Felbridge & District History Group

Lost Property of Felbridge

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As we steadily advance through the 21^st century and with an extensively accrued Felbridge archive, it is perhaps time to reflect on the lost property of Felbridge, dwellings and structures that have disappeared, some in the lifetime of former and current Felbridge residents and some properties whose mere existence has only become known through researching old documents and maps relating to Felbridge and its surrounding area.

 

This document is the first in a series that aims to catalogue these lost properties and, where known, give a few details about the property and the cause of its loss.  Some of the properties we have covered before and have their own handout devoted solely to their history, in which case only a brief synopsis will be supplied here along with any additional information discovered since the publication of the original handout.  Research into other lost properties may produce enough information to create a future handout devoted solely to that property and other lost properties will inevitably prove to have very little surviving information on them, but at least they will have been identified and included in this series of catalogued lost property of Felbridge.  No doubt some lost property will escape our attention altogether or not yet have been revealed through our researches and there are many more recent properties that have been sacrificed for the numerous housing developments in Felbridge and the surrounding area of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries; this latter category of properties will not be covered in detail unless the lost property was of significant merit. 

 

The lost property covered will be presented by location within the Felbridge area made up of the land holdings of the Evelyn estate of the late 1700’s that incorporated the manor of Hedgecourt and their own Felbridge lands (for further information see Handout, The Early History of Hedgecourt, JIC/SJC 11/11) with additions made by the Gatty family after their purchase of the estate in 1856 (for further information see Handout, Charles Henry Gatty, SJC 11/03); the ecclesiastical parish of Felbridge created in 1865 out of parts of the ecclesiastical parishes of Godstone, Horne and Tandridge in Surrey and East Grinstead and Worth in Sussex (for further information see Handout, St John the Divine, Felbridge, SJC 07/02i); and the Civil Parish of Felbridge created in 1953 (for further information see Handout, Civil Parish of Felbridge, SJC 03/03]; together with the occasional lost property abutting these areas as part of manorial lands associated with Felbridge.  In all, an area stretching from the Newchapel area in the north across to the Snowhill and Crawley Down area in the west, the northern end of East Grinstead Common, North End and Imberhorne manor and its associated holdings in the south and Chartham and the Wiremill area in the east.

 

There is a long list of lost property at the southern end of East Grinstead Common including: the alehouses or public houses of the White Lion (now the site of McDonald’s) and the Maypole (developed as offices for BT, now converted as flats); the Providence Strict Baptist Chapel (once adjacent to the East Grinstead Tyre Service) and the sweet factory Comos (now the site of Homebase), all south of Lingfield Road.  North of Lingfield Road many more properties have been lost.  On the east side of the London Road (A22), heading north, the following lost properties include: Southwick House (later used as the East Grinstead Library, now the development of flats known as Southwick House); Leacroft (later the site of W Honour Builders & Co., now the developments of flats called Leacroft); a windmill that once stood on the Common on the site of Mill Field, Windmill Lane (now a small housing development); the original Stennings’ Wood Yard, later a dwelling called Buckhurst now the site of Manning Close; St Filians (later Australia House now the site of Richmond Square); Alipore Lodge (later Woodlands, now the site of Dorset Gardens); the re-located gallows (now in the vicinity of Dorset Avenue); Stildon House (now re-developed as Stildon Mews and Brendoncare Stildon Nursing Home); Stone Crouch (later St George’s House, now the site of St Georges Court); Turret House (now Turret Court); and Suva Lodge (now the site of Suva Court).  On the west side of the London Road, heading north, the following lost properties include: Heathcote (one time home of the New Life Church, now a development of flats); Lingfield Lodge (the site derelict at time of writing and awaiting re-development); Newlands Place (now the site of Newlands Crescent); Longley Cottages (now the site of Ashdown Gate), Engalee (now the site of a housing development called Engalee); Nividale (now the site of a housing development called Woodstock); and Chantlers (in the vicinity of Chantlers Close off Manor Road).  Some of these properties were late medieval but many were large late Victorian or Edwardian dwellings, many of which were built for members of the Stenning family of Halsford, but these all fall outside the extent of Felbridge and as such will not be covered in this series of lost properties of Felbridge documents. 

 

This document will catalogue and where possible, provide the history of the lost property in the area of Felbridge that encompasses the west side of the northern end of East Grinstead Common; the Halsford area, North End, which currently starts at Yaxley Cottages and finishes at 42, North End.  Further family details relating to the properties in this document that have been researched in-depth can be found in an additional appendix available on request or on line as Additional Family Appendix to Lost Property of Felbridge, Pt. 1 at www.felbridge.org.uk

 

Northern end of East Grinstead Common (west side)

The north end of East Grinstead Common was once part of what was known as Grinsted Downe, the waste lands abutting the demeane lands of the manor of Imberhorne.  In 1597, the Buckhurst Terrier, a survey of all the lands held by the Sackville family, records the following people holding land in this area: John Goodwin,  freehold ‘lands called Paulters’; Henry Mercer, copyhold land called ‘Paulters alias Mercers Land’; and Nicholas Terrie, copyhold land called Rowcroft (later known as Ruff /Rough Croft).  By 1817, Maurice Halford Barrows, an attorney, had purchased copyhold property at the northern end of East Grinstead Common and it is probably after him that the area was called Halsford.  During the research for this document the lost property of Halsford, the family seat of the Stenning family has provided more than enough material for its own dedicated handout so this area will be just catalogued in this document with a brief description and more extensive details will appear in a future handout.

 

Halsford

Chantlers and Halsford House

Chantlers and associated buildings [TQ3820 3889], now demolished, once covered the area north of Halsford Park Road and Manor Road, incorporating the site of Halsford Park School and Gwynne Gardens (the area developed in the mid to late 1950’s) together with the grounds of Halsford (later known as Halsford Park); and Halsford House and garden [TQ 3810 3898], now demolished, now forms the site of the re-developed Silver Court Care Home and the close of houses called The Stennings (off the London Road) and The Timbers; the area developed in 1999.  Both properties formed the estate of Halsford, the main seat of the Stenning family in East Grinstead. 

 

The early history of Chantlers is yet to be fully researched but it has become apparent that the property had become incorporated as part of the Halsford area by the early 18^th century and associated with the Stenning family when John Stenning took up residence there in the early 19^th century.  John Stenning also had Halsford House built in the early 19^th century, which became the home of his son William Stenning and descending family members until at least 1911.  The Stenning family were timber merchants and there had been branches of the family in the Felbridge and East Grinstead area for several generations holding such farms as Newchapel Farm, Park Farm and Smithfords [for further information see Handout, Harts Hall, SJC07/05]; and Stone Cottage [for further information see Handout, Stone Cottage, JIC/SJC 07/12]; and Lowlands [for further information see Handout, Lowlands, Newchapel, SJC/JIC 05/06] in Felbridge; Hill Place [for further information see Handout, Hill Place, JIC/SJC 01/13], part of the manor of Imberhorne; and Newlands and an adjoining cottage; Gallows Croft (in the vicinity of Halsford Park Road); the site of their original timber yard at Windmill Lane; the site of the re-located timber yard (adjacent to The Broadway pub in East Grinstead); eight cottages or tenements in and around East Grinstead; Mill Place Farm at Kingscote; and land at North End, which family members were responsible for much of the development of, including Yaxley Cottages, North End School [for further information see Handout, North End School, SJC 11/10] and the Working Men’s Club (see below).

 

Halsford Cottage (aka Halsford Stables and later Halsford Park Gardener’s Lodge and Halsford Park Cottage)  

Prior to its purchase and incorporation into the Stenning estate of Halsford, Halsford Cottage [TQ 3806 3899] was located on the site of a small enclosure abutting East Grinstead Common, held by Anne Maynard who was also recorded as living there with her husband in the census records of 1821 and as a widow in 1831.  In 1816 Anne Maynard was in the occupation of plot 75 in the enclosure of East Grinstead Common amounting to 2r 23p abutting the east side of her cottage plot.  In 1842, the cottage enclosure, plot 2286 on the tithe map, was recorded as owned and occupied by Mary Stone and included the cottage (un-named), a garden and an outbuilding [TQ3807 3899] built sometime between 1816 and 1842, probably as a barn.  However, the census of 1841, records Ann Stone, aged 63 ‘of independent means’, living at the cottage.  Unfortunately it has not yet been possible to determine whether Mary Stone and Ann Stone are one and the same person or, if not the same person, the relationship between them or their connection with Anne Maynard.  However, in the 1841 census the cottage was recorded as on ‘East Grinstead Common’ and did not adopt a specific name until sometime between 1861 and 1871.

 

The 1841 census shows that Ann Stone was head of the cottage but that there was also two other families in residence, Thomas and Harriett Gorringe and Ann Domon and her two children, plus two other people, 16 year old Mary Vigar (probably a general servant) and 59 year old James Lambert who worked as an agricultural labourer (probably a lodger/boarder).  Ann Stone ‘Fund Holder’ was still the head of the cottage in 1851 but living with her then was Alfred Packham and his wife Mary Ann Jane née Vigar (listed as nephew and niece, Mary potentially being Mary Vigar of the 1841 household) and general servant, 16 year old Mary Gorringe (of the 1841 household).  Sometime between 1851 and 1861 Ann Stone moved, along with Alfred and Mary Packham, to Snow Hill where she died in 1863.

 

In 1861, Francis Teale was recorded as the head of the cottage (still un-named).  Francis had been born in Epsom in about 1821 and was a Hop Sample Drawer by trade.  Also in the house with Francis was his wife Anne and a visitor called Louisa L Lucas, both women having been born in the Isle of Wight.  Francis Teales’ sojourn at Halsford Cottage ended sometime between 1861 and 1871, being succeeded by Thomas Hoather.

 

In 1871, the cottage was known as Halsford Stables and was in the sole occupation of Thomas Hoather.  Thomas had been born in East Grinstead about 1819/1821 (depending upon which document you use).  In 1841, Thomas Hoather had been living as part of the Stenning household of Halsford, listed as a man servant; in 1851 he was lodging with the Coomber family who lived at the northern-most end of East Grinstead Common in Felbridge, being listed as a groom; and in 1861 Thomas was back living in the Stenning household at Halsford, again listed as a man servant.  Although Thomas had been recorded as a groom in 1851 and was living at the dwelling called Halsford Stables, in 1871 he was listed as a gardener – domestic, the occupation he held for the remainder of his life.  At the end of 1871, Thomas married Mary Ann Huggett who was a female servant in the Stenning household at Halsford; both residing there in 1861.

 

The Hoathers lived at Halsford Stables, which, by 1881 had become known as Halsford Cottage, for over 30 years; Thomas until his death in 1900 aged 81, and Mary Ann until her death in 1904 aged 74.  They were succeeded at the dwelling by Thomas Harman who, in 1911, was listed as a coachman employed by the Stenning family.  Thomas Harman had been born in Leigh, Surrey, in 1853 and had married Ellen Denny in 1878.  By 1881 Thomas was employed as coachman for the Stenning family and was living at Halsford Lodge (still standing) at the entrance to Halsford House (now the entrance to GwynneGardens) together with his family.  The Harman family remained at Halsford Lodge until 1904 when they moved to Halsford Cottage.  It would appear that the Harman family remained at Halsford Cottage until the death of Thomas in 1922, being succeeded by Arthur E Bracey who was residing there when he appears in the East Grinstead Directory of 1928. 

 

By 1939, Halsford Cottage was known as Halsford Park Gardener’s Lodge and was in the occupation of Albert E and Elsie Westgate.  Albert had been born on 25^th November 1891 and had married Elise Budgen in 1925.  In 1939, Albert was the head gardener in charge of maintaining the grounds of the former Stenning property known as Halsford, which by 1928 had been renamed HalsfordPark.

 

Sadly no good image has yet been found of Halsford Cottage to determine what it looked like, but the 1911 census records that it had five rooms (excluding scullery, landing, lobby, closet or bathroom).  However, it is not known whether this was the original cottage that Mary Maynard lived in (built before 1816) or whether it had been demolished and replaced by another structure.  From living memory, the cottage in the 1960’s was a single storey red-brick building, accessed off Halsford Lane.  It is perhaps interesting to note that a property that would, when built, have been considered of reasonably status having an owner/occupier of independent means, had from 1861, dropped in status to that of an employed gardener/coachman after it became part of the Halsford estate. 

The property was demolished in 1999 and, together with some of the grounds of HalsfordPark (formerly part of Halsford), now forms the site of the re-developed Silver Court Care Home.  

 

Ruff Croft (inc. Woodland Cottages, Woods Cottages, Halsford Farm, The Farm Northend and Croft Cottages)

The following history and development of the lost properties on Ruff Croft and its associated outbuildings has been difficult to unravel and is based on a combination of Imberhorne court records, map evidence, the East Grinstead tithe map and apportionment, O/S maps dating between 1808-1955, census records, Stenning documents, directories and documented memories of former residents. 

 

The area once known as Ruff Croft (aka Rowcroft) amounting to between 3 and 6 acres, can currently be traced back to 1566 and has been the site of several separate dwellings, at least one barn and several complexes of outbuildings constructed and lost over a period 350 years.  Today Ruff Croft, with the addition of a parcel of the East Grinstead Common (plot 76) enclosed by 1816, is covered by Halsford Lane developed just c1914 and Halsford Croft and Halsford Green built in the 1920’s as housing association dwellings [for further information see Handout, Builders of Felbridge – W M Heselden & Sons, MH/JIC/SJC 09/17].

 

In 1566, Stephen Jerman died holding a 3 acre piece of copyhold land known as Rowcroft, held of the manor of Imberhorne.  On 22^nd September 1581, the piece of land was granted to Nicholas Terrie for which he paid 12d (1/- old money or 5p new money) rent.  By 1611, Rowcroft had passed from Nicholas Terrie to Edward Nicolls and sometime during the next four years the property increased to 4 acres on which had been built a messuage (dwelling house) [TQ3798 3899]  and a barn [TQ3795 3902]; the remaining land described as ‘2 crofts’ (farmland in two fields).  In 1611, Ruff Croft, described as a ‘messuage, barn and 2 crofts amounting to 4 acres’ passed from Edward Nicolls to Edward Johnson and Robert Boeyer.

 

In 1615, Robert Boeyer appears in the Imberhorne Court Book as being admitted to Ruff Croft; there are two scenarios for this, either Robert Boeyer bought out Edward Johnson’s interest in the property or Robert was the son of Robert Boeyer.  There is then a gap before Ruff Croft can be picked up again in the Court Books, when in 1638, William Launder alias Eastlands is recorded as ‘of Ruff Croft’.  This would imply that during the preceding 23 years, Ruff Croft had passed from Robert Boeyer to William Launder alias Eastland. 

 

In 1674, the Imberhorne Court Book records William Eastland being admitted to Rowcroft, ‘messuage, barn and 2 crofts amounting to 4 acres’.  This would suggest that this William was the heir of William Launder alias Eastland.  At the same court William Eastland surrendered his interest in Rowcroft to his son and heir, John Eastland.  However in 1687, the Imberhorne Copyhold Rentals records William Eastland (possibly William had not been up-dated to John) paying the 12d rent for a ‘tenement, barn and 8 acres called Rowcroft, late Thomas Baker’.  There are two options for the definition of ‘tenement’ in this period, either as another name for a dwelling house or another name for a piece of land.  This in turn leads to several options for the entry, either Thomas Baker took over paying the rental between two William Eastlands or he had held the additional 4 acres attached to Rowcroft in 1687.

 

There is then another gap until 1701 when on the death of Thomas Eastland he gives his ‘tenement, barn and 8 acres called Rowcroft’ to his son William Eastland.  In 1731, William Eastlands (possibly the same one of 1701) is holding Rowcroft, this time recorded as only 4 acres.  Eight years later the Court Books record John Eastland surrendering the property to his son William, this would suggest that sometime between 1731 and 1739 the property had passed from the previously mentioned William Eastland to John Eastland.  However, John Eastland’s son William had already died by 1739 and Rowcroft passed to William’s son-in-law, Thomas Humphrey.  Two years later Thomas Humphrey surrendered Rowcroft to Edmund Chapman, of East Grinstead, an Inn Holder.  At the same court, Edmund Chapman asked for and was granted a license to let Rowcroft consisting of a ‘tenement, barn and 3 acres of land) to William Paine for 13 years, therefore the lease would expire in 1752. 

 

However, on the death of Edmund Chapman in 1745, his will devised Rowcroft to his wife Elizabeth for the remainder of her life; on her death it was to pass to John Sawyer and Stephen Sawyer, sons of John Sawyer of East Grinstead, a mercer.  On 19^th October 1764, John and Stephen Sawyer surrendered Rowcroft (by then called Ruff Croft) comprising of a ‘cottage, barn and 2 crofts’ amounting to 3 acres to John Simmonds of East Grinstead, a bricklayer.  In 1780, John Simmonds made his will, requesting that an annuity of £2 be paid to his wife Anne for the remainder of her life.  This annuity was to be raised against his ‘copyhold tenement’ of Ruff Croft, in which he dwelt.  On Anne’s death, their son Francis and son-in-law Isaac Long were to sell the property to bequest £25 to their son John, £45 to their son Francis, £4 to their son Thomas, and their daughter Sarah and £14 to their daughter Mary.  Any excess money after the sale of Ruff Croft was to be divided equally between all of their children.  On the death of John Simmonds in 1794, his will was enacted, although by this date, son-in-law Isaac Long had already pre-deceased him.

 

It would seem that Thomas Simmonds (probably John’s son) occupied Ruff Croft from, or shortly after, the death of his father.  In 1816, Thomas Simmonds is recorded as also occupying the strip of land amounting to 1a 1r 35p abutting Ruff Croft, another enclosure off the East Grinstead Common.  In 1824, Thomas Simmonds, listed as a bricklayer of East Grinstead, was granted permission at the court of Imberhorne to ‘cut 3 oak trees on Ruff Croft to repair the buildings and fences of the premises’.  A year after gaining permission to carry out repairs to Ruff Croft, John Simmonds’ widow Anne died and Ruff Croft was surrendered to Thomas Simmonds (John and Anne’s son) who, at the same court, surrendered the ‘cottage, barn and 2 crofts called Ruff Crofts, reputedly 3 acres but actually 6 acres’ to his brother Francis Simmonds of Merstham, another bricklayer.  In 1826, Francis Simmonds surrendered Ruff Crofts to Thomas Taylor who was already in the occupation of Ruff Croft as he appears in the 1821 census as ‘Thomas Taylor and others’ at Ruff Croft (un-named), comprising of one house occupied by three families with a total of eleven males and five females; ‘agricultural labourer’ being the main occupation recorded in the census, along with one hoop maker in residence.  Thomas Taylor may have been at Ruff Croft as early as 1816 as he is recorded occupying plot 76, a new enclosure of East Grinstead Common abutting the strip of land owned by Thomas Simmonds that in turn abutted Ruff Croft on its eastern boundary.

 

In May 1826 and April 1827, Thomas Taylor applied for and was granted by the Imberhorne court, two separate licenses to fell a total of fourteen oak trees for repairs to his property and in February 1830, he was also granted a loan of £200 against his property of Ruff Croft described as ‘a cottage, barn and 2 crofts’, which he paid off in February 1844.  In 1831 the census records two ‘houses’ on Ruff Croft (un-named), one being that of Thomas Taylor and his family of three males and two females, with Henry Mitchel[l] and his family of four males and five females in the other ‘house’.  Again like the 1821 census, the main occupation given for both households was agricultural based.  The implication here is that Thomas Taylor had indeed used the felled oaks to carry out repairs to his property, which in turn allowed him to borrow money against his refurbished property to construct a second dwelling, which in 1831 was in the occupation of Henry Mitchell.

 

In December 1838, Thomas Taylor was granted a second loan, this time for the sum of £110 against his property of Ruff Croft, described as ‘1 cottage & 4 crofts, plus 4 cottages lately built on said property, 2 un-occupied and 2 in the occupation of William Payne and William Terry’.  This loan was paid off on 28^th February 1844.  These four new cottages were later known as Woods Cottages and their history, development and householders follows below.  In March 1841, Thomas Taylor applied for and was granted a third license to cut timber, this time to ‘fell 13 oak trees, 5 for repairs to the said tenement [Ruff Croft] and the others to his own use [meaning he could sell them and profit from the income]’. 

 

In 1841 there were two households living at Ruff Croft (the property named as such), Thomas Taylor and his wife Anne in one and Elizabeth Gatten [Gatton], a widow, and two of her children in the other.  Thomas Taylor had been born in West Hoathly, Sussex, in about 1775.  This means that Thomas had been about 41 years of age in 1816 when he acquired plot 76 in the enclosure of East Grinstead Common and 51 years of age in 1826 when he took over the copyhold of Ruff Croft from Francis Simmonds.  Elizabeth Gatten had been born in Lewes, Sussex, in about 1794, and had moved to Ruff Croft sometime between 1831 and 1841. 

 

In 1842, the East Grinstead tithe map and apportionment records a John Taylor (no further information or relationship to Thomas Taylor established) as the owner/occupier of plots 2288 to 2294, encompassing the copyhold of Ruff Croft.  The Ruff Croft dwelling [TQ3798 3899], along with an outbuilding [TQ3797 3902] (built between 1830 and 1842, probably as part of the repair work to the holding) were located in plot 2288, along with the four cottages in two pairs [TQ3801 3905] and [TQ3803 3902] built between 1830 and 1838 to the east of the original Ruff Croft dwelling in plot 2289.  A barn [TQ3795 3902] was situated in plot 2293 (identified as meadow and building in the apportionment) was probably the original barn, standing in one of the two crofts of land that had been associated with Ruff Croft since at least 1674, the other croft being plot 2294.  Also held as part of Ruff Croft in 1842 were three more fields, plots 2290, 2291 and 2292.  Access to the main dwelling and farm complex was via a track leading from the main London road between plots 2290 and 2291/2292.  Plots 2290 and 2291 on the tithe map equate to plot 76 on the enclosure map of East Grinstead Common in 1816.  

 

On 29^th February 1844, Thomas Thornton, a farmer of Ifield, Sussex, was admitted to Ruff Croft, succeeding Thomas Taylor as the copyholder of the property.  However, Thomas Thornton did not reside there and sub-let the dwellings but he does seem to be have been responsible for the construction of a new dwelling and outbuildings on Ruff Croft replacing the original cottage and outbuilding that appear on the 1842 tithe.   Besides map evidence that shows the disappearance of the old cottage [TQ3798 3899] and an outbuilding and the appearance of re-sited dwelling [TQ3797 3901] and outbuilding complex between 1842 and 1873, there is also documentary evidence that describes Ruff Croft in 1844 as consisting of ‘a cottage, barn and 2 crofts together with 4 cottages [the ‘new cottages’ that became known as Woods Cottages (see below)]’ and the description, shortly after its enfranchisement in 1860, as  ‘6 acres, a messuage, buildings and cottages’, a messuage at this date implying a building of higher social status than a cottage.

 

In 1851, the census records do not distinguish Ruff Croft as a separate property, instead all the cottages in this area are recorded as being on ‘East Grinstead Common’.  However, from the most logical route of the enumerator it would appear that Ruff Croft was still being occupied as a single cottage in the occupation of John Pattenden, a farmer of 8 acres, with his wife Frances and their family, having succeeded Thomas Taylor who was by 1851, residing at one of the four ‘new cottages’ (later known as Woods Cottages, (see below).  John Pattenden, had been born at Mercers at North End (see below) in 1823, the son of William and Amelia Pattenden [for further information see Handout, Pattenden Family of Felbridge, SJC 06/01].  Although described as a farmer in 1851, by 1861 John Pattenden and his family had moved to 47, Mitcham Road, Croydon, where he was working as a sawyer and had been succeeded at what had been known as Ruff Croft by James White.  It would appear that John Pattenden was sole occupier of the property in 1851 but by 1861 the property was again in two dwellings, the second dwelling occupied by Thomas Jupp.

 

On 3^rd September 1860, Thomas Thornton, was granted the enfranchisement of the property known as Ruff Croft and on 5^th September 1860, he sold the freehold property, comprising of ‘6 acres, a messuage, buildings and cottages’ to Edward Wood, a farmer of East Grinstead.  He, like Thomas Thornton, did not reside at the dwellings on Ruff Croft but rented them out.  In 1861, the messuage (the dwelling house of Ruff Croft) had become known as Woodland Cottages and the four ‘new’ cottages were known as Woods Cottages (see below). 

 

In the 1861 census, Woodlands Cottages was in the occupation of James White and his family who were living in one half of the cottage with Thomas Jupp, a stone mason, and his family in the other half.  James White had been born in East Grinstead about 1805, the son of Robert and Ann White.  He was also the uncle of William White who was living at Woods Cottages in 1861 (see below), Thomas White who was living at Woodlands Cottages in 1871 (see below) and Richard White who was living at Croft Cottages in 1881 (see below).  In 1843, James had been working as a groom and by 1851 was living with his family near Hackeden Farm, East Grinstead, where he is was recorded as farming four acres.  Sometime between 1851 and 1861 the White family moved to Woodlands Cottages where James was recorded as a bailiff over 50 acres, this may imply that he was working for the Stenning family, who at the time were expanding their interests in the North End area and held Chantlers (see above) a farm to the southwest of their growing stronghold at Halsford.  It has not yet been possible to determine how long James White and his family resided at Woodlands Cottages but they had been succeeded by Sarah Penfold by 1871, when the property was addressed as ‘London Road’, the cottages being accessed off London Road and not part of East Grinstead Common.  Thomas Jupp (also known as Thomas Jupp Payne), head of the other household, had been born in Worth, Sussex, between 1829 and 1833 (depending upon record source), the son of Stephen Jupp and his wife Jane née Payne.  By 1871, Thomas Jupp and his family had left Woodlands Cottages (formerly Ruff Croft) and were living in Imberhorne Road [now known as Imberhorne Lane] before moving by 1881, to 34, North End, from where Thomas died in 1905.  As a point of interest, many of Thomas Jupp’s children settled in the North End/Imberhorne Lane area in later life.  In 1871, the Jupp family was succeeded at Woodlands Cottages by John and Ann Gates, and in 1871 the cottages were simply addressed as ‘London Road’, still accessed off London Road via the track over East Grinstead Common.

 

Sarah Penfold, head of one household, had been born about 1796 in Lindfield, Sussex, and had married John Penfold.  In 1851, John and Sarah Penfold and their family were living at Fairlight Farm in East Grinstead but by 1861, after John’s retirement from farming, the couple had moved to the North End area, the description of their new home given in the 1861 census as ‘London Road’, the property located between Rose Cottage at the northern end of Imberhorne Lane and the northern end of East Grinstead Common (exact location not yet pinpointed).  Sometime after the death of John Penfold in 1864, and before 1871, Sarah had moved to one of the cottages formerly known Woodlands Cottages aka Ruff Croft.  Sarah remained there until her death on 3^rd November 1877 when she was succeeded by Edward Marden, a labourer, and his family; the property becoming known as Croft Cottage by 1881.  John Gates, head of the other household, had been born about 1840, and in 1881 was recorded as being a labourer.  On 15^th October 1864, John Gates married Ann Wheeler, who had been born in Lingfield, Surrey, in about 1843.  By 1881, John and Ann Gates had left the cottage, formerly known as Woodlands Cottages, aka Ruff Croft and were succeeded by Richard White, a gardener, and his family. 

 

On 24^th January 1874, Edward Wood devised the freehold of Ruff Croft comprising of ‘6 acres, a messuage, buildings and cottages at East Grinstead’ to his grandson, Charles Cooper.  It appears that Edward Wood held a mortgage against the property to the value of £331 18s 1d, because on 10^th March 1876, Edward Absolom and William Austen Pearless, both of East Grinstead, enter the property for the sum of the mortgage.  By October 1876, Charles Cooper had died and on 2^nd March 1877, his executors John and George Glaysher, together with Edward Absolom and William Austen Pearless sell the property comprising of ‘a cottage, barn and 5 crofts’ to Mary Child Stenning for the sum of £668 1s 1d and the out-standing mortgage of £331 18s 1d was eventually paid off, leaving a fairly sizable profit.  

 

In 1881, the property had become known as Croft Cottage, a pair of semi-detached dwellings that would remain as such for the rest of their duration.  Edward Marden, living in one of the cottages, had been born in East Grinstead in 1854, the son of Henry Marden and his wife Rebecca née Jenner.  Edward spent his youth growing up in the Felbridge Water area near Harts Hall (now the site of Felbridge Court) and Imberhorne Road [Lane] area before moving to Croft Cottage sometime between 1871 and 1881.  In 1877, Edward married Alice Elsey, who had been born in Ardingly, Sussex, in 1858.  Edward and Alice had at least two children but both had sadly died by 1883 and Alice sadly died in 1882.  In 1884, Edward re-married and had a further five children with his second wife Sarah.  Sometime between 1881 and 1891, Edward Marden and his family left Croft Cottage being succeeded by Thomas Jupp and his family, the property then known as Halsford Farm.  Living next to Edward Marden was Richard White (registered at birth as Whyte) who had been born in East Grinstead in 1848, the son of Richard Whyte and his wife and Selena née Goldsmith.  Richard junior was the nephew of James White who had been living at Woodland Cottages in 1861 (see below), and cousin to William White living at Woods Cottages in 1861 (see below) and Thomas White living at Croft Cottages in 1881 (see below).  On 2^nd November 1872, Richard White junior married Sarah Ann Baldwin at Lingfield, Surrey; Sarah being born in Lingfield in 1856 the daughter of Edward and Selena Baldwin, who in 1871 were living in Black Row (see below).  At the time of his marriage, Richard White was recorded as working as a gardener, the occupation he continued for the remainder of his life.  By 1891, the White family had moved from Croft Cottage to the newly constructed Yaxley Cottages, North End (the re-developed site of Black Row) built in 1878, from where Richard White died in 1894.  In 1891, the White family were succeeded at Croft Cottage by Ellen Agates and her family.   

 

In 1891, the property was known Halsford Farm and Halsford Farm Cottage, with Thomas Jupp occupying Halsford Farm and Ellen Gates occupying Halsford Farm Cottage.  Thomas Jupp had been born in Preston on the outskirts of Brighton, Sussex, in 1811, the son of George Jupp and his wife Naomi née Furlonger.  Thomas Jupp married Anne Lewis, the daughter of John Lewis, a shopkeeper.  This was probably Thomas’ second marriage, his first wife and a male child having died in 1841.  Thomas and Anne settled first in St Pancras where he worked as a plasterer but by 1881 had moved to the then recently constructed Yaxley Cottages at North End where he was working as a carter, before moving to Halsford Farm.  Thomas Jupp’s neighbour in the other cottage, known in 1891 as Halsford Farm Cottage, was Ellen Agates (also known as Ellen Gates) who had been born in 1848 and is recorded in the 1891 census as ‘living off own means’ and was the un-married daughter of the absent head of the household, her father Richard Gates (former farmer of Killicks/Copyhold Farm in East Grinstead) and his wife Ann.  Also living at Halsford Farm Cottage with Ellen Agates [Gates] was a 61 year old lodger named Thomas Agates [Gates], a farm labourer and possible brother of Richard Gates; and 16 year old William Agates [Gates] listed as the grandson of the head of the household Richard Gates.  Thomas Jupp and his family and the Agate [Gates] family had left Halsford Farm/Halsford Farm Cottage by 1901 being succeeded by James Terry Hill, the property then known as The Farm, Northend.    

 

In 1901, The Farm, Northend, appears to be in the sole occupation of James Terry Hill and his family.  James Terry Hill had been born in Worth, Sussex, on 25^th March 1854, the base born son of James Terry and Anne Hill.  This branch of the Terry family originated from the Crawley Down area and had lived at Parkfields Farm, Hophurst Lane, Crawley Down [for further information see Handout, Parkfields, SJC 05/05].  After James Terry Hill’s marriage to Jane Langford in 1882, they settled first in Hastings before moving to East Grinstead, where in 1891 the family were living with Jane’s brother Henry Langford and his family at the Timber Yard in East Grinstead where Henry Langford was the foreman; James Terry Hill was working as a gardener.  From family legend the Hill family had moved to The Farm, Northend by 1890 as tragically Ernest, their third child, died in a cot fire there.  This would mean that the last two Hill’s children, Harry and Catherine, were born at the property The Farm, Northend.  In 1908, James Terry Hill and his family moved to Acacia Cottage, Crawley Down Road, Felbridge, to care for his elderly parents [for further information see Handout, Acacia Cottage, SO 03/07] and The Farm Northend, reverted to dual occupancy with Thomas Lewis Jupp and his family in one side and Edward Creasey and his family in the other, the property being called The Croft in 1911.  At this date, both dwellings consisted of four rooms.

 

Thomas Lewis Jupp was the son of Maria Jupp who in 1891 had been living with her parents Thomas and Ann Jupp, at Halsford Farm (see above).  In 1896, Thomas Lewis Jupp married Barbara Jane Roberts and they had one daughter called Hilda Annie, born in Worth in 1898.  In 1911, Thomas was working as a house painter having moved from 3, Yaxley Cottages, North End, where he and his family had been living in 1901.  Thomas Jupp’s neighbour Edward Creasey had been born in Felbridge on 5^th February 1870, the son of George Creasey and his wife Amelia née Dearling.  Edward spent his youth living at 2, Albany Cottages, Crawley Down Road, Felbridge, before his marriage to Emmie Webber in 1906.  Edward and Emmie later moved to 39, North End, from where he died in 1940.

 

By 1920, the pair of cottages known as The Croft had been joined by the housing association dwellings of  Halsford Lane (on the northern side), Halsford Croft and Halsford Green [for further information see Handout, Builders of Felbridge – W M Heselden & Sons, MH/JIC/SJC 09/17], the whole complex covering Ruff Croft.  By 1928, both the Jupp and Creasey families had left The Croft, which at that date had become known as Croft Cottages.  Living in no.1 was Abraham Brooker, a gardener, and his family, with G Amos and his family in no.2.  By 1939, Edward Page and his family were living in no.1 and Walter Chewter and his family were in no.2.  The Pages were still in no.1 in 1953 as were the Chewters in no. 2, in fact the Chewters didn’t move out until 1960 when they were succeeded by Charles Howell and his wife Joyce née Prebble who resided there until shortly before the demolition of the cottages in 1964/5, being replaced by nos. 43 to 46, Halsford Green. 

 

Although Croft Cottages have been demolished, we can still get an idea of what the cottages were like from the documented memories of Joyce Chewter, daughter-in-law of Walter and Jane Chewter who lived at Croft Cottages for a number of years (see above) and two pictures of Croft Cottages that survive, a photograph from the Chewter family archive and a painting by Maurice Owden (son-in-law of Catherine Pentecost, née Hill, born at Croft Cottages in 1903); both pictures dating to the late 1950’s.  From the documented memories of Joyce Chewter, she said that she had been led to believe that the cottages had originally been built as a farmhouse, which had then been converted as two cottages – one with 3 bedrooms and one with 2 bedrooms.  She recalled that both cottages had large inglenook fireplaces and, in the time of the Chewter’s residency, no.2 was a 2-bedroom cottage with a kitchen and sitting room; both being cottages accessed via Halsford Lane.  A study of the photograph and picture suggest that Croft Cottages was originally a long range with a half-hipped roof. The walls were rendered on the ground floor and weather-boarded on the first floor with small first floor windows underneath the eaves. There were two chimney stacks, one appears to have four flues whilst the other only has two. There was a gabled facewing added to the range with large windows on the first floor. The original structure was extended at one end with a single storey addition containing a single flue chimney stack, this is likely to have been used as a washhouse or other utilitarian use.

 

Woods Cottages

In 1816, the site of what became known as Woods Cottages [TQ 3803 3902] was part of Ruff Croft, adjacent to the recently enclosed plot 76 of  East Grinstead Common in the occupancy of Thomas Simmonds, the same Thomas Simmonds that held the copyhold of Ruff Croft in 1816 (see above).  In 1816, the only structures on Ruff Croft were the original cottage [TQ3798 3899] and barn [TQ3795 3902].  However, sometime between 1816 and 1821, the census records suggest that the cottage may have been sub-divided as the census records just one house in the occupation of ‘Thomas Taylor and others’, presumably the ‘others’ went to make up the three families residing in the one house.  In 1831, the census records Thomas Taylor in ‘one house’ (Ruff Croft, see above) and ‘one house’ in the occupation of Henry Mitchel.  This would imply that there were two separate dwellings on Ruff Croft by 1831.

 

As established above, in 1830, Thomas Taylor applied for a loan for £200 against Ruff Croft, then comprising of a ‘cottage, barn and 2 crofts’.  In 1838, he asked for a second loan, this time for £110 against Ruff Croft, then comprising of ‘1 cottage and 4 crofts, plus 4 cottages lately built on said property, 2 un-occupied and 2 in the occupation of William Payne and William Terry’.  From this is it obvious that between 1830 and 1838, four ‘new’ cottages had been built on Ruff Croft.  In 1841, these four cottages were in the occupation of William Payne and his wife Mary; Elizabeth Terry and her family; William Burt and his family; and Henry Mitchell and his family.  However, the 1842 East Grinstead tithe and apportionment shows that there were two structures in plot 2289 described as cottages, in the ownership of John Taylor who was also recorded as holding Ruff Croft in 1842 (see above).  To have four households in two cottages would imply that they were either semi-detached properties or that each cottage was home to two separate households. The eastern cottage [TQ3803 3902] was in the occupation of William Payne and Elizabeth Terry, and the western cottage [TQ3801 3905] was in the occupation of William Burt and Henry Mitchell.  In 1841, the address given for these dwellings was ‘East Grinstead Common’, and it remained as such until sometime between 1861 and 1871 when the dwellings became known as Woods Cottages, after the purchase of the copyhold by Edward Wood in 1860. 

 

William Payne had been born in Sussex in about 1801 and in 1841 was working as an agricultural labourer, living in the eastern cottage with his wife Anne, also born in Sussex about 1801.  As this information is based purely on the census entry it has unfortunately not been possible to conclusively track either of them in later census records and they had left the cottages by 1851 being succeeded by William Heasman and his family.

 

Elizabeth Terry was the head of the next household in the cottages in 1841.  Elizabeth had been born in Hartfield, Sussex, in about 1806.  In 1841, she was recorded as a widow (husband William Terry having died in 1839) living with her five children at the cottage.  Elizabeth Terry was still in the occupation of the cottage in 1851, but was succeeded by William Holman sometime between 1851 and 1861, when she moved to live with her son John Terry and his family at Elm Cottages, London Road, East Grinstead.

 

William Burt was the head of the next household in 1841, probably the eastern part of the western cottage.  William Burt had been born about 1802, and in 1841 was working as a blacksmith.  Living with him was his wife Sarah and their family and from the births of his children it would suggest that the Burt family moved to the East Grinstead area after 1834.  William Burt and his family had left the property by 1851 being succeeded by Thomas Taylor, formerly of Ruff Croft. 

 

Henry Mitchell was living in the last household of the cottages in 1841, the western end of the western cottage.  Henry Mitchell had been born in 1778, the son of Henry and Sarah Mitchel and was probably the Henry Mitchel referred to in the 1831 census.  In 1841, Henry Mitchell was working as an agricultural labourer and living in his household was his wife Jane, born in Tandridge in about 1781, daughter Diannah (also known as Dinah and Diana) born about 1818 and grand-daughter Eliza Mitchell born in East Grinstead about 1838.  By 1851, Henry Mitchell and his family had moved to SlabbCastle in Ashurst Wood, Sussex, being succeeded at the cottage on East Grinstead Common by Richard Theobald[s].

 

In 1851, William Heasman had succeeded William Payne in the southern-most cottage, the address still given in the census records as ‘East Grinstead Common’.  William Heasman had been born in Edenbridge, Kent, in about 1820, the son of Henry Heasman, a gardener.  In 1851, William Heasman was working as an agricultural labourer and living with him was his wife Amelia, who had been born in Lingfield, Surrey, in 1815, the daughter of William Pattenden and his wife Amelia née Dearling (see below), and their nine children.  The Heasman family were still living in the property in 1861, William working as a lath cleaver, along with sons William and John.  However, the Heasman family had left the cottage by 1871, being succeeded by Thomas Whyte; the cottages by then known as Woods Cottages after their freehold owner, Edward Wood.

 

Elizabeth Terry was still in the next cottage in 1851 having been there in the 1841 census, however, she had moved by 1861 being succeeded by George Holman.  The adjacent cottage was in the occupation of Thomas Taylor (see above) who had moved there from Ruff Croft sometime between 1841 and 1851.  Living with Thomas Taylor as his house keeper was Elizabeth Gatton (see above) who had been his neighbour at Ruff Croft in 1841.  Thomas Taylor died in 1859, aged eighty-four and Elizabeth Gatton had moved on by 1861 being succeeded at the property by William White.

 

The last household of the cottages in 1851 was the Theobald[s].  Richard Theobald[s], who had been born in Edenbridge, Kent, on 21^st April 1805, the son of Jacob and Martha Theobalds, his wife Mary Ann née Kilner and their eight children.  Although Richard Theobalds started his working life as a labourer, by 1839 he had become a butcher, the occupation he was still following in 1851 when living at the cottage, although by 1861 he had moved on and had been succeeded by Elizabeth Groves.         

 

In 1860, the four cottages were known as Woods Cottages, after the freehold owner Edward Wood who had purchased the freehold of Ruff Croft, including the four cottages, from Thomas Thornton.  However, in the 1861 census the cottages were still given the address of ‘East Grinstead Common’, with William Heasman still in the occupation of the eastern-most cottage.  However, he was to be succeeded at the property by Thomas Whyte sometime between 1861 and 1871.  In 1861, William Heasman’s neighbour was George Holman and his family who had succeeded Elizabeth Terry sometime between 1851 and 1861.

 

George Holman had been born in East Grinstead in 1827, the son of William and Ann Holman.  In 1851 George was lodging with Mary Dyer and her son William at Black Row (see below), the row of cottages that were situated a little further west of Woods Cottages.  In 1855, George married Mary Dyer who was the widow of William Dyer who had died in 1852 leaving Mary with a young son called William who had been born in Lingfield in 1847.  Mary appears to have had some disappointments with he married life as she was already a widow when she married William Dyer, having been born Mary Kenward in about 1828.  Mary had a was more successful marriage with George Holman having at least seven children together, including Alice, their second eldest daughter, who would eventually marry Edmund Heasman, the son of William and Amelia Heasman, their next-door neighbours.  In 1861, George Holman was working as a lath renderer and the Holman family were still living at the property in 1871, at which time the cottages were known as Woods Cottages.

 

In 1861, the first of the western-most Woods Cottages was in the occupation of William Whyte/White, a sawyer, and his wife Elizabeth, their family and a lodger by the name of George Box.  William Whyte had been born in Baldwins Hill, East Grinstead, in about 1830, the son of John and Mary White.  In 1851, he was still living with his parents at the Hermitage, Wells Bottom, off Baldwins Hill.  In 1856, William White married Elizabeth Ann Gear and by 1861, they and their young family were living at Woods Cottages, along with a lodger by the name of George Box.  William White was the nephew of James White who was living at Woodland Cottages in 1861 (see above), the brother of Thomas White who was living in Woods Cottages in 1871 (see below) and cousin of Richard White who was living at Croft Cottage in 1881 (see above).  William White and his family had left Woods Cottages by 1871 moving to work as a sawyer at Saint Hill, East Grinstead, being succeeded at Woods Cottages by Ellen Dyer.

 

In 1861, Elizabeth Groves and her family were living next door to William White.  Elizabeth Groves had been born Elizabeth Sandles in Heathfield, Sussex, on 3^rd October 1811, the daughter of George and Hannah Sandles.  Elizabeth married George Groves and the Groves family had moved to Forest Row by 1844 where Robert was working as a miller but unfortunately Robert died in 1859 and by 1861 Elizabeth had moved to Woods Cottages.   Elizabeth Groves remained at Woods Cottages until her death in the summer of 1871, listed as a ‘parish pauper’, being the last recorded occupant for this property.    

 

In 1871, Thomas Whyte/White was occupying the western-most of Woods Cottages having succeeded William Heasman sometime between 1861 and 1871.  Thomas Whyte, the brother of William White (see above) had been born in East Grinstead in 1848, the son of John and Mary White.  In 1861, Thomas was living with his parents at the Hermitage, Wells Bottom, off Baldwins Hill, working as a labourer, and married Emma Gibbs at the end of 1870, so potentially Woods Cottages was their first married home.  Thomas White’s family were probably the last occupants of this property and had moved to Smithy Cottage, Ashurst Wood by 1881.  The White’s next door neighbour at Woods Cottages in 1871 were George Holman and his family who had been in residence in 1871, and like the White family were probably the last occupants of this property, the Holman family having moved to Felbridge Road, near Wells Bottom, East Grinstead by 1881.

 

In 1871, Ellen Dyer and her daughter Frances were living next to George Holman and his family at Woods Cottages.  Ellen Dyer had been born Ellen Tildsly Hamilton in Lewisham, Kent, in 1846, the daughter of Thomas P and Amy Hamilton and had married William Dyer, step-son of George Holman, in 1868, with whom she’d had one child, Frances born in 1870.  The last child that Ellen and William Dyer had registered in East Grinstead was in the March quarter of 1877, the year that Ruff Croft, including the site of Woods Cottages, was sold to Mary Child Stenning, except the sale documents make no reference to the existence of Woods Cottages (see below).  The Dyer family, like the Holmans next door were probably the some of last occupants of Woods Cottages.  Living next to Ellen Dyer and her daughter in the northern-most of Woods Cottages was Elizabeth Groves who had been in residence in 1861, but as already established, Elizabeth Groves died at the end of 1871 and again was the last recorded occupant of that property.

 

From map evidence, the western pair of Woods Cottages [TQ3081 3905] had been lost and rebuilt adjacent to/abutting the eastern pair of Wood Cottages [TQ3803 3902] sometime between 1842 and 1873.  On 28^th January 1874, when Edward Wood devised Ruff Croft to his grandson Charles Cooper, the description was for ‘6 acres, messuage [TQ3797 3901], buildings and cottages [Woods Cottages]’.  However, on 2^nd March 1877, when the property was sold by John and George Glaysher, the executors of Charles Cooper’s will, along with Edward Absolom and William Austen Pearless to Mary Child Stenning, the four cottages are missing from the description, the document only listing a ‘cottage [TQ3797 3901], barn and 5 crofts’, the absence of Woods Cottages is also confirmed by the sale plan attached to the conveyance.  The absence of the four cottages is also apparent from the lack of census entries for any of the four cottages in 1881.  Sadly no known image survives of Woods Cottages in any of their forms.

 

Summary of the development of Ruff Croft, including Woods Cottages

From the documentary evidence a dwelling referred to as a messuage, tenement or cottage [TQ3798 3899], together with a barn [TQ3795 3902], were built upon the copyhold property known as Ruff Croft sometime between 1597 and 1611, possibly under the direction of Nicholas Terrie.   This cottage would have been timber-framed and most probably had a smoke bay at one end that partially contained the smoke from the open heating and cooking hearth on the floor beneath it.  A small dwelling is unlikely to have been built with a brick chimney at this date.  In 1824, Thomas Simmonds, the then copyholder, was granted permission to fell three oak trees for the ‘repair of buildings and fences of the premises’.  This would suggest that the ‘buildings’ included the original cottage and barn. 

 

In 1842, a ‘house and buildings’ appear on the East Grinstead tithe map in plot 2288, probably the original cottage and barn referred to in 1611 along with an additional outbuilding [TQ3797 3902], the date of its construction is unknown but it was possibly connected with the grant to Thomas Simmons in 1824.  Also standing in plot 2288 were Woods Cottages.

 

Sometime between 1842 and 1873 the original Ruff Croft cottage [TQ3798 3899] was demolished and replaced by a new dwelling [TQ3797 3901] comprising of two households.  The location of this dwelling was west of the original site of the Ruff Croft cottage but still within plot 2288.  By 1895, the O/S map shows that the old barn had disappeared, the ‘new’ cottage had been greatly extended and a three-sided group of possible farm related outbuildings [TQ3801 3901] had been constructed to the east of the dwelling, as well as a smaller structure [TQ 3799 3898] to the south of the outbuildings.  In 1895, the ‘new’ cottage is depicted as being two separate dwellings, with a well at the south corner of the structure.  By 1895, map evidence shows that small extensions had been added to either end of the structure with what could be a porch or facewing added to each dwelling on the south-eastern elevation.

 

Between 1881 and 1911 the ‘new’ cottage went by several names known as Croft Cottage in 1881, Halsford Farm and Halsford Farm Cottage in 1891, The Farm, Northend in 1901, The Croft in 1911 settling with Croft Cottages, numbers 1 and 2 by 1928.  This pair of cottages remained known as Croft Cottages until they were demolished.

 

However, the original cottage and barn and replacement cottages and outbuildings as discussed here, were not the only structures to be built on Ruff Croft, there were also the cottages that became known as Woods Cottages, which were built on a parcel of Ruff Croft between 1830 and 1838 by Thomas Taylor.  These cottages were originally built as two pairs of semi-detached cottages in two separate plots but sometime between 1842 and 1873 the western pair of cottages [TQ3801 3905] had gone and a pair of semi-detached cottages had been built adjacent to/abutting the eastern pair of semi-detached cottages [TQ3803 3902].  Eventually, all four of Woods Cottages had disappeared by 1877 when Ruff Croft was purchased by Mary Child Stenning.  However, Croft Cottages were still standing and continued to be lived in until their demolition in 1964/5.  Today Ruff Croft and all the cottages and outbuildings that once stood on it have been redeveloped as Halsford Lane, Halsford Croft and Halsford Green.

 

North End (west side)

Black Row/Black Cottages

The history and development of the lost properties known as Black Cottages/Black Row has also been difficult to unravel.  Unlike Ruff Croft, this plot was not part of the manor of Imberhorne; instead it was an early freehold property once part of the Common of East Grinstead, held by the Sackville/De La Warr family.  As a freehold property there are fewer references to it in the records of the Sackville/De La Warr family as there was not the need to record when it changed tenants. As such, the following is based on a combination of the East Grinstead Land Tax records, map evidence, the East Grinstead tithe map and apportionment, O/S maps dating between 1805-1895, census records and Stenning documents. 

 

The earliest reference so far found for Black Row/Black Cottages [TQ3788 3918] is on the Draft O/S map of 1805/08, which depicts a rectangular structure on the site of the cottages, implying that the cottages pre-date the turn of the 19^th century.  In 1816, the enclosure of East Grinstead Common map records that the strip of land abutting the site of the cottages, which are also depicted on this map, was in the occupation of Thomas Ellis, potentially a collar and harness maker of East Grinstead.  Thomas Ellis also appears in the land tax records from 1811, paying for two freehold properties in East Grinstead, one being 10/- and the other 12/- (rising to 13/- from 1820).  Tracking these two values through the land tax records it became apparent that it was the 10/- tax that was related to the plot of Black Row/Black Cottages.  In 1816, Thomas Ellis was recorded as being in the ‘occupation of the freehold property’ and in 1821, the freehold property was recorded as being ‘houses’.  However, the census records of 1821 record that the property was in the occupation of ‘John Readey and others’ comprising of one house occupied by two families, the main occupation being related to agriculture. 

 

In 1824, George Ellis (any relationship or connection with Thomas Ellis has not yet been proved) was recorded paying the 10/- land tax and was also recorded as being in the occupation of the property, although in 1825 and 1826 ‘Brooker and others’ were recorded as paying the land tax and being in the occupation of the property.  On 28^th March 1827, Thomas Ellis took sold the property to James Sanderson with William, Henry, John, James and Amelia Young, Thomas Humphrey and Sarah (née Young) his wife, and Thomas Robert Burt all named as parties to the transfer. In 1827, the land tax of 10/- was paid by James Sanderson, also recorded as being the occupier of the property.  In 1831, the census records the property in the occupation of James Argent, Thomas Argent and John East, each as head of a household occupying three separate houses with their families; their occupations recorded as labourers, although ‘Sanderson and Readey’ pay the land tax until 1837 when those listed as paying the land tax are ‘Trill, Ready and others in occupation’.  James Sanderson was a builder of East Grinstead and on his death in 1832, his will gave by codicil, ‘a piece of land at East Grinstead Common, lately purchased (in 1830) from Thomas Ellis’ to his wife Elizabeth Sanderson (née Godley) and their daughter Harriet Trill; Harriet had married Thomas Trill, a draper, later wine merchant, on 11^th August 1829.  It is assumed that this piece of land was part of the plot of Black Row/Black Cottages. 

 

In 1841 the census records the property as two ‘cottages’ on ‘East Grinstead Common’, the first cottage had two families living in it, that of James Buckland and John Argent, and the second cottage likewise had two families living in it, that of Thomas Taylor and James Marden.  James Buckland was an agricultural labourer who had been born in Lingfield, Surrey, between 1797 and 1801 (depending on which record is used), and living with him was his wife Mary and their family.  The Buckland family had moved to Baldwins Hill, East Grinstead, by 1851, being succeeded at the property by Edward Coomber.  John Argent (aka Agent) was also an agricultural labourer who had been born in Lingfield in 1801, the son of John and Mary Agent.  John Agent jnr. had married Dinah Cockrell, the widow of William Cockrell, born Dinah Dearling in 1796.  By 1851, the Agent family had moved up East Grinstead Common towards the Town of East Grinstead and were succeeded by George Pattenden.  Living next to the Argent’s was Thomas Taylor, an agricultural labourer, born in about 1819 (possibly related to either Thomas Taylor of Ruff Croft (see above) and/or Mary Taylor next door) and his wife Hannah and their family.  The Taylor family had moved by 1851, being succeeded by Mary Dyer.  The last household was that of James Marden, another agricultural labourer who had been born in East Grinstead in 1795.  Living with him was his wife Anne née Taylor who had been born in West Hoathly, Sussex, in 1793 and his mother-in-law, Mary Taylor who had been born in West Hoathly in about 1762.  The Marden family had moved to Baldwins Hill by 1851, being succeeded George Skinner.

 

In the East Grinstead tithe of 1842, what became known as Black Row/Black Cottages appears in plot 2296, described as ‘a cottage’, held together with plot 2295, owned by John Trill, in the occupation of John Gent and others.  We can assume that John Trill is related to Harriet and Thomas Trill, although no son by that name can be attributed to the couple.  As for John Gent, this may be John Argent/Agent, either miss-heard or miss-transcribed, especially as there was a John Argent/Agent recorded in the 1841 census as occupying one of the cottages, although there was also a Gent family living in Lingfield around this date. 

 

In 1851, the census again gives the address of the cottages as on ‘East Grinstead Common’, with the four heads of households being Edward Coomber, George Pattenden, Mary Dyer and George Skinner.  Edward Hayward Coomber was born in East Grinstead in 1827, the base born son of Harriet Coomber, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Coomber.  Living with Edward Coomber was his wife Mary Ann née Marden, born in East Grinstead in 1829, the daughter of Henry Marden and his wife Mary Ann née Skinner, and three children, including step-son George Marden.  By 1861, the Coomber family had moved to Imberhorne Lane, living at a cottage between Tilkhurst and Imberhorne Farm (exact location not yet pinpointed) and were succeeded by Henry Stone.  Living next to the Coomber family in 1851 was George Pattenden, a lath renderer, who had been born in East Grinstead in 1818, the son of William Pattenden and his wife Amelia née Dearling of Mercers (see below).  Living with George Pattenden was his wife Harriet (née Brown) and their family, along with a lodger by the name of James Buckland, an agricultural labourer, who had been born in East Grinstead in 1831.  The Pattenden family had moved by 1861, being succeeded by William Gatton.

 

Living next to the Pattenden family in 1851 was Mary Dyer, a seamstress, who had been born Mary Kenward in 1828.  In 1851, she was listed as head of the household, the wife of William Dyer, although he died in 1852 so was possibly not living with Mary and his son William Dyer at the time of the census.  Lodging with Mary Dyer in 1851 was George Holman, whom she married in 1855, the couple and her son William moving by 1861 to one of the cottages later known as Woods Cottages (see above); being succeeded at Black Row by James Skinner in 1861.  Living next to the Dyer household in 1861 was George Skinner and his family.  George Skinner, a former bricklayer turned agricultural labourer, had been born in Lingfield in 1799.  Living with George Skinner was his wife Louisa who had been born in Lingfield in 1803, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Gent, and their children.  Of their children, James Skinner was still living in Black Row in 1861 having succeeded Mary Dyer in her cottage, Ann Skinner married William Gatton, the son of Elizabeth Gatton of Ruff Croft in 1841 (see above), and in 1861 Ann and William were living at Black Row having succeeded George Pattenden in his cottage.  George Skinner died in 1860 but his wife Louisa remained in the same cottage, by 1871 known as Black Cottages.

 

On 6^th July 1852, an indenture was made on the four cottages between Thomas Trill and Thomas Bryer and on 22^nd November 1859 Thomas Trill transferred the property to Thomas Bryer, a draper, of 45, King William’s Street, London.  In 1861, the four cottages were known as Black Row and were in the occupation of Henry Stone, William Gatton, James Skinner and Louisa Skinner.  Henry Stone, a labourer, had been born in East Grinstead between 1826 and 1829 (depending on which documents you use), the son of Henry Stone.  Living with him was his wife Mary (née Gibb), born between 1831 and 1833 (depending on which documents you use), the daughter of Richard Gibb, and their children.  The Stone family remained at Black Row, later called Black Cottages, until sometime between 1871 and their demolition, which from map evidence was by 1873.  Living next to the Stone family in 1861 was William Gatton, an agricultural labourer, who had been born in East Grinstead in 1825, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Gatton (Elizabeth Gatton of Ruff Croft in 1841).  In 1861, William Gatton was a widower, having lost his wife Ann, the daughter of Louisa Skinner (next-door but-one neighbours in 1861), in February 1861.  Living next to the Gatton household was James Skinner and his family.  James Skinner had been born in 1828, the son of George and Louisa Skinner (therefore the brother-in-law of James Skinner) and he had married Mary Ann Gatton the daughter of William and Elizabeth Gatton (therefore the sister of William Gatton, their next-door neighbour).  Apart from the Skinner children, Elizabeth Gatton was also living with her son-in-law James Skinner and daughter Mary Ann at Black Row.  James Skinner and his family and Louisa Skinner had moved from Black Row by 1871, their dwellings listed as un-occupied.

   

In 1871, Black Row was known as Black Cottages and there were only two households, that of Henry Stone who had been in residence in 1861 and Edward Baldwin.  Edward Baldwin, a farm labourer, had been born in Lingfield, in 1825, and had married Selina Tingley, who had also been born in Lingfield, in 1824, the daughter of George Tingley.  Living with Edward and Selina Baldwin were their children, one of which, Sarah Ann, would marry Richard White in 1872, the couple living at Croft Cottage in 1881 (see above).  The other two cottages of Black Row were unoccupied in 1871 making the Stone and Baldwin families the last occupants of Black Row. 

 

On 25^th November 1872, Thomas Bryer conveyed Black Row amounting to 3a 1r 22p, ‘comprising of 4 cottages and buildings in the occupation of Jessie Avery and his under tenants [Henry Stone and Edward Baldwin]’ to William Stenning for the sum of £650.  Very shortly after, Black Row was demolished and does not appear on the 1873 O/S map.  Five years later in 1878, a block containing three cottages was built on the plot, east of the site of Black Row, adjacent to the main London Road, the plot then known as Yaxley Cottages (still standing) and field.  By February 1892, both Ruff Croft, including the site of Woods Cottages, enclosure plot 76 of East Grinstead Common and Yaxley Cottages and field, formerly the site of Black Row, amounting to 10a 3r 2p were in the ownership of William Vicesimus  Knox Stenning.

 

Sadly there is no known image of Black Row/Black Cottages [TQ3788 3918] but there is an indication of what they looked like given in the name.  For the cottages to be known as ‘black’ would suggest that their exterior had been weather-boarded and painted black with pitch for waterproofing.  

 

Mercers

The following history and development of the lost property on ‘Pt. of Mercers’ (known as Mercers in 1841) and its associated outbuildings is based on a combination of Imberhorne court records, map evidence, the East Grinstead tithe apportionment, census records and directories.  The history of the site, when in operation as a brewery c1841 to 1871, has been covered in a previous document (for further information on the East Grinstead Brewery and the North End Working Men’s Club see Handout, Eating and Drinking Establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07).  As such the following information helps fill in the early history of the site and the later history after the site ceased operating as a brewery.

 

‘Pt. of Mercers’ encompassed what is now part the site of the Imberhorne Allotments, known in 1597 as ‘land called Pulters als. Merres land, five crofts sometime Redneys’ in the occupation of Henry Mercer who had been granted the copyhold on 9^th May 1560, and a garden lying towards Picknock field, 20ac’, paying a copyhold rent for the total area of 6s  6½d.  The next record for ‘pt. of Mercers’ (henceforth referred to as Mercers in this document) dates to 1687, when it was recorded as ‘3 acres of land’ in the [copyhold] occupation of William Eastland and follows the same line of descent as Rowcroft until 1780; rental 1s 2d.  Thus in 1701, Thomas Eastland died and Mercers passed to his son William.  By 1739 it was in the hands of John Eastland who surrendered it to his son William.  On William Eastland’s death in 1739, the property, still described as ‘3 acres of land’ was passed to his son-in-law Thomas Humphrey.  In 1741, Thomas Humphrey surrendered Mercers to Edmund Chapman, of East Grinstead, an Inn Holder.  On gaining the copyhold of Mercers, Edmund Chapman was granted a license by the Imberhorne court to let the property to William Paine for 13 years, thus the lease would expire in 1754.  However, Edmund Chapman died in 1744 and his will devised the property to his wife Elizabeth for the rest of her natural life and on her death it was to pass to John and Stephen Sawyer, the sons of John Sawyer of East Grinstead, a mercer.

 

On the death of Elizabeth Chapman, John and Stephen Sawyer devised ‘3 pieces of land, pt. of Mercers’ to John Simmonds, a bricklayer, on 19^th October 1764.  On the death of John Simmonds, his will, proved on 3^rd April 1780, requested that Mercers, the ‘copyhold 3 acres’ in the occupation of his son John Simmonds, was to be sold and that his wife Ann Simmonds was to receive £5 from the sale and the remaining sale money was to be equally divided between his children, John, Bevis, Francis, Thomas, Sarah and Mary Simmonds.  In 1811, John Simmonds, a bricklayer of East Grinstead, took out a mortgage against the property consisting of ‘a messuage or tenement and 3 parcels of land, pt. of Mercers’.  The 1811 description includes ‘a messuage or tenement’ and map evidence suggests that it had been built by 1808.  In 1816, the same John Simmonds was recorded on the map of East Grinstead Common as also occupying two plots of land (enclosed pre-1816), now the site of Jaybee Stores at 17, North End, together with the dwellings called Ardencaple, Rose Cottage, Suntinge at the rear of Rose Cottage and 18 and 19, North End.  One plot abutted land occupied by Thomas Ellis (see above) on its south-eastern extent with the main London road on its east side.  The second plot abutted the first plot with the main London road on its north side and enclosure plots 90 (occupied by Samuel S Slater) and 91 (occupied by William Simmons) on its north side; both of the Simmonds plots abutted Mercers on their southern side.

 

In July 1817, John Simmonds surrendered to Maurice Halford Burrows, Gent. of East Grinstead (see above), for the sum of £195, what was described as ‘3 parcels of land, arable, meadow and pasture, 3 acres but recently measured as 4a 1r 7p, pt. of Mercers, previously Edmund Chapman and Elizabeth his wife, before Eastlands, once Paverells [there was an Isaac Peverell in East Grinstead around 1610’s/1630’s] and formerly Mercers, rent of 1s 2d and on part of it a message or tenement has been built some years’.  Maurice Halford Burrows retained the property until 24^th October 1820, when he sold the copyhold to William Pattenden, yeoman of East Grinstead, for the sum of £350.

 

In the 1821 census, William Pattenden is recorded as living in one house with his family of three males and three females, his occupation was a lath cleaver.  In 1827, William Pattenden was granted a license to fell ‘28 oak trees then standing on the copyhold of Mercers for repairs to the tenement’.  To be granted a license to fell 28 oak trees would suggest that either the property was in a really bad state of repair (although that would seem unlikely as it had only been built about 20 years earlier) or perhaps William Pattenden wanted to erect a new structure on the property.  The 1831 census records only one house for William Pattenden so the timber grant wasn’t used for a second dwelling.  By 1831, the Pattenden family had grown to five males and three females, the main occupation supporting the household listed as labouring.  However, from map evidence, a new structure [TQ3776 3926] had been erected in plot 2300 of the East Grinstead tithe.  The East Grinstead Tithe records that William Pattenden held over six acres of land, an increase of two acres compared with the purchased copyhold property from Maurice Halford Barrow in 1820, possibly acquiring the holding of John Simmonds of 1794, and the apportionment details that William Pattenden owned and occupied the following land in the North End area: plot 2297 (meadow), plot 2298 cottage [TQ3777 3921] and garden, plot 2299 (meadow), plot 2300 meadow and building [TQ3776 3926], plot 2301 (meadow) and plot 2302 (meadow).

 

The 1841 census records William Pattenden and his family still living at what was called Mercers; William was listed as a lath renderer and his son John as a brewer (perhaps the 28 oak tees had been used construct a brewery).  However, by 1851 John Pattenden had married and was living at Ruff Croft (see above) and the brewery business was being run by his father William and brother Thomas.  In April 1851, William Pattenden applied for and was granted a license to fell ‘7 oak trees for repair to his tenement of Mercers’.  However, William Pattenden died in 1852 and on 29^th March 1852, Amelia Pattenden, his wife, was admitted to Mercers.  On 28^th December 1852, Amelia sold the copyhold of the property to William Dearling of Hackbridge Mill, Carshlton, Surrey, a miller, for the sum of £270.  William Dearling was probably a relation of Amelia Pattenden née Dearling but as yet no direct link has been established.  In 1853, William Dearling re-applied for and was granted the license to carry out repairs to the ‘tenement of Mercers’; this would suggest that although William Pattenden had been granted the original license in 1851 he had not managed to start the work.  On 7^th May 1855, Mercers was enfranchised to William Dearling. 

 

Sometime between 1851 and 1861, Amelia Pattenden left Mercers and went to live at SackvilleCollege, East Grinstead, from where she died in 1869. In 1861, Edmund Wise and his family were living at Mercers.  Edmund Wise had been born in Bath, in about 1815, and in 1851 was working a victualler, although the 1861 census records him as a ‘cottager’ (defined as a yeoman, husbandman or craftsman), living with his wife Lucy (née Foat) and their son Edmund.  There is evidence to suggest that Edmund wise continued working the brewery (for further information on the East Grinstead Brewery and the North End Working Men’s Club see Handout, Eating and Drinking establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07).  By 1871, the Wise family had left Mercers and moved to Glen Vue (now known as Railway Approach) in East Grinstead where Edmund Wise was recorded as working as a brewer.   

 

In 1871, the census records two empty properties in the area of Mercers, with John Gallacher, his wife Jane and their family living at what was called Sussex Brewery.  Both John and Jane had been born in Scotland, John in about 1834, the son of Thomas and Alice Gallacher and Jane in about 1840, the daughter of William Stewart, both fathers being farmers.  In 1871, John Gallacher was working as a gardener, but had sadly died by 1881 at which time Jane and the Gallacher family had moved to Thornley Cottages, 41, North End (see below).

 

On 2^nd October 1871, William Dearling was called to face bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings and although no documentary evidence has yet appeared, it is probably around this date the Mercers left the ownership of William Dearling.  In 1873, from map evidence, the old cottage [TQ3777 3921] was still standing, depicted as a pair of semi-detached dwellings.  However, there seems to have been a re-configuration in plot 2300 between 1842 and 1873, as by 1873 the map shows three distinct sections at the southern end. The structure [TQ3776 3926] depicted on the tithe in 1842 appears to be still standing but had been joined by a smaller outbuilding and another structure [TQ3772 3929], the building depicted as a two units, possibly what became dwellings 18 and 19, North End.  With regards to the small outbuilding, the likely use was a wash-house as Jane Gallacher and later her daughters Mary and Elizabeth all give their occupation as laundress and later still, and a later resident, Caroline White also gave her occupation as a laundress.

 

By 1895, again from map evidence, the old cottage had gone, the structure [TQ3776 3926] had either been re-built or greatly extended, the small outbuilding was still standing, as were 18 and 19, North End (now divided off from the main plot), and a new structure [TQ3772 3926] had been built (now the site of Suntinge), the main plot encompassing just over 5 acres.  The site of the old cottage, along with much of the land between the eastern side of Imberhorne Lane and the stream that runs behind the houses on western side of North End, had been turned over to ‘Garden Allotments’ sometime between 1873 and 1895, possibly associated with the building of nos. 7-16, North End, five pars of semi-detached cottages built by the Blount family of Imberhorne to house some of their workforce.  From map evidence the 5-acre site with the three structures on it did not change again until sometime between 1910 and 1936 when three small outbuildings had appeared behind the structure [TQ3776 3926] (now the site of Jaybee Stores, the property operating as a shop from at least 1928 [for further information see Handout, Shopping Felbridge, Pt. 2, SJC 05/12]).

 

However, due to the explosion of property development that took place between 1881 and 1891 at North End, it has been difficult to determine which structure on the 5-acre plot was being used as a dwelling although it appears from the census records to have had only one dwelling on the site.  The most likely candidate to have been in occupation in 1881 was Charles Dolbery, a drayman, with his wife Eliza and son William.  They had been succeeded in 1901 by Abraham White, a general labourer and his and they remained there until 1901 and 1911.  In 1911, there were three households within one dwelling on the plot, Frederick Thomas Burchett, a sandstone quarryman, and his wife Eliza Mary occupying two rooms; Henry/Harry Buckland, a general labourer who had been lodging with the Whites in 1891 and 1901, and his wife Annie occupying three rooms; and Thomas Mabbott, a retired newsagent, and his wife Ann occupying one room.  From the number of rooms in the 1911 dwelling, it would suggest that the likely property would have been what is now Jaybee Stores, 17, North End, which is still currently standing, although it has not yet been established whether this building replaced the structure that appeared on the same location between 1873 and 1895.   

 

Summary of the development of Mercers

In 1805/8, a structure appears on the site of Mercers, probably the original cottage recorded on the property in 1811 when held by John Simmonds.  By 1842, the cottage [TQ3777 3921] had been joined by another structure [TQ3776 3926] described as a building in a meadow.  From map evidence, the original cottages appears to be a semi-detached property in 1873, although the 1871 census does record two empty dwellings with the Gallacher family living in the Sussex Brewery.  Also by 1873 a pair of semi-detached houses had been constructed at the northern end of the tithe plot 2300 (possibly 18 and 19, North End).  By 1895, the original cottage on ‘Pt. of Mercers’ had disappeared and the front of the plot, abutting the main London road had been subdivided upon which a semi-detached house had been built (18 and 19, North End) in a small strip at the western end, with three structures in the main part of the plot (now the site of Jaybee Stores, 17, North End, Ardencaple, Rose Cottage and Suntinge at the rear of Rose Cottage.  Sadly no known images survive of the original cottage on ‘Pt. of Mercers’.

 

East Grinstead Brewery, 32-33, North End

The East Grinstead Brewery began operating from the site of 32-33, North End [TQ3767 3932], sometime between 1876 and 1881 with brewer George Coomber living in the dwelling at the road side with the detached brewery [TQ3767 3931] behind.  In 1898, from map evidence, the brewery at 32-33, North End, had been connected to the dwelling house by a long thin structure.  The brewery building stood at the southwest extremity and was a two storey brick built structure with a gabled roof.

 

The single storey building had a slate roof and an early 20^th century photograph shows it was used as a bottle washing plant, possibly working alongside the brewing operation.

 

In 1892, George Coomber, supported by the Stennings of Halsford House (see above), established the North End Working Men’s Club that operated from the site of 32-33, North End, and around the same time the brewery was taken over by Bushell, Watkins & Company Ltd of Westerham in Kent.  However, George Coomber continued the brewery operation at the East Grinstead Brewery, trading under the name of Bushell, Watkins & Company Ltd, until around 1899.  Although the brewery had been taken over, the North End Working Men’s Club was retained.  Eventually the brewery operation ceased (the last advertisement for Bushell, Watkins & Company Ltd as brewers of North End appeared in 1905) but although they had ceased their brewing operation, the company still maintained control of the North End Working Men’s Club, by 1928 had become known simply as the North End Club.  It is believed that when the brewery operation was run along side the club, club members used the ground floor of the dwelling house as their club room.  Later the club took over the brewery building which housed a full size billiards table and later gaming machines, whilst the single storey ‘bottle washing’ room was used as the bar, lounge and socialising  area.

 

The North End Club remained open and active until October 1987 when fire wrecked the interior of the building shortly before completion of a refurbishment.  The club remained closed after the fire and over the ensuing years became a derelict, dangerous and unsightly building.  At the time of the fire, the club was the property of a registered Friendly Society held by three trustees whose names and whereabouts had become forgotten after thirteen years.  In 2000 they were traced and in the summer of 2006 the property was put up for sale (for further information on the East Grinstead Brewery and the North End Working Men’s Club see Handout, Eating and Drinking establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07).  Eventually, in 2014 work started on the re-development of the site.  This involved the demolition of the old buildings in order to replace them with two new buildings comprised of low level flats of different sizes.  Today the site comprises of 32-33, North End, one block replacing the original dwelling house of George Coomber (the appearance of which is very sympathetic to the adjacent dwellings, nos. 34 and 35, North End) and Old Brewery Court, 9, Imberhorne Lane, the second block replacing the site of the brewery building (not so sympathetic to its surroundings).  The external works included landscaping, the construction of bricked parking spaces and the provision of bike shelters.

 

Thornley Cottages, 40 & 41, North End

Thornley Cottages, 40 & 41, North End [TQ 3763 3936] were built sometime between 1876 and 1881.  The pair of semi-detached houses, each a mirror image of the other, were (from memory) the same design as nos. 38 & 39, North End.  They were built of a brown flecked brick with red brick detailing outlining the sash windows and doorways (arched top) and vertical detailing at the corners of the walls.  The roof was grey slate.  Entrance into each property was up a couple of steps and through adjacent doors at the front of each dwelling.  At the time of construction each dwelling consisted of a front room/parlour with a kitchen/living room behind with a small single storey scullery at the rear.  Upstairs there were three bedrooms.  The front room/parlour had a fireplace, the kitchen/living room was fitted with a cast iron range and there were small cast iron fireplaces in two of the bedrooms.  The small front gardens were laid to grass with a red tiled path leading to the steps to the house.  Each had a garden area at the rear.

 

The first householders, found in the 1881 cense were: no.40, James Maddex, a brick maker and his family, with Thomas Ferguson, a brick layer’s labourer, lodging with them; and no.41, Jane Gallacher (see above), a widowed laundress aged 41, with her family of nine children.  In 1891, the census records no.40, Thomas Stone a domestic gardener and his wife Martha, and no.41, Henry Hurst a brick burner and his wife Anna, both aged 70.  In 1901 the census records no. 40, Emma Goodwin, a widowed dressmaker aged 48 and her family of four children; and no. 41, Alfred Charles Bingham a domestic coachman (who worked for Rev. Thorpe of St John’s Church, Felbridge) and his wife Elizabeth and 5-week old daughter Florence (for further information see Handout, Binghams of Felbridge & The Bingham Diary, SJC 01/05).  Boarding with the Bingham family was Ernest Harding, a domestic gardener.  The 1911 census records no. 40, George Budgen, a gas stoker, and his family; and no.41, Alfred Paice, a blacksmith, and his family, together with lodger Albert White, a gardener.

 

By 1928, no.40 was occupied by Mrs Budgen (Clara, the widow of George Budgen (see above)) and no.41 was occupied by George Joslyn.  In 1939, no.40 was in the occupation of Douglas C Pritchard-James, a private gardener and his wife Gladys, along with Phyllis Sainsbury and one other person and no.41 was still in the occupation of George Joslin, listed as a master fruitier and greengrocer, along with William Baker, another master fruitier and greengrocer, and his wife and family.  Both Douglas C Pritchard-James and George Joslin were still in the occupation of their respective properties in 1953.

 

40 & 41, North End were demolished in about 1999/2000 and their sites incorporated, along with the site of 42, North End (see below), as part of the re-development of the land at the junction of Imberhorne Lane with the main London Road in June 2000, now occupied by the offices of Knighthood Corporate Assurance Services (see below).

 

Half Way House, 42, North End

This site, at the junction of Imberhorne Lane with the main London Road at North End (numbered as 42, North End), has been home to a variety of businesses over the years but is probably best remembered as being the site of the Half Way House [TQ 3761 3936].  However, the first property on the site housed Laurence Arnold’s boot repair business established sometime between 1918 and 1924.  In 1928, a second property had appeared on the site which was operating as a hairdressers (sometimes referred to locally as a barbers) run by Frederick Webber.  By 1930, Arnold’s boot repairs had relocated to Railway Approach in East Grinstead and Barnard J Richardson had established a coffee stall, originally operating from a wooden hut on the site at North End, which by 1934, had been re-named The Half Way House.  The wooden hut was eventually replaced by a brick-built structure. 

 

After several owners and proprietors including: Gerard Richardson, Charles and Lillian Kemp, Sheila Sloman and Donald and Irene Woodward (for more detailed information on the Half Way House see Handout, Eating and Drinking establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07), the Half Way House was eventually sold and converted as a Fina petrol station and garage, with flats above.  The petrol station and garage operated until the early 1980’s before closing by which time it had become a Mobil petrol station with repair workshops.  The buildings remained empty for many years before being redeveloped in June 2000 as offices, now occupied by Knighthood Corporate Assurance Services.

 

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Census records 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, FHA

Jupp Album, FHA

Handout, Eating and Drinking Establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07, FHWS

32-33, North End/Old Brewery Court, 9, Imberhorne Lane, http://cobaltpl.com/new-build/north-end-london-road-east-grinstead/

Thornley Cottages, 40 & 41, North End

O/S map 1873, 1879, FHA

Census records 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, FHA

O/S maps 1873 and 1895, FHA

Handout, Binghams of Felbridge & The Bingham Diary, SJC 01/05, FHWS

East Grinstead Directory, 1928, 1953, FHA

Census records, 1939, www.ancestry.co.uk

Half Way House, 42, North End

Handout, Eating and Drinking Establishments of Felbridge, Part I, SJC 05/07

Handout, Memories of StreamPark and The Birches by A J W Jones, SJC 05/01, FHWS

East Grinstead Directory, 1928, 1953, FHA

Census records, 1939, www.ancestry.co.uk