Milley (also known as Amelia) Terry, in Merstham, Surrey; Milley had been born in 1847 in Bletchingley, the daughter of William Terry and his wife Eliza nee Wicks. William Fairman and Milley had at least 12 children; Frederick William Terry born to Milly as a single woman in 1865, Kate born in 1868, Elsie born in 1870, Edith born in 1871, Constance born in 1872 but who sadly died in 1874, Agnes Martha born in 1873, Francis William born in 1875, Milley born in 1876 but who sadly died in 1877, Walter George born in 1877, Mary Ann born in 1880, Emily Bertha born in 1886 and Winifred Mabel born in 1887.

As established above, William Fairman and his family had moved to Gate House Farm by 1881, possibly as early as 1876 on the departure of William Young and his family, and potentially, the last five children may have been born at Gate House Farm. In 1881, there were four unrelated people in the Fairman household, Sarah Mitchell, working as a dairy maid and Edward Chapman, John Potter and George Baldwin[80], all working as labourers on the farm. William Fairman is listed as ‘Farmer of Gate House Farm, 110 acres, employing 3 men’, no doubt the three men living within his household in 1881.

William Fairman and his family remained at Gate House Farm until his death, aged 67, in 1887, being succeeded by George Jupp.

Jupp/Smeed Families

George Jupp (1887 – 1891)

George Jupp was born about 1825 in Horne, the son of George Jupp (see above) and his wife Mary nee Winchester. George junior married Mary Buckland in 1852 in Horne; Mary had been born in 1822, the daughter of James Buckland and his wife Amy nee Potter. George and Mary had at least one child called Alice Mary born in 1859 in Nutfield, Surrey, but sadly Mary died in 1864. In 1867, George took a second wife, Sarah Buckland, who had been born in 1834, the daughter of Stephen and Salome (Sarah and Mary’s fathers were brothers). George and Sarah had three children; Amy born in 1868, William born in 1870 and George John born in 1874, all baptised in Nutfield.

In 1861 and 1871, George and his family were living at Crab Hill, Nutfield; George listed as a farmer of 136 acres. In 1881 the family had moved to Hedgecourt Farm[81] in Felbridge, where George was listed as a farmer, employing 4 men and 2 boys. As established above, George Jupp and his family moved to Gate House Farm in 1887 but sadly, George only farmed Gate House for four years as he died, aged 66, in 1891, shortly after the census had been taken and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Henry James Smeed, who along with his family, had been resident as a separate household at Gate House Farm at the time of the 1891 census.

Henry James and Amy Smeed (1891 – 1937)

Henry Smeed had been born in 1869 in Godstone, son of William Smeed and Caroline nee Wicking[82]. In 1871, Henry was living in the household of his widowed grandfather Henry Roffey, at the Beer Shop at Froggit Heath, together with is parents William Smeed, listed as a farmer of 15 acres, and his wife Caroline. In 1881, Henry was living with his widowed mother Caroline who was listed as a beer retailer, along with Thomas Wicking, at the Beer Shop off West Park Road, Newchapel.

In 1887, Henry Smeed married Amy Jupp, daughter of George and Sarah Jupp (see above). Henry and Amy had at least five children; Herbert George born in 1887, Mabel Ada born in 1889, Henrietta born in 1891, Leonard born in 1893 and Edith born in 1896. In 1911, Henry was recorded as a ‘farmer and dairyman’ employing; son Herbert working as a carter at Gate House, (sadly Herbert was by then a widower having lost his wife Lily Esther and their daughter Esther May in 1908); son Leonard working as a cowman along with 19-year old William Ernest Jupp (the son of Amy’s brother William Jupp), who was also a member of the Smeed household. The census also records that Gate House Farmhouse had eight rooms, excluding any ‘scullery, landing, lobby closet, bathroom, warehouse, office or shop’ and that daughter Henrietta was helping with the ‘domestic duties’ at home along with her mother Amy.

 

Henry Smeed continued to farm Gate House until his death in 1929. However, Amy continued to live at Gate House Farm for a further eight years, with sons Herbert and Leonard taking over the farming side of the property whilst Edith assisted with the domestic duties. As established above, in 1936, Gate House Farm was put up for sale as part of the West Park Estate and at that date Amy Smeed was listed as the tenant, farming just short of 100 acres with Edward Unwins Gillate[83] farming just over 12 acres; the remaining 9 acres being ‘in hand’. Although the estate was put up for auction in 1936, Gate House Farm did not sell until late 1937[84] when it was purchased by John Hector Davey, along with East Bish Farm. As for Amy Smeed, she moved in with her widowed brother William Jupp at Stantons Hall, Blindley Heath, which in 1939 was also home to his son William Ernest Jupp and his son Ernest William, another niece or nephew Jupp (at school), and Ethel May Jupp, unmarried, (relationship not yet established), who was working as the housekeeper (unpaid). Amy Smeed died four years later, aged 73, in 1941.

Owner occupiers from 1937

John Hector Davey (1937 – c1938)

John Hector Davey is quite an illusive man but appears to have purchased Gate House Farm and East Bish Farm from the West Park Estate in 1937. The most likely candidate is John Hector Davey who was born in, Llanrwst, Denbighshire, Wales in 1912, the son of Cecil Francis Davey and his wife Beatrice nee Davies. By 1922, the Davey family had moved to Epsom in Surrey where John can be found in the Electoral Rolls living with his parents and at least one brother, Alexander Leslie between 1933 and 1935. This John Hector Davey married Johanna (aka Joanna) Wirz in Surrey in 1937, and in 1938 and 1939 the couple were living at 14, Porchester Court, PorchesterGardens, Paddington. John and Johanna appear to have two children, Rosemary born in 1941 and John born in 1943; their births registered at Eton and Hammersmith respectively.

If this is the correct John Hector Davey, he owned Gate House Farm for under a year as by 1938 he had sold 58 acres (including the house) to British Air Raid Shelters Ltd.

British Air Raid Shelters Ltd (c1938 – c1940)

British Air Raid Shelters Ltd was the name of a company that had been founded by Ralph Hancock and his wife Muriel, specialising in air raid shelters, the company being known variously during its short existence as Bomb and Gas Proof Shelter Co, National Bomb and Gas Proof Shelters Ltd and by 1938, British Air Raid Shelters Ltd.

Ralph Hancock had been born Clarence Henry Ralph Hancock in Cardiff in 1893, the son of Clarence Hancock, an auctioneer, and his wife Clara Adelaide nee Thomas. Ralph had a good education and started his working life as an accountant. In 1917, having been invalided out of service in World War I, Ralph married Hilda Muriel Ellis (known as Muriel), who had been born in 1897, the daughter of Harold Bramley and Gertrude Ellis. Ralph and Muriel had three children; Clarence Neville Bramley (known as Bramely) born in Penarth in 1918, Denys Hallen born in Letchworth in 1920 and Sheila Muriel born in Croydon in 1928. Between 1931 and 1935, the Hancock family lived in America where Ralph established himself as a leading garden and landscape designer after several prestigious commissions including the Garden of Nations atop the Rockefeller Centre in New York. On returning to England, Ralph was commissioned to create a roof top garden for Derry & Toms in Kensington, which along with numerous private garden designs, cemented his reputation as a leading garden designer.

With the threat of war on the horizon, the entrepreneurial Ralph Hancock decided to found a company specialising in air raid shelters. By 1939, Ralph’s son Bramley was working with him and the 1939 Register records Ralph as ‘Landscape Architect Builder’ and Bramley as ‘Builder’s foreman, Manager’, both living at Gate House Farm, whilst Muriel and daughter Sheila were at their London home in Sloane Street. The aim of the Bomb and Gas Shelter Company was to design, market and install igloo-shaped bomb and gas shelters, but with no experience of building underground the company failed, ironically just as World War II was declared in September 1939, resulting in Ralph Hancock moving to Paygate[85], West Park Road, Newchapel. A hearing was held in March 1941 at which Ralph attributed his bankruptcy principally on the war. From a newspaper account of the hearing (see below), at least one igloo shelter had been constructed stating that a contributing factor of the bankruptcy was the fact that the shelter had cost £1,500 to waterproof. The location of the shelter’s construction was not recorded but as the Hancock family owned Gate House Farm at this date, that the company was registered to that address, and Gate House Farm had the space and had some extremely wet areas, it is possible that the shelter was constructed at Gate House Farm.

 

Surrey Mirror - Friday 21 March 1941 only in the illustrated version

Although his stay at Gate House Farm was brief, Ralph Hancock appears to have made quite an impression on the property. One can only speculate on what brought Gate House Farm to the attention of Ralph Hancock. One theory could be that he was made aware of the property whilst undertaking a garden commission at Oat Barns[86] about a mile to the east of Gate House Farm. Perhaps this was the catalyst for his own idea of a country retreat away from London. According to the Hancock family, Ralph purchased a ‘derelict 16^th century farmhouse, which was in a very dilapidated state and set about restoring the property to its former glory’. He travelled the country finding suitable oak timbers and stone to turn what had been a simple farmhouse into a mock-Tudor home fit for a successful landscape architect. Ralph installed a mock-Tudor summer house and Tudor-style herringbone brick pathways, and he also installed facades to the front and side of the house. As well as refurbishing the family home, Ralph also designed and built one of his trademark gardens using many of his established features. During the ownership of Gate House Farm, Ralph took up pig keeping for a short period of time, which is presumably the farming activity that he had been engaged in as reported in the bankruptcy case in March 1941.

Ralph includes three photographs of Gate House Farm and its garden in ‘When I Make a Garden’, the book he published in 1950. One photograph shows the front garden of the very pristine house with York-stone and herringbone brickwork path. There are a few small species trees planted into the brick-work, a raised bed and an ornamental sundial. He captions this photograph with: ‘A simple treatment has been adopted for this lovely half-timbered farmhouse and care has been taken to obscure none of its beauty. The garden is a spacious yet unassuming complement to the house…’ The second photograph shows the low cottage to the left of the farmhouse (now Gatehouse Farm Cottage to the west of the main farmhouse), one of the outbuildings converted as a dwelling. It has flower beds against the cottage and a low picket fence surrounds the property. Of this Ralph wrote: ‘For the farm cottage a more intimate design has been carried out; again plantings and fences are in keeping with the period and are low to permit an unrestricted view of the cottage’. The third and final photograph is taken from the back garden with the back of farmhouse to the right and a wall extending south with inserted iron-work. Of this Ralph writes: ‘Again, ornamentation is restrained in making a fitting complement to an old tree-sheltered, half-timbered house. The wrought-iron grille is exquisite’.

Not only did Ralph Hancock[87] design and create a garden at Gate House Farm, he also undertook several engineering feats. Situated next to a pond to the east of the farmhouse (now within the grounds of the British Wildlife Centre), there is a brick-built and clay tiled pump house that was built by Hancock to feed water from that pond into the larger pond at the front of the property, which had a tendency to dry out during the summer months. He also installed a series of clay water drainage pipes in the western side of the sunken garden to carry water away, probably also to the front pond, as this area was and still is very wet, having been part of an ‘L’ shaped pond in 1936 that was removed as it did not fit in with his garden scheme in that area. If Hancock did construct his igloo bomb and gas shelter at Gate House Farm it is not surprising that it cost him £1,500 to make it waterproof, as parts of the property are very wet!

It would appear from the 1939 Register, that Ralph and Bramley Hancock were just two of four people occupying the Farmhouse, the other two people being David P Johnstone and Irene M Johnstone (nee Escritt), a couple who had married in 1912. David had been born in 1876 and was listed as a retired Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, whilst Irene had been born in 1885 and was listed as carrying out ‘unpaid domestic duties’. Also listed as living at Gate House Farm but in a separate property, probably the low cottage to the left of the farmhouse, was Reginald C Brandley and Ethel E Brandley (nee Valentine), a couple who had married in 1931. Reginald had been born in 1902 and was listed as the ‘farm manager’, whilst Ethel was listed as carrying out ‘unpaid domestic duties’. Also living in this household was Gladys J (Anthony J crossed through) Bottomley who had been born in 1901, plus three closed records. Gladys was listed as married and as carrying out ‘unpaid domestic duties’.

As established above, Ralph Hancock’s ownership of Gate House Farm was short lived having moved from the property by 1941 but it has not yet been established as to when the property was sold on. However, the next owner of Gate House Farm was Pamela M Cockburn and in April 1942, the following advertisement for a ‘Notice of Sale’ appeared in the Surrey Mirror on 10^th April. The items listed were either the property of former owner Ralph Hancock that had been left at the property, which were being sold by the new owner, Pamela M Cockburn, or perhaps they were items that she had brought with her and no longer felt the need to keep in her new home, or possibly a little of both scenarios.

Pamela M Cockburn (c1941 – 1953)

Pamela M Cockburn had been born Pamela Mary Phillimore in Guildford, Surrey, in 1918, the daughter of Captain Paul Phillimore and his wife Augusta Mary Gwendolen nee Tredcroft. Sadly, Paul Phillimore died in 1919, when Pamela was just 19-months old. In 1921, Augusta remarried, one E F Cunningham in Malta, although nothing else has yet been found on her second husband and there are very few documents that refer to Augusta in England until the early 1930’s when she was living in Guildford, no mention is made of her husband in any of the households in which she has been residing; she died in Worthing in 1971. What is known is that Pamela was made a ward of Chancery until her 21^st birthday (15^th February 1939). This means that Pamela, as a minor, was under the guardianship of the Court of Chancery, nowadays more often referred to as ‘ward of court’. In Pamela’s situation, she was a minor who stood to inherit a considerable sum of money, but being a minor, it was the Court of Chancery that assumed responsibility for her and her assets until she came of age. Under the terms of trust law, the court, or its chosen representative, had the right to make decisions about Pamela’s upbringing and how to use her assets, on the understanding that everything it did was for her own good.

Due to the circumstances surrounding Pamela’s early life assuring that she would be an eligible heiress, as she neared her coming of age several newspaper photographs and articles began to appear about her from the mid 1930’s and her life continued to make media news until the mid 1940’s, ensuring that her life was lived in full public gaze whether she approved or not. All the articles referred to below can be found on the British Newspaper Archive.[88]

Pamela was a 1935 Debutante ‘society beauty’ (Daily Mirror, 13 November 1937). Originally the term ‘Debutante’ meant that a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background had reached maturity and was old enough to be married. The purpose of her ‘coming out’, as it was called, was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families, with a view to marriage within a select circle. When Pamela was ‘displayed’ as a Debutante, she was only 17 and still a ward of the Chancery with a further four years before she would be aged 21. Pamela’s introduction to ‘high society’ in 1935 produced an engagement with Eddie Tyler, a wealthy American (Daily Mirror 7 Mar 1939). However, the engagement was not to last and in 1937 it was reported that Pamela was engaged to Michael Clifton, youngest son of John Talbot Clifton of Lytham Hall, Lytham, near Blackpool, and KildaltonCastle, Isle of Islay (The Tatler, 27October 1937). However, within a month this engagement was also off (Daily Mirror 13 November 1937).

Still living her life under intense media attention, in 1938 Pamela was involved in a ‘car crash’ in which the article revealed that she had been left with a deep scar on her forehead, stating that ‘… these are days when plastic surgeons are the miracle workers, and I hope when she comes out there will be no trace of disfigurement’. The article also described Pamela as having ‘golden hair and brown eyes’ with a ‘lovely complexion’ (Daily Mirror 18 November 1938). Another article that appeared a month later gave an up-date on her recovery progress stating that ‘She is now back at her old-world Sussex cottage, and in spite of the fact that she had bad cuts on her face, there is no sign of her mishap’ since her operation (Daily Mirror, 31 December 1938). To date it has not been possible to determine where her ‘old-world Sussex cottage’ was situated.

In the week that Pamela celebrated her 21^st birthday, and release from being a ward of Chancery, she held a cocktail party at which she announced her third engagement, this time to Gilbert Alastair William Graham Cockburn, son of Major George Eric Graham Cockburn DSO, MC, Legion of Honour (Daily Mirror, 17 February 1939 & Daily Mirror, 7 March 1939); Gilbert Alastair William Graham Cockburn had been born in 1918. Pamela and Gilbert were married in March 1939, at a simple service held at St James Chapel, Spanish Place, Marylebone. After the service it was reported that Pamela said ‘It feels wonderful to be married. Much nicer to be a wife than a ward’ (Daily Mirror, 7 Mar 1939). Gilbert was due to enter the Diplomatic Service and in the 1939 Register the couple are recorded as living at 49, Bryaston Square, London, living off private means with a butler and footman. Pamela and Gilbert had two children, Paul born in 1940 and Cherry born in 1941, both births registered in Marylebone. Sadly by 1944, Pamela and Gilbert’s marriage had faltered when a report appeared in the national press that Pamela M Cockburn of ‘Gate House Farm, Lingfield’ was fined £2 for using the false name of Mrs Wilmer when registering, with David Wilmer, at a boarding house in Cornwell (Cornish Guardian, 28 September 1944).

David Wilmer had been born in 1913, the son of Brigadier Eric Randal Gordon Wilmer and his wife Marjory Louisa Worsley. In 1935, David married Hilary Inez Elizabeth White and they had one child. In 1937, Hilary filed for divorce, primarily because of David Wilmer’s involvement in a Hyde Park Hotel jewellery robbery, whereby Etienne Bellenger, manager of the London branch of Cartier, was attacked at the hotel after being enticed there under the pretence of looking for an engagement present. The gang of four, including two ex-public school boys, made off with £13,000 worth of diamond rings. However, within 24-hours they had all been arrested and at the trial in 1938 received various sentences[89]. David Wilmer was released from prison in 1943 and returned to his family home at 20, Victoria Grove, London, and despite his involvement with the high-profile jewellery robbery he succeeded in re-entering his old social set[90], where he must have been introduced to the recently separated/divorced Pamela Cockburn. In 1945, Pamela Cockburn married David Wilmer and hence forth the couple were known by the surname Hamilton.

Despite owning Gate House Farm, Pamela appears to have retained a London address, and in 1946, Pamela and David had a daughter, Mary Gay Wilmer Hamilton. However, the Hamilton’s marriage did not last long and in 1950 Pamela married Leonard Fitton, the son of John Herbert Fitton and Edith nee Hirst; Leonard had been born in 1912 in Leeds and in later life went by the professional name Len Hayes. In 1936, Len Hayes was working as musical director and compare at the Old Florida Club in Bruton Street, London, having left Yorkshire to open at the San Marco Restaurant (Bradford Observer, 6 March 1937). Here Len met Donalda Aitchison, daughter of 2^nd Lieutenant Thomas Donald Aitchison, deceased, (newspaper article promotes him to Lieutenant-Colonel) and his wife Margaret Eleanor Salvin nee Bowlby, who was working as a mannequin (a person who displays clothes, hats or shoes by wearing them, especially in fashion shows or in fashion photographs); the couple married in 1937 (Daily Mirror, 6 March 1937) and had one child. However, the marriage could not have lasted as in 1950, Leonard Hayes-Fitton married Pamela Mary Hamilton; the couple living at Gate House Farm before moving to Cornwall in 1953; Pamela and Leonard had two daughters, Juliette E C Hayes Fitton and Christianne G F Hayes Fitton. As a point of interest, Leonard died in Cornwall in 1981 and Pamela died there, aged 77, in 1996.

During her ownership of Gate House Farm, Pamela is purported to have further modernised the farmhouse and re-landscaped the garden to include an outdoor swimming pool; locals remember her as wealthy and somewhat eccentric, being known for throwing ‘wild parties’. On the departure of the Hayes-Fittons, Gate House Farm was purchased by Stanley de Pinna Weal and his wife Jill.

Stanley de Pinna Weal and his wife Jill Weal (1953 – 1968)

Stanley de Pinna Weal was born Stanley de Pinna Weil in 1907, the son of Ferderic Weil, an American who in 1911 was a distributor of soft foods, and his wife Constance Maud nee de Pinna. Stanley followed in his father’s footsteps and in 1939 was working as a ‘Distribution Food Manager’. In 1940, Stanley married Jill Molly/Mollie Frances Cohen. Jill had been born in 1915 and was the daughter of Stanley Samuel Gilbert Cohen, who in 1911 was a General Merchant, living at Abbotts Field, St Michael’s Liverpool, and who, in the 1939 Register, was listed as the Deputy Chairman of Lewis Ltd. Liverpool, being a ‘Farmer, living at Old House, Horsham’, and his wife Dorothy nee Lazarus. It has been rumoured that Jill’s family had connections with Sir John Edward Cohen (born Jacob Kohen in 1898), an English grocer who founded the Tesco supermarket chain, although, no relationship has been established. Stanley and Jill had two children, Susan Peta and John Stanley, both born in London and both registered as Weil.

In 1946, Stanley changed his surname from Weil to Weal (London Gazette, 7 May 1946), perhaps as a result of Germanic connotations after the hostilities of World War II. At some point, Stanley and his wife founded a business called The Blue Star Milk Bars, selling milk and snacks, which operated from Coryndon Street, Eldoret, Kenya, in partnership with Stanley and Esme Howitt. However, with the rise of unrest in Kenya, Stanley and Jill dissolved their partnership in the business in 1950 (Kenya Gazette, 30 May 1950), leaving Kenya at the beginning of the Mau Mau up-rising, in 1953, the same year that they purchased Gate House Farm. Stanley and Jill were both keen golfers being members of Tandridge Golf Club.

It is written, in the previous history of Gate House Farm, that during the Weal’s ownership the floor was lowered in the main living room of Gate House Farmhouse to give more head room for Stanley, who at 6ft 4ins, frequently had altercations with the ceiling beams. Another alteration attributed to the Weal’s is the conversion of the ‘original cowshed’ into a ‘staff cottage which accommodated the housekeeper and a resident gardener’. It is recorded that the gardens were well maintained and that there was a ‘well stocked kitchen garden … providing not only many vegetables that might be required for the table, but also cut flowers for the house’. After 15 years of living at Gate House Farm, the Weal’s sold the property to Edward and Elsie Mills and moved to Ballyrogan Stud at Redcross, Wicklow in Ireland, where they bred racehorses.

Edward and Elsie Mills (1968 – 2001)

According to the previous history of Gate House Farm, Edward and Elsie Mills purchased Gate House Farm from Stanley de Pinna Weal and his wife Jill Weal in 1968; the farm at the time being a dairy farm. The Mills were accompanied by their son David, who lived in Gatehouse Cottage. However, in an interview published in a local newspaper in 1998[91], David recants that he arrived at Gate House Farm in 1971, moving from a small farm in the West Country and bringing with him the nucleus of what was to become the Venn herd of pedigree Jerseys. David went on to establish a fine herd of pedigree Jersey cattle, however, in 1994, due to the demise of the Milk Marketing Board and the uncertainty of dairy farming, David decided, very reluctantly, to sell the herd and try to fulfil a childhood dream of creating a zoo, but not a zoo of exotic animals, more a centre for British wildlife[92]. The inspiration had come to him whilst watching a red squirrel in his back garden when he was a child in southeast London. Thus, the remaining 94 dairy cows were sold off and work began on establishing the British Wildlife Centre.

It took 18-months to get the required planning consent for change of use and convert 26 acres of farmland into a suitable site for a variety of habitats for various species of British wildlife. Ponds were dug, roads were laid and the surrounding areas landscaped into interesting, natural habitats. Redundant old cow sheds not needed for the project were carefully dismantled, the materials being stored for re-use later. In the local newspaper article that appeared in The Observer in 1998, David recalls: ‘Luckily the work was taking place at the same time as Sainsbury’s, in East Grinstead, was being extended and much of the demolition waste material, which normally would have gone to the tip was diverted to Gate House and used on the farm. Likewise, when Lingfield Middle School was pulled down, a lot of the material was salvaged and recycled to provide a new spacious timber reception centre which was converted from the original covered cow yard’. Four different types of habitat were created, the old barn and hedgerow habitat to house animals such as rats, mice, barn owls, badgers, weasels, foxes and red and grey squirrels, and outside, woodland/grassland and riverbank habitats that included Scottish wild cat, deer and otters.

The British Wildlife Centre opened its doors for pre-booked tours in 1998, with animals sourced from rescue centres, zoos and animal collections along with orphans that were brought in by the public and hand-reared by David. Today the British Wildlife Centre is the largest breeder of red squirrels in Britain and David has been instrumental in implementing release programmes onto suitable privately-owned and grey squirrel-free islands, which all now boast thriving colonies. In recognition of his wildlife conservation he was awarded an MBE in 2016 and collected a fellowship at the University of Winchester in recognition of his conservation work in 2021[93]

Alongside the establishment of the British Wildlife Centre, Edward and Elsie Mills had a bungalow called Colt Bungalow built within grounds of Gate House Farm[94], and under their ownership in 1984 many of the buildings were given Grade II listed status including Gatehouse Farmhouse, Gatehouse Barn & Granary and Gatehouse Barn[95]. It was reported in the previous history of the property that ‘the gardens saw many changes during the ownership of the Mills family, the most dramatic ones caused by the 1987 Storm, when many trees were lost, including several fine old willows surrounding the pond and a splendid old chestnut’.

In 1999, Edward Mills died and his will divided Gate House Farm between his wife Elsie and their children. David retained the site of the British Wildlife Centre but the remaining property was put up for sale in May 1999, described as a ‘Delightful miniature Country Estate requiring refurbishment’[96]. A month later the description was expanded to read[97];

Gatehouse Farm, picturesque country estate comprising Grade II listed 16^th century house, a cottage and a separate bar and granary put up for sale.

Main house is timber framed and has many fine period features including an inglenook in the drawing room, and a stone fireplace, arched and chamfered dated “1625 TS” in each spandrel. The accommodation includes 2 reception rooms, a kitchen, a utility room, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, 2 of which are en-suite. There is also a cellar.

Situated to the west of the main house is a cottage comprising a living room, a study, a kitchen-breakfast room, a conservatory, a utility room, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an en-suite shower room. The cottage is attached to an 18^th century 3-bay barn, which provides garaging.

Completing this cluster of buildings is the granary and barn which incorporate a one bedroom flat above a garage.

Gardens situated to the south of the main house, include a delightful pond, an orchard and a shallow swimming pool.

There is a stable block and yard, and land arranged as 2 fields, in all about 13½ acres.

Offers in excess of £700,000 invited.

Over the next five years Gatehouse Farmhouse, Gatehouse Farm Cottage and Barn and Gatehouse Granary and Barn were on the market, being advertised as either a joint lot and individually.

In May 1999 along with Gatehouse Farmhouse, Gatehouse Cottage was also advertised for sale described as a ‘detached 4 bed cottage and 18^th century barn’. In January 2000, Gatehouse Farm Cottage was being advertised for sale as an individual property with the minor adjustment that the barn now formed part of the property, described as[98];

A fascinating detached cottage with an attached grade II listed barn is for sale in Newchapel… where Gatehouse Cottage is set in about ½ acre.

On the market for £345,000, this unusual home is one of 3 properties which form what was once Gatehouse Farm, a picturesque country estate.

Offering adaptable accommodation, both the barn and cottage require modernisation.

Accommodation includes an L-shaped living room with an open fireplace, a study, a bathroom and a kitchen-breakfast room with a range of units together with some appliances. There is a conservatory, a utility room and bedroom, one with an en-suite shower room on the ground floor. Upstairs, bedroom two has an en-suite bathroom and there are a further two bedrooms plus a landing with walk-in airing cupboard.

Partially incorporated within the cottage and attached to the living accommodation on its west – is the barn which currently provides garaging. This has double wagon doors to the centre, with an internal queen post.

The gardens are laid mainly to lawn…

In May 1999, the remaining outbuildings at Gatehouse Farm were advertised for sale as a single unit being described as ‘a 16^th century granary/barn with flat’. In 2001, this property was being advertised for rent as a ‘Fantastic barn conversion in a beautiful country settling, newly renovated and in first class order throughout. Three large bedrooms, farmhouse kitchen, spacious living room, self contained annex, ample parking’. In 2002, the property was still being advertised for rent, adding that the barn had ‘outstanding views and a beamed ceiling’. After further work over the next twenty years, Gatehouse Granary and Barn, renamed Gate House Barn, was on the market in 2022, being described as[99];

Set within a small private gated estate, Gate House Farm Barn is a Grade II listed home, which was meticulously converted in 2004 and displays a wealth of exposed beams, oak casement windows and full height double doors from which views across the almost acre of formal gardens can be enjoyed. With an adjoining stable block, currently configured to allow mezzanine floors, a car barn and paddock of circa 4.6 acres, the barn and attached granary are understood to have origins in the 16^th century, with later additions now allowing the property to offer great flexibility either as a whole family home or a property allowing various ‘annexed’ areas for an extended family. The opportunity for rental income is also noteworthy, particularly given the self contained ‘granary flat’ above the garage. With an abundance of living space and bedrooms set across the house, with vaulted ceilings, the centrepiece to the property is undoubtedly the magnificent vaulted drawing room, within the barn itself – a double height room with oak floors and enviable views across the private pond and gardens.

As for Gatehouse Farmhouse, it sold first, in 2001, together with a stable block and 6 acres of land, being purchased by Kevin and Sue Atkins[100].

Kevin and Susan Atkins (2001 – 2015)

Kevin Atkins had been born about 1958 and married Susan Stebbing in 1991; Susan having been born in Wandsworth in 1960[101]. Kevin and Susan had two children before moving to Gate House Farmhouse in 2001. Susan, a teacher, and Kevin were both involved in a private company called Positive Parents Confident Kids Coaching Ltd that was incorporated in 2006, and whose registered address was Gate House Farm; Susan was director and Kevin was secretary. The nature of the business was classed as physical well-being activities. The company was dissolved in 2013[102].

In 2007, during the Atkins’ ownership, members of the Hancock family visited Gate House Farmhouse and grounds. They discovered that Ralph Hancock's trademark herringbone brick path was still visible, although in need of some attention. The planting still looked much as it did when the Hancock family lived at Gatehouse Farm, albeit very mature by 2007 and the rear and side gardens still had many of his trademark features, including the mock-Tudor summer house, but the sunken garden he had created had disappeared, leaving a dark depression on the lawn[103].

In 2015, Kevin and Susan Atkins sold Gate House Farmhouse, along with the stable block and the 6 acres of land to Jonathan Bradley-Hoare.

Jonathan Bradley-Hoare (2015 – )

In May 2015, Jonathan Bradley-Hoare embarked upon the restoration of the house and the garden. One of the first things he did in the garden was a total restoration of the overgrown and leaking rockery, taking it back to its original look when built in the late 1930's. Then attention was turned towards reinstating the lost sunken garden to the south of the house, which over the years had become a lawned area. By April 2022, the sunken garden had been replanted as a formal parterre garden, outlined with box hedging, constructed within the original constraints of the sunken garden with a central circular paved feature with a sun dial and a small ornamental pond at the southern end, opposite a set of steps that lead up to a large wrought-iron gate. This gate was originally located at Red Tiles, once part of building complex at Oat Barns (see above), and when the new owner of Red Tiles wanted to sell the gate, Jonathan purchased it and re-hung it as a feature at the end of the sunken garden. Leading from the gate is a set of steps up to a piece of statuary set within a circular feature against a semi-circular screening of shrubs. Whether intentional or not, this is very reminiscent of Hancock’s treatment for staging garden ornament or statuary to add interest to the garden. The restored rockery with its water-run down to a small pond has begun to fill out and look established. The York-stone and herringbone brickwork courtyard in front of the house still retains a few species trees and shrubs such as Acers and Camellias planted in feature, brick outlined beds, and in the border in front of the house can be found a Wisteria that drapes itself over the porch and clumps of Iris, all plants that Hancock frequently used. The brick garden wall extending westward of the house on its east end, has a wrought-iron gate set in a small arch near the house wall and a larger, open arch about two thirds of the way forward that gives tantalizing glimpses of the garden beyond, all features that are frequently found in Hancock’s garden designs.

JIC/SJC 01/23

Stanford Family tree only in the illustrated version