Felbridge & District History Group

Park Farm

Park Farm is located on the west side of the main A22, London to Brighton Road, at Woodcock Hill, Felbridge.  This document will cover the formation, history and development of the farm and identified farming practises together with the lives of some of the people associated with it.

 

Formation of Park Farm

The nucleus of Park Farm was created by the amalgamation of at least four separate holdings that can trace their routes back to at least the 1600’s – Cheals, Harmans, Burley Meades and Finches.  Cheals, a messuage, barn, outbuildings and land, was situated at the southern end of the park at Hedgecourt, known from at least 1652 as Parkelands, later known as Park Corner (for further details see Handout, Park Corner Farm, JIC/SJC 05/09 ); Harmans (a topic for a future Handout) was a property known as a ‘small farm’ in 1678 abutting the west side of the main London road (A22) through Felbridge; Burlyes Meades abutting Harmans on the north, consisting of a messuage, 2-bay barn and land was held by John Dudney in 1654, later incorporated as part of Harmans; and finally the fourth part, Finches consisting of a house and land in 1678, abutting Parkelands on the south and Harmans on the east.

 

Park Farm later incorporated a fifth holding, The Moats and associated woodland.  This was the original site of the manor house after the creation of Hedgecourt manor through the amalgamation of the manor of Tylemundesdon and one carucate of land in Lynglegh in 1290  (for further information see Handout, The Early History of Hedgecourt Manor and Farm, pt. I, JIC, SJC 11/11). 

 

Mid/Late 18^th Century

Cheals, Harmans (later including Burley Meades) and Finches travel as separate properties under individual tenants until 1730.  However, in 1730 the Land Tax payments for all three properties falls to one person, William Payne, implying that at that date they had been combined as a joint interest even if they were worked by individual sub-tenants.

 

In 1741 the ‘message and farm called Park Corner’ (formerly Parkelands) and ‘also another message and farm then late in the occupation of Edward Harman’ (Harmans) were purchased from Sir William Gage, Lord of the manor of Hedgecourt, by Edward Evelyn for the sum of £900.  The purchase of these two properties enabled Edward Evelyn to re-configure his estate at Felbridge and whilst the bounds of Harmans changed very little (only losing two fields on the west side of the holding abutting Park Corner), Park Corner changed beyond recognition through the incorporation of much of its south-eastern land holding being used to create the parkland and grounds associated with Edward Evelyn’s house, built on the site of what is now Whittington College.  Evidence for the reconfiguration of Park Corner Farm is based on the ‘removed’ lines found on the Bourd map of 1748  (for further details see Handout, Park Corner Farm, JIC/SJC 05/16 ), commissioned by Edward Evelyn to show the extent of his newly formed estate at Felbridge.  Attached to the Bourd map was a schedule of properties that included, Park Corner amounting to 80a 0r 20p with a ‘mainhouse and 3 barns in an enclosure of 3r 2p’ and one Hop Field (2r 23p), and Harmans amounting to 39a 0r 20p with a ‘messuage, barn, stable and outhouses’; the combined area of the two farms amounting to 119a 1r.

 

The Bourd map differentiated field usage by outlining each field in different colours, eg: yellow for arable, green for pasture/meadow and brown for woodland.  Comparing the field arrangements on the Bourd map with those found on the sale map for FelbridgePark in 1855 it is possible to get a rough idea of the field layout, field names and possible farming practises of Park Corner and Harmans in 1748.  Although both properties had woodland within their holding it should be remembered that, unless it was a Shaw (small wood or thicket), the woodlands would be the jurisdiction of the Lord of the Manor (or his Steward) and as such the tenants would not benefit from any sale of the timber taken from the woodland. 

 

It is of interest to have a break-down of land usage for Park Corner and Harmans as they would eventually form the majority of the land holding associated with Park Farm when it was created and allows for the comparison of changing farming practices in the late 18^th century and early 19^th century .

	Park Corner Farm			Harmans
Description	Acreage	%		Acreage	%
Buildings & Stacks	2	2½		½	1
Arable	37¼	47		10¾	28
Pasture/Meadow	35	44		18¼	48
Hops	½	½		1½	4
Shaw	5¼	6		7	19
Total	80			38
Woodland	15
Total	95

 

Both Park Corner and Harmans were practising mixed farming having fields of both arable and pasture/meadow.  However, it is most likely that only Park Corner was producing cereal crops for both human and animal consumption with 47% of the acreage devoted to arable, whereas at Harmans, with only 28% of the acreage devoted to arable, it would suggest that they were only producing animal feed to help see them through the winter months.  The high percentage of pasture/meadow land would imply they both had stock requiring grazing and grass for haymaking, again as animal feed through the winter months.  However, with the absence of any livestock records it’s impossible to determine whether the livestock consisted of sheep or cattle, or both.  Both  farms had a Hop Garden and the Bourd map provides the first reference to hop growing in Felbridge with 4½ acres of the total 8¾ acres found at Park Corner and Harmans in 1748 (for further information see Handout, Hop Fields of the Felbridge Area, SJC 09/01).  Also, Park Corner and Harmans had woodland that could be used as a cash crop but falls outside the acreage of the holdings because it belonged to the Lord of the Manor.  An example of timber as a cash crop can be found in the account books of Sir William Gage in 1718 with an entry detailing that 585 oaks trees were to be felled on his ‘Hedgecourt lands’ including Hedgecourt Farm, and the lands of Cheals (Park Corner) and Harmans.

 

By 1752 Park Corner had become Park Corner Farm and James Evelyn used it and Harmans as collateral to raise a mortgage with Cave Radcliffe of Chelsea, to the value of £700.  The document (in very poor condition) details the extent of the two holdings and whilst it is possible to correlate the majority of the field names and acreages of Harmans with later maps including the Godstone Tithe map of 1840 and the Felbridge Park sale map of 1855, it is much more difficult to equate many of the field names and acreages of Park Corner Farm with those of Park Farm even though it is obvious that Park Corner Farm was incorporated as part of Park Farm. 

 

Description or Field Name  (1855 Field name in italics)	Acreage	1855 Plot no.
Park Corner Farm 1752
Stable, barn, Main house, outhouses  (Pilbeams Cottage & Cottages)	02.50	Pts. 240, 241, 242 & 243
HopGarden  (Lay)	00.75	Pt. 240
2 yards	02.00	Pt. 241
Upper Meads and Lower Meads together	02.50	Pt. 237
Rail Platt Mead	02.50	Pt. 237
Upper Common Field  (Upper Warren Field)	06. 50	264
Little Three Acres	03.00	Pt. 237
Alder Platt	03.00	Pt. 240
[eaten] Field  (Crab Tree Field)	08.00	239
Further Lower Field with little Shaw thereunto belonging (ni [eaten] acres 19?) (Pt. of Mill field)	19.00	219
Upper Further Field (..7?..1/2 a)  (Pt. of Mill field)	07.50	219A
Grubb Coppice and Shaws thereunto belonging  (Wood & Hops)	10.00	230
Coppice Field  (Pt. of House Field)	07.00	227 & 228
Upper Spring Field  (Stackyard Mead)	09.00	217
Lower Spring Field  (Twelve Acres)	11.00	204
2 orchards and parcel of ground	01.00	Pt. 243
Total	95.00
Harmans
Messuage & farm with barn, stable outhouses, stack plot, yard, 2 orchards & Garden	01.50	222 & 223
Upper Field known as Three Acre Mead  (Meadow)	03.50	225
Upper Kents Bush  (Little Gate)	02.00	Pt.198
Barn Field  (Great Barn Field)	03.00	195 & pt. 196
Little Barn Field (Barn Field)	02.00	Pt. 196
The Shaw	01.50	Pt. 198
Middle Kents Bush  (Little Gate)	01.50	Pt. 198
Kiln Field and Shaws  (Kiln Field)	03.50	Pt. 196 & 197
Bottom Field  (Bottom Field)	02.50	Pt. 198
Hop Garden Field (Hop Garden Field)	01 50	Pt. 198
Little Barley Mead  (Burley’s Mead)	03.00	199
Great Barley Mead and Shaws  (Pilbeams Burleys)	04.50	Pt. 182
Rushetts  (Rushetts)	02.50	Pt. 182
Total	38.00

 

In 1752 Park Corner Farm was recorded as 95 acres whereas Harmans had remained unchanged at 38 acres, making a total of 133 acres between the two properties.  The increase in the size of Park Corner Farm is due partially to the incorporation of Upper Common Field (formerly part of ‘New Fields’ in 1748 and later known as Upper and Lower Warren Fields), which had been enclosed from Hedgecourt Common sometime before 1733.  The area of ‘New Fields’ had been owned by the Evelyn family prior to the purchase of Park Corner in 1741 (for further information see, Handout, The Felbridge Triangle, SJC 03/05) and  was bounded by three tracks that criss-crossed the common that are still discernable today.  The tracks equate to Crawley Down Road, Rowplatt Lane (for further details see Handout, Felbridge Rope Walk, SJC 02/05) and the track in the woodland behind the Felbridge Village Hall flanked by a row of Sweet Chestnut trees and beech trees, formerly Hedgecourt Road that was abandoned when the line of Copthorne Road became the preferred route.  Hedgecourt Road originally ran through the grounds of FelbridgeSchool, the woodland at the back of the Felbridge Village Hall and the back gardens of the houses in The Crescent, emerging in Rowplatt Lane to the south of Twitten Lane.  Having reconfigured Park Corner in 1748, through the creation of parkland associated with Edward Evelyn’s dwelling, it would make sense to incorporate previously owned farm land (New Fields) with the nearest farm, which in this case was Park Corner, as they both abutted the old route of Hedgecourt Road, New Fields on the south and Park Corner on the north. 

 

Unfortunately no details regarding the breakdown of the usage of the land has yet come to light so a comparison cannot be made with the 1748 breakdown supplied by the Bourd map.  However, Harmans has a “Kiln Field” which implies that lime burning was being carried out, a common practise by the 18^th century for producing fertiliser to maintain and improve crop yields.  Generally the kilns were made of a small pit with a mound above, built of local materials forming an open-topped combustion chamber or pot with one or more draw holes at the base.  In the Felbridge area lime kilns were constructed out of brick, with sandstone and soil reinforcement and insulation.  They were fuelled by faggots of wood or furze and would probably have burnt only chalk, as this was locally available from the North Downs.  When burnt, the kiln was allowed to cool naturally for several days before the chalk, then converted as quicklime in lump form, was drawn out, broken-up and spread upon the land [for further information see Handout, Lime Kilns and Lime burning in Felbridge, SJC 11/00]. 

 

It is not known for what reason James Evelyn required the money raised by the mortgage in 1752, although he had just inherited the Felbridge estate on the death of his Father Edward in 1751 (for further details see, Handout, The Commonplace Book of Colonel Edward Evelyn, JIC/SJC 09/07, based on the Commonplace Book of Edward Evelyn, ADDMS38482, BL) and perhaps needed the cash injection to ‘improve’ the Felbridge estate as he’d only inherited property at the time of Edward’s death.  It is known that Edward Evelyn had left James the ‘farm at Felbridge Water where I now dwell’ and it is also known that James had his own mansion house constructed/extended at Felbridge in 1765 on or near the site of his father’s dwelling (for further details see Handout, Felbridge Place, SJC 10/99).  The up-grade of the Evelyn dwelling from a ‘farm at Felbridge Water’ to the mansion house constructed by James would have, in turn, necessitated the replacement of the ‘farm at Felbridge Water’ with perhaps the formation of a ‘Home Farm’ requiring a dwelling for a farm bailiff and associated farm buildings, so it is just possible that the cash injection was put towards the formation of the farm that eventually became known as Park Farm.

 

In July 1793 James Evelyn died and the Felbridge estate passed to his eldest daughter Julia Annabella, the wife of Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh Medley (who took the name of Evelyn on their marriage).  There is some evidence to suggest that on her inheritance the Felbridge estate was leased until its eventual sale in 1855.  What is unclear is whether the Evelyn family managed the estate as a whole or whether the responsibility fell to the tenant of the mansion house.  Unfortunately no surviving documents from these intervening years survive in the Evelyn papers. 

 

On his death in 1793, James Evelyn made provision for annuities to be paid to many of his estate workers, one of whom was John Harman who was to receive 5/- , this would imply that whilst Cheals was no longer under the occupancy of a Cheal, Harman’s at least had John Harman in residence.  Another recipient of an annuity was James Pilbeam who was to receive 6/-.  This name is significant as it is attributed to several fields and plot numbers found on the 1855 FelbridgePark sale map:  

NB: * This is the site of the original farmhouse at Park Farm and ** is the site of the farmhouse at Park Corner Farm, which by 1855 had had been sub-dived as a pair of cottages (for further information see, Handout Park Corner Farm, SJC05/09).

 

The first depiction of buildings, at what became known as Park Farm, appear on the Draft O/S map of 1809, which records the surrounding area as New House Farm.  This map was surveyed between 1789 and 1805 so the building could potentially date to before 1789.  Considering that the buildings were known as Pilbeams in the sale schedule of Park Farm in 1855, the implication is that someone with the surname of Pilbeam had been associated with property.  A likely candidate would be James Pilbeam, particularly as James Evelyn made provision for an annuity to be paid to him.

 

James Pilbeam

James Pilbeam was born in Worth in 1760, the son of James Pilbeam and his wife Susanna [Susan] Whaley, who’d married in Worth on 24^th May 1755.  James senior was aged 43 when he married and as a consequence, his family was smaller than the average size family for the age with just three other children: Ann born in 1756, William born in 1762 and John born in 1765.

 

The Pilbeam family was a well established family in the Felbridge area.  James and Susanna’s son William was a millwright, an occupation that his son William (born 1793) would later follow, and it is also evident William Pilbeam (born 1793) took out several leases for the Snow Hill area including, Smuggler’s Cottage [for further information see Handout, Smuggler’s Cottage, SH 07/06].  Still in the Snow Hill area, Susanna is recorded as holding the license for the Duke’s Head at Snow Hill in 1784, having taken it over from a Mary Pilbeam (widow) who’d held the licence between 1780 and 1784.  Also, between 1785 and 1798, Susanna’s son James (see below) held the license for the Duke’s Head [for further information see Handout, Eating and Drinking Establishments in Felbridge Pt. V, SJC 03/11].  There was also a William Pilbeam paying the Land Tax for Wire Mill (Godstone) in 1808 who could potentially also be James and Susanna’s son William (born 1793).

 

As for James Pilbeam junior he married Ann Turner in 1786 in Tandridge; Ann having been born in 1764.  They had at least five children including; Sarah born about 1788, James baptised in Lingfield, Surrey, in 1790, Edward born in 1792, Thomas born in 1798 and John born in 1804; the last three children baptised in East Grinstead.  It is this James Pilbeam that potentially lent his name to the buildings and lands of plots 225,227,228, 241 and 182 that appear on the 1855 sale map for Park Farm (see above), as his father James had died in 1778, long before the annuity was granted by James Evelyn on his death in 1793.  Unfortunately the Land Tax for individual holdings of Felbridge was paid as one entity by the Evelyn family between 1793 and 1801 so it is not possible to determine whether the Pilbeam association remained with the aforementioned plots or not, however in 1801 it was William Payne who was paying for the three holdings that encompassed the properties and plots of land that were known as Pilbeams.

 

James Pilbeam died in 1825 and his wife Ann in 1843.  However, Pilbeams could still be found in the vicinity of what was to become Park Farm as in 1841 James and Ann’s sons Edward and Thomas were living at Woodcock Farme (see below) Cottage, Edward working as a carpenter living in his brother Thomas’ household, with Thomas working as Game Keeper.  However, Thomas died in 1845 and in 1851 Edward was recorded as living in Woodcock Cottages with his sister-in-law Phillis (Thomas’ widow), by then listed as a millwright.  The position in the census records suggests that Woodcock Farme Cottage and Woodcock Cottages were one and the same properties, known today as The Old Pheasantry.

 

Early 19^th Century

By the 1790’s Park Corner Farm was in decline, confirmation for this can be found on the Lindley & Crossley map of 1793 that depicts only two of the original four buildings within the enclosure.  By 1800 the use of the name ‘Park Corner Farm’ had also ceased, the property being known as Cheal’s taking its name from the Cheal family who had been in occupancy for nearly a century (for further details see Handout, Park Corner Farm, JIC/SJC 05/09 ).  In 1801 William Payne was listed in the Land Tax records as paying £3 18s 8d for ChealsLand [Park Corner Farm], £1 14s 8d for HammondsLands [Harman’s Lands] and £2 8s 8d for Finches Lands [Hedgecourt Mill Lands] in Godstone, making a total of £8 2/- for the three holdings.  However, it is not known whether William Payne was occupying the properties as a whole or sub-leasing them together or individually. But the turn of the 1800’s is when the three properties, which were to form the nucleus of Park Farm, were united under one person, William Payne.

 

Unfortunately it has not been possible to determine who William Payne was and by 1804 the Land Tax for ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ was being paid for as one entity by Samuel Rutley.   Like William Payne, it is not clear whether Samuel Rutley was occupying or sub-leasing the properties. However, if Samuel Rutley had occupied the holding he had moved by 1804 as he is recorded in the Tandridge Land Tax as occupying what is now known as Stone Cottage, situated on the opposite side of the main London Road [A22] between 1804 and 1815 (for further information see Handout, Stone Cottage, JIC/SJC 07/12).  This said, Samuel Rutley continued to pay Land Tax on ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ until 1810 when William Rutley took over the payment until 1818.

 

Samuel and William Rutley

Samuel Rutley was born in 1750 and married Sarah who was born in 1749.  They had at least six children including; William born in 1783 in Salescomb [Sedlescombe], Sussex, Samuel born in 1785, Robert born in 1787, John born in 1789, Stephen born in 1798 and Davy born in 1801, the last five children baptised in Burwash, Sussex.  In the Land Tax records of 1798/9 Samuel Rutley was  recorded as a tenant farmer of Burwash, so must have moved to Felbridge sometime between 1801 and 1804 when Samuel was recorded as paying the Land Tax for ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’.  Little else is known about Samuel and Sarah except that by 1810 they had moved to Stone Cottage, being succeeded at ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ by their son William.  The only other thing known about Samuel and Sarah is that they are both buried in the churchyard at St Mary’s, Westerham, Samuel dying in 1832 and Sarah in 1835.

 

William Rutley, who succeeded his father at ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’, married Mercy [also known as Martha Mercy] Levett on 10^th July 1809 in Tunbridge [Tonbridge], Kent; Mercy being baptised in Bodiam, Sussex, on 25^th July 1785.  William and Mercy had at least six children including: Emily baptised in 1810, William baptised in 1812 (born 20^th June 1812) who died aged 4 in 1817, John William baptised in 1814, Alfred baptised in 1815, all baptised at St Swithun’s, East Grinstead, Sussex; twins Mary and Henry born in 1821 who sadly died aged 2 and 5 respectively, Sarah Ann born in 1818, a second William born about 1823 and Eliza born about 1826; the last five children born in Westerham, Kent.  

 

The Rutley family were still living in Felbridge in 1817 as their son William was buried in the churchyard at St Swithun’s. By 1818 they had been succeeded at ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ by James Woodman.

 

William Rutley and his family moved from ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ to Court Lodge Farm in Westerham, Kent, and the 1851 census records that he was farmer of 343 acres, employing 11 labourers.  William remained there until his death on 7^th January 1858, leaving effects of £8,000.  It would appear that Mercy moved to live with her daughter Sarah Ann, by then the wife of William Thomas Budgen, at 14, High Street, Deptford, where she died on 1^st January 1860.

 

James Woodman

As established above, James Woodman succeeded William Rutley at ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ sometime around 1817/18.  James Woodman had also succeeded William’s father Samuel Rutley at Stone Cottage in 1815 and is listed as paying the Land Tax for both properties until the records cease in 1832.  Again, like William Payne, it has not yet been possible to determine who James Woodman was, although he could potentially be the same James Woodman listed as a farmer in the East Grinstead Kelly’s Directory of 1791.  It is not known when James Woodman left ‘Cheals, held together with Harmans and Finches’ but from the Godstone Tithe apportionment William Oliver had succeeded him sometime between 1832 and 1840, and the property had become known as Woodcock Farme.

 

Plot	Field Name	Descrip.	Acreage		%
204	Twelve Acres	Arable	12 01 06
219	Pt. of Mill Field	Arable	23 02 02
219a	Thirteen Acres	Arable	13 02 18
226	House Field	Arable	10 00 06
229	Furze Field,	Arable	02 00 00
239	Crab Tree Field	Arable	07 02 30
264	Upper Warren	Arable	05 01 38
224	Arable	Arable	00 00 22
			74 03 02		47½
199	HopGarden	Hops	04 03 18		3
217	Stack Yard Meadow	Meadow	07 00 10
225	Pilbeams Meadow	Meadow	03 01 02
227	House Field Meadow	Meadow	04 02 01
228	Pt. of House Field Meadow	Meadow	02 00 14
241	Cottage Meadow	Meadow	02 02 16
			19 02 03		12
182	Burley Meadow	Pasture	04 00 04
195	Great Gate Field	Pasture	01 01 11
196	Pt. of Great Gate Field	Pasture	05 01 22
195a	Orchard	Pasture	00 00 26
Plot	Field Name	Descrip.	Acreage	%
198	Little Gate Field	Pasture	04 01 18
205	Kiln Field	Pasture	11 00 22
220	Little Mill Field	Pasture	01 00 38
240	Leggs [formerly Laggs meaning long]	Pasture	05 02 13
243	Old Orchard	Pasture	00 03 06
			34 00 00	22
197	Gate Field Shaw	Wood	02 00 34
200	HopGarden Shaw	Wood	00 01 22
230	Wood	Wood	10 02 30
265	Lower Warren	Wood	09 01 39
			22 03 05	14
216	Pond		00 01 02	¼
222	House &c [Park Farm House]		00 01 13
223	Orchard &c		01 00 00
242	Cottage &c [Park Corner Farm House]		00 01 30
			01 03 03	1¼
	Total		157 03 33

 

A comparison of land usage between 1748 (using the combined acreage of Park Corner and Harmans) and the tithe apportionment of 1840 shows that the acreage devoted to arable had increased from 40% to 47½% but that the combined meadow/pasture acreage had decreased from 47% to 34% implying that the holding in 1840 was being farmed to supply cereal for both human and animal consumption alongside livestock.  Hops were still being grown but the acreage devoted to them had decreased from 3% to 2% of the land usage.

 

William Oliver

William Oliver was born in Heathfield, Sussex, and baptised on 4^th June 1786, being listed as the son of Alicia Oliver.  On 5^th May 1810, William married Harriot (Harriet) Fenner at Burwash, Sussex; Harriet having been born about 1785 in Woobelton (Warbleton?), Sussex.  William and Harriet had at least four children including; Mary born in 1811, Elizabeth born in 1813, John born in 1815 and Maria born in 1816.  The Oliver family remained in Burwash until at least 1816 as all four children were born there.  However, by 1840 William Oliver is recorded as the farmer at Woodcock Farme having probably succeeded James Woodman around 1832. 

In 1841 William Oliver was recorded as the farmer of 160 acres at Woodcock Farme and living in his household was his wife Harriet and daughter Elizabeth.  In a separate household within the farmhouse were three agricultural workers, Thomas Thompson aged 25, Henry Hilder aged 15 and John Burt aged 12 recorded as male servants, presumably employed in farm related work.  The 1841 census also provides names and occupations of other possible workers at Park Farm, including: John Dearling, aged 45 living at Woodcock Farme Cottage (now the Old Pheasantry) employed as an agricultural labourer and Edward Strip, aged 40, living in the Wren household at Felbridge Forge also employed as an agricultural labourer.  

 

Sometime around 1847/8 the Oliver family left Woodcock Farme and down-sized, moving to Bushes Farm, Chevening, Sevenoaks, Kent, where William farmed just 15 acres, being succeeded at Woodcock Farme by George Stone.  After the death of Harriet, William Oliver moved to a small farm in Penshurst, Kent, dying at the age of 83 in 1868.   

 

George and Sarah Stone

George Stone, who succeeded William Oliver at Woodcock Farm, was born in Rusper in Sussex, in 1780, the son of John Stone and his wife Frances (known as Fanny) née Marsh.  George married Sarah Palmer on 1^st February 1803 in Horsham, Sarah having been born about 1787 in Horsham.  George and Sarah had at least four children including; Keziah born about 1807, Ann born about 1814, Jane born about 1816 and Michael born about 1821.  By 1841 the Stone family were living at Whiteman’s Green, Cuckfield, Sussex, George listed as a farmer. 

 

Sometime between 1847/8 and 1851 the Stone family had moved to Woodcock Farme in Felbridge, and it is around this time that Woodcock Farme becomes known as Park Farm.  Unfortunately it has not yet been possible to establish whether George ever farmed there as he died, aged 69, on 27^th June 1849, but in 1851 Sarah is recorded as head of the household and farmer of 160 acres, employing six labourers.  Living at home with their mother were Ann, James and Michael.  Also living within the household were George Fen, aged 22, George Stone aged 20 and Henry Stone aged 15, all recorded as farm servants.  Other possible workers on Park Farm living in the area included Robert Buckland aged 44, together with sons Stephen aged 19 and George aged 13, living as a separate household at Park Farm, all recorded as agricultural labourers; John Pilbeam aged 22 and brother James aged 21, who were living at Woodcock Cottage (now the Old Phasantry), also both agricultural labourers;  John Dearling now aged 60 and son Robert aged 15 both living in a separate household at Woodcock Cottage, both recorded as agricultural labourers; and John Holliday aged 56, living at Park Cottage, recorded as an agricultural labourer.

 

Sarah Stone died, aged 66, on 9^th April 1853 and two years later Park Farm was put up for auction as part of Lot 1 of the 2,200 acre Felbridge Park Estate being sold by Lady Selina Foljambe, Viscountess Milton, descendent of the Evelyn family who had inherited the estate on the death of her father Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3^rd Earl Liverpool, 3^rd Lord Hawkesbury [for further information see Handout, The Evelyn Family of Felbridge, JIC/SJC 09/13].

 

1855 - 1911

In 1855 the sale particulars are recorded as: 

THE PARK FARM and a small portion of Park Lands,

IN THE PARISH OF GODSTONE

And in the occupation of MR. WILLIAM STENNING, as Yearly Michaelmas Tenant,

subject to 2 Years’ Notice.

 

It comprises a small Brick and Tiled FARM HOUSE, containing 2 Garrets, 3 Bed Rooms, Parlour, Kitchen, Pantry, Dairy, Cellar, Men’s Bedroom, Washhouse, Well, &c.

 

The OUTBUILDINGS consist of 2 Barns, Stabling for 5 Horses, Cart Lodge, 3 Sheds, and a new Brick and Tiled Oast House.

 

The LANDS comprise about 164 ACRES

All are divided as follows:-

	Description	State	Quantity
204	Twelve Acres	Arable	12  01  06
219	Part of Mill Field	ditto	23  02  02
219a	Thirteen Acres	ditto	13  02  18
226	House Field	ditto	10  00  06
229	Furze Field	ditto	02  00  00
239	Crab Tree	ditto	07  02  30
230	Wood & Hops	Wood & Hops	10  02  30
264	Upper Warren	ditto	05  01  38
224	Arable	ditto	00  00  22
199	HopGarden	Hops	04  03  18
217	Stackyard Mead	Pasture	07  00  10
225	Pilbeams	ditto	03  01  02
227	House ditto	ditto	04  02  01
228	Part of ditto	ditto	02  00  14
241	Cottage ditto	ditto	02  02  16
182	Burley ditto	Meadow	04  00  04
195	Great Gate	Pasture	01  01  11
196	Part of ditto	ditto	05  01  22

 

	Description	State	Quantity
195a	Orchard	Orchard	00  00  26
198	Little Gate	Arable & Grass	04  01  18
205	Kiln Field	Pasture	11  00  22
220	Little Mill	ditto	01  00  38
240	Lay	ditto	05  02  13
243	Old Orchard	Furze	00 03  06
197	Shaw	Shaw	02  00  34
200	Ditto	ditto	00  01  22
265	Lower Warren	Arable	09  01  39
216	Pond	Pond	00  01  02
222	House and Buildings	ditto	00  01  13
223	Orchard	ditto	01  00  00
242	Cottages	ditto	00  01  30
245	Alders	Shaw	00  01  18
246	Pastures	Pasture	04  02  22
238	Park Pond	Pond	01  00  30
			164  00  23

William Stenning

The 1855 sale catalogue notes that Park Farm was in the occupation of William Stenning.  The most likely candidate would be William Stenning born in 1804, the son of William Stenning and his wife Mary née Head of Chapmans (now High House Farm) at Newchapel.  William was one of at least six children of William and Mary, his siblings including: Edward born in 1805, Mary born in 1807, Elizabeth born in 1809, Benjamin born about 1811 and Sarah Jane born about 1813. 

 

William married Elizabeth Rose on 5^th October 1829; Elizabeth having been born about 1809.  William and Elizabeth Stenning had twelve children including: William born about 1830, Edward born about 1832, Henry born about 1834, Frank born about 1835, Elizabeth born in 1839, Mary Jan born in 1841, Catherine born about 1842, Fanny born in 1844, Alexander Rose born in 1846, Frederick born in 1847, Alice Sarah born in 1850 and Martha born in 1854.

 

In 1830 William Stenning gives his occupation as a timber merchant and by 1851 he had become a timber and coal merchant and was living with his family at Town Farm in GodstoneVillage, Surrey.  By 1861 William Stenning and his family had moved to Godstone Court, and William was listed as a land owner.  It seems unlikely that William Stenning resided at Park Farm and his occupation probably meant that he just paid the Land Tax for it and sub-let it, as he ‘occupied’ large swathes of the Felbridge estate, including Stone Cottage and Wards Farm on the opposite side of the main London Road (A22) [for further information see Handout, Stone Cottage, JIC/SJC 07/12] and Smithfield Farm (now part of the new developments known as Coppice Vale and Thicket Rise) off the Crawley Down Road [for further information see Handout, Professor Furneaux and the Penlees of Felbridge, SJC 03/09 and Handout Little Gibbshaven, SJC 07/08].

 

A breakdown of the land usage at The Park Farm in 1855 shows the following:

Description	Acreage	% of land usage
Arable	82 03 39	50 ¾
Pasture	48 02 38	30
Meadow	04 00 04	2
Hops	04 03 18	3
Wood and Shaws	19 01 04	12
Furze	00 03 06	½
Orchards	01 00 26	½
Ponds	01 01 32	¾
House, out buildings and cottages	00 02 31	½
Total	164 00 23

A comparison of land usage between 1855 and 1840 shows that the farm had grown by about six acres, acquiring plots 245 and 246 amounting to 5 acres and Park Pond (plot 238) amounting to just over 1 acre.  Arable had increased by a further eight acres; an increase of 3¼% of the land usage and pasture had acquired a further six acres and had increased by 8% of the land usage.  The HopGarden (plot 199) had remained the same although some woodland (acreage not defined) had been turned over to hops in plot 230.  It is interesting to note that the orchard (plot 223) was, in 1855, listed separately from the house, outbuildings and cottages compared to 1840 when it had been incorporated as part of the acreage.  The Old Orchard (plot 243), which obviously had been an orchard at sometime, was listed as pasture in 1840 but by 1850 had become furze.

 

The 1855 sale catalogue also gives the first description of the dwelling and associated farm buildings, as well as confirming that the cottages that had been associated with Park Corner Farm were considered to be part of The Park Farm. 

 

Structure

The structure of Park Farm can be seen in the early photographs as an east-west front range facing south with external end stacks and a rear facewing aligned with the west end of the frontage.  The rear facewing also has an external end stack.  The building is tile hung above brick with a dentilled band below the tile.

 

The first floor casement windows are tight against the wall plate and the ground floor windows are three casements wide with an arched timber head and brick lintel.  The frontage is symmetrical with a central main entrance up a few steps beneath a tiled porch. The original layout was two principle ground floor rooms either side of the main entrance with the rear facewing containing the service areas such as the kitchen and scullery.  The well was conveniently located in the rear courtyard between the facewing and the east end of the front range.  There was also a cellar, whose construction was made easier by the raising of the ground floor above the surrounding land, hence the need for steps up to the front door.  The first floor contained the bedrooms, whilst the attic spaces were also lit with casement windows in each gable end and provided garret sleeping accommodation.

 

The design of the building is interesting in that it uses a number of elements that have ceased popular use in Surrey before the building was constructed.  These are the dentil course which generally ceased around 1725, the arched window heads which went out of fashion about 1750 the use of the slightly out of fashion features could have been through using a local builder who was copying another pre-existing building rather than providing a new house in a modern style.  

 

The position and layout of the farmhouse was such that it faced directly onto the roadway from the London Road to Mill Lane.  There was no front garden with the fence between the house and the road being only a few feet from the front steps.  This road swept around the east end of the house plot joining into the road that is still used today straight up to the London Road.  The layout of this road is typical of one that is used to access the farm buildings rather than the house as it approaches the rear of the house and enters directly into the main farm yard to the north of the house.

 

However the roadway from the house to the west gently curved down the hill passing round the pond before joining Mill Lane between Sandy Croft and Purbeck, the track at this end still being present in the late 1960’s although the route through to The Gills and on to Park Farm was not in use by then, last showing as being open for access on the 1938 map.  This approach to Park Farm from Mill Lane was evidently the intended visitor approach as the house comes into view as you approach it and the farm buildings are screened from view.

 

The 1809 draft Ordnance Survey map also shows a track from the farmyard snaking its way north east to join the London Road at the 26^th Bow Bells milestone that stood south of WoodcockBridge.  This route was almost definitely to enable heavy farm carts to avoid going up or down Woodcock Hill as the winding route significantly reduced the gradient.

 

The Gatty Family

In 1855 The Park Farm and a large portion of the Felbridge Park estate was purchased by George Gatty of Crowhurst Park, near Battle in Sussex, and the estate once again had a ‘live in’ lord of the manor and functioned as a country gentleman’s estate after a 63-year absence during which time descendents of the Evelyn family had sub-leased the property and probably managed the estate from a distance [for further information see Handout, Timeline of Felbridge, SJC 01/01].

 

From an Account Book of George Gatty, it is evident that he first set about repairing the mansion house and reinstating the park railings.  He then turned his attentions to Park Farm and it is obvious that he had not previously had extensive dealings with farming as he made detailed notes and diagrams on most aspects of the farming practise of Park Farm in the first four years of his ownership.  The book not only gives an insight into farming practise but also the people with whom he dealt and relied upon for guidance and stock.

 

George Gatty – Account Book extracts on farming

1855

Cattle Feed

Sow Drum-head cabbages in March for the early part of Autumn, and prick out when big enough.  Sow them again about 10^th August then they will stand the winter.

Belgian Carrots – sow about the end of March.  These are principally for the horses.

Swede and Turnips – sow the end of May or beginning of June.

Mangel Wurzel – sow a little later than Swedes and Turnips. Dumbrell does not give it to the cows until late March.

Common Turnip – sow in July and August.

In feeding, begin with common or white turnips, then with the Swedes.  The drum-head cabbages may be used with them.

 

Stalls for Cows

Division of stalls 3ft from wall                              2 depths of trough                                          

Feeding Trough	Feeding Trough 15ins
Stall for two cows	Stall for two cows     6ft 6ins wide     Length 5ft 6ins
Drain 18ins
Path 4ft

(In Mr Dumbrell’s letter dated 24^th December 1855)

 

Wheat production

The Wheat sown on the one acre produced, in September 1855, 2 bushels (i) of good wheat and [blank] of Fril wheat (ii) and of [blank]wheat and 150 Trusses (iii) of straw of 36lbs the truss.  The good weighed 60lb per bushel.

The sack that was ground by Brand produced 3 bushels and 3 gallons of flour, 1 bushel of sharps and 1 ½ bushels of flour.

 

Sheep

Receipt for colouring and protecting ion hurdles:

1lb Lamp Black

2lbs Red Lead

1 gallon of linseed oil

 

The lamp to be mixed first will a little oil

The red lead to be well pounded

The whole to be stirred together for some time, and put on with a brush.

 

The engineer of the MenanBridge prefers two thirds of the oil boiled and one third unboiled.

 

24^th September 1855, 30 lambs and 10 wether (iv) hegs sent by Mr Baker at 17/- and 33/- each.  The wether hegs are estimated at 7-8 stone each.

7^th December 1855, Began to feed the 10 wether hegs with 1 pint oats a day, half in the morning and half in the evening.

8^th December 1855, killed the first of the 10 wether hegs.  It weighed 8 stone 1lb without offal, and was in excellent condition.

24^th December 1855, killed the second of the 10 wether hegs, it weighed 7 ½ stone without offal.

16^th June 1856, 10 Bur Tegs (v) sent here by Mr Baker at 26/- each £13. 0.0. some of them are 2 years old and some only one.

 

Cows

18^th December 1855, Went to Mr Dumbrell’s Dairy Farm at Hurst and selected a cow (vi) to be sent to Felbridge on the 26^th with:- She is said to be 4 years old and had calved – 3 calfs, the night before I saw her.  Mr Dumbrell says that if well fed and kept warm, she might be expected to give 11-12 quarts of milk a day and to make 10 to 11lbs of butter a week for some time.  He would like her to have a bushel of Swedes daily and some cow cabbage, not given to her all at once, but at several different times, but if we cannot get Swedes, then ½ bushel of bran, about 3 roots of Mangel Wurzel and 3lb of oil cake (vii) daily.  This is additional to hay.  The oil cake is only recommended because our hay is not very good.  He does not give his cows Mangel Wurzel before March.

His cows are cleaned, like a horse, night and morning.  He sees no objection to using sawdust for litter instead of straw.

 

19^th December 1855, went to Willmer’s Cowsheds at Brighton.  He had 55 cows in them.  All looking well.  They are cleaned night and morning with a brush.  They are fed on hay and drum head cabbage until January, and then on hay and Mangel wurzel till February and clover come in.  His stalls for 2 cow each are between 7 x 8 feet wide and 8 ft long.  They have no mangers.  The food is placed on the ground.

26^th December 1855, The cow (Lemon) was bought here by Mr Dumbrell’s man about ½ past 2, this afternoon, the weather very stormy and wet. 

27^th December 1855, bought 20 bushels of Swedes from Mr Prevett and ordered ½ bushel to be given to each cow daily.

Blanche and Eva were taken out of the yard and tied up in the house on the 22^nd with ………………

 

1856       

3^rd January, Ordered 30 bushels of Swedes from Saunders, Bingham told me that Lemon had given 11 quarts of milk (rather more) daily, for the last 3 days when he had measured it.

The whole of the cream taken from the milk for 7 days was churned on 5^th January and produced 7½ lbs of butter.

4^th January, I sold Brand 3 qrts. and 2 bushels of best at 68/- per quarter, and 6 bushels of Fril Wheat at 60/- a quarter (being respectively 8/6 and 7/6 per bushel which amounts to £13. 6. 0.

12^th January, The whole of the cream taken from the milk during the last 7 days was churned and produced 8lbs of butter.  The quantity of milk was 11 quarts daily.

Today I ordered 2lbs of oil cake to be given to Lemon every day.  She has not yet had any oil cake, but ½ bushel of Swedes and ½ bushel of bran besides hay.

19^th January, The whole cream taken during the last 7 days was churned and produced 8 ½ lbs of butter.  The quantity of milk has rather decreased – 12 quarts and ½ pint for each of the last 2 days.  Hoad thinks the [illegible] the quantity of butter by at least 1lb.

February. Dimensions for WG’s sheds and yards for horses:

                    Sheds 10ft x 10 each.

Height 9ft exclusive of roof (would be better 10feet or 11 feet high)

Yards, 8 yards x 7 yards.

Paling, 6ft 6 to 7ft high

The roof of the sheds is covered with asphalter’s felt.  WG thinks thatch would be better for the roof.

16^th May, The cows were turned out during the day for the first time.

19^th May, 2 steers (viii), 4 years old (Duke and Diamond) bought for me by Mr Baker (£32. 5/-)

9^th June, 39 lambs (of last year) shorn.

16^th June, 10 Bullocks (ix) sent here by Mr Baker to pay at 1/- and 1/6 per week each.

21^st June, 2^nd pair of steers, 5 years (Wag and Wanton) bought for me by Mr Baker (£35. 0. 0.)

19^th August, 3^rd pair of steers arrived (no names), 4 year old Devons £36. 0. 0. (2 steers and black cow of Mr Baker’s sent home)

30^th September, 4^th pair of steers arrived (Quick and Nimble) 4 year old Devons £38. 0. 0.

The pair of steers bought on 19^th August were sold to Avery for £40. 0. 0., the pair bought on 21^st June (Wag and Wanton) were sold at East Grinstead Fair for £37. 0.0., these last had been constantly worked while I had them.

8^th November, sold Blanche at Forest Row Fair for £12. 15. 0.

9^th December, the cow (Lavender) was brought here by Mr Dumbrell’s man.  She had calved 8 days before, right on 1^st December.  It was her second calf.  She is nearly 4 years old.  1^st December, after the first day she has given rather more than 12 quarts of milk daily.

             

I have agreed to keep Mr Baker’s half breed adversary (Selina) which has been at grass here for some months.  I am to pay him £6. 0. 0. for her and charge nothing for her keep while here.  She is expected to calve 10^th June 1857.

 

Mangold Wurzel

Cut small with a pulper, may be given to cows mixed with chaff (x) the day before it is eaten.  By altering the proportions of chaff from time to time, all scouring may be prevented.  About 4lbs of bean meal may be added each day for each cow, instead of oil cakes.

 

Oats

Mr Baker recommended 5 bushels to the acre to be sown, he says he should expect about 5 – 6 quarters an acre from that part of 60 acres which is cleared.  The land poor.

 

Stable Utensils

12^th July 1856, Gave to Hobbs,

1 sponge for carriage

3 leathers

1 curry comb     from Thompson & Co.

1 horse brush    from Thompson & Co.

1 polishing brush

1 box of compot

And gave him leave to order from East Grinstead,

Some Brass paste

Some oil

I Bottle of dye

17^th December 1856, Gave Hobbs 2 new leathers

 

1857

July, 2 steers, 3 years old Devons £33.0.0. and 4 steers 2 years old £58. 0. 0.

September, 2 steers, 2 years old Sussex £27. 0. 0.

21^st September, 40 lambs, bought at Lewes Fair - £42. 0. 0. and expenses £1. 0. 0.

18^th December, The two 3 year old Devon steers bought in July were tied up.

 

Sulpurphosphate

Put 2lbs of surphuric acid to 1 bushel of bone dust.  The bones to be well watered and stirred up, and the sulphuric acid to be poured upon.

 

Barley

The barley sown in the spring of 1857 in the 1 acre, produced in the following September 5 quarters of head and 1 sack of Fril Barley, and 82 trusses of straw.

The Little Field was dressed with 36 loads of dung and sown with wheat 9^th October 1857.

 

40 loads of dung per acre for 7 acres (part of the 60 acres) 4 for again latter end of May and 3 for oats and barley.

If Oats latter end of March

If Barley sometime in April.

 

1858         

Improvement of Grass land

Apply half inch Bones (which cost from 22/- to 24/- a quarter) at the Rate of 10 quarters per acre.

Let them be well rolled in and the rooks kept away.

This dressing will last 30 years.

Recommended by Mr Watkins.

 

George Gatty – Account Book extracts on Woods

12^th December 1855, ordered from Mr Cameron 10,000 willow plants and 1,000 chestnut plants.  They came here over the morning of Wednesday 19^th December, the thermostat in the Grain room window being 23˚ at the time.

14^th February 1856, I have since had [blank] willow plants and larch of Mr Lambert.  All the Moat Wood that wanted planting, [illegible], 2 acres in one part and 2½ acres in another part is now finished, except some few places that are too wet to dig, and require sets, and there are now about 700 of Lambert’s plants and 1,500 of Cameron’s left.  The last 1,500 are of little value.  They are very inferior plants.  Method of sending only 2 kinds of Willow, and mentioned in his letter.  Cameron’s plants included 6 different kinds, many of them worthless.  About 500 of the chestnut plants are planted.  The other 500 are not good enough, being injured by the frost.

16^th February 1856, H Saxby came as Woodreaver.

 

Snower Hill Wood (24a 2r 5p) was cut in February and March 1856.

 

29^th September 1856, sold Mr Stenning 3 oaks at the saw pit (together 91½ feet) at 2/- all round.  Some parts were very inferior, so that it was calculated that the largest tree fetched 2/6 a part.

Also a Birch in the Park, 36 feet, (the one blown down) at 10d.  This is beginning to canker and think has been san up by mid summer.  It was also less valuable from having been all too short for the purpose of moving part of it away.

1 small Spanish Chestnut in the Park was also sold (23ft) at 10d.

A Beech lying by the Chestnut taken away by [illegible] 1^st October 1856 and said by him to have [illegible] mentioned some months ago and sold to Mr Stenning by Saxby or Mr Baker.

 

Cut in the Winter 1856-1857. 

Lower part of Baker’s Wood, about 16a or 0p.  (The upper part was sold by Lord Liverpool’s executors and cut just before I came).

Upper part of Furnace Wood, about           45a 0r 0p

A small piece of Park Wood, about             2 a 0r 0p

                                                                   63a 0r 0p

 Cut in the Winter of 1857-1858

 Mill Wood                                                             18a 3r 35p

Part of Furnace Wood, about                                  20a 0r 00p

(Neither of these have yet been replanted, 4^th December 1858)

 

These are now ready to cut

49 acres in Cuttingly’s Wood – 15 years growth.  This pretty good.

20 acres in Furnace Wood adjoining, the former 14 years growth.  This is very poor

 

To help understand the notes found in George Gatty’s Account Book the following is a list of the farming terminology he used:

(i) Bushel -

(i)       A bushel – imperial unit of weight equal to 4 pecks or 8 gallons (32 quarts/64 pints/36.35lts)  

(ii)      Fril wheat – sometimes called Frill wheat, no definition available

(iii)     Truss – a bundle of hay or straw, containing about 56 pounds (25.4 kg) of old hay, 60 pounds (27.2 kg) of new hay or 36 pounds (16.3 kg) of straw.

(iv)     Wether – castrated male sheep

(v)      Teg – a yearling ewe between 1 and 2 years of age that may or may not have produced offspring, also called a hogget

(vi)     Cow – terminology used to describe the sex and age of cattle, the female is first a heifer calf, growing into a heifer then becoming a cow.

(vii)    Oil Cake -  a cake or mass of linseed, cottonseed, soybean from which the oil has been removed, used as food for livestock

 (viii) Steer – terminology used to describe the sex and age of cattle, the male is first a bull calf and if left intact becomes a bull; if castrated he becomes a steer and in about two or three years grows to an ox.

(ix)     Bullock – Mature castrated male cattle destined for meat production

(x)      Chaff – the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing, and small cut pieces of straw or hay mixed with other forage fed to cattle and horses

 

Again, based on the notes found in George Gatty’s Account Book we can determine that his preferred types of cattle at Park Farm were Devon’s and Sussex’s.  Devon Cattle (also known as Red Rubies) are useful as a duel purpose animal giving both meat and milk, plus they could also be used as draught animals.  Sussex Cattle, the red breed of beef cattle from the Weald of Sussex, Surrey and Kent, was also formerly a draught animal as they have a placid temperament, although they can be very stubborn and ox ploughing continued longer in the Weald and on the South Downs than in most parts of England.  The Celts, Romans, Vikings and Saxons all brought cattle to England and as such it is impossible to discover who brought the old red, middle-horned cattle to southern England but from the mid-eighteenth century, red cattle dominated Devon, Sussex, and Kent.  

 

From the entries made by George Gatty we know where he obtained some of the cattle, what cattle feeds he was using, how he housed the cattle on the farm, the milk yields and commodities made in his dairy from the milk.  He lists crop yield and uses and, besides cattle, the farm also had sheep and horses.  It is also obvious that during the first few years of ownership, George Gatty re-planted and managed woodlands on a commercial basis.  Of course most of this work was carried out by a number of farm hands under the direction of the Farm Bailiff who by 1861 was George Deacon.  Unfortunately George Gatty only over-saw the running of Park Farm for just over eight years as he died on 19^th May 1864 being succeeded by his son Charles Henry Gatty [for further information see Handout, Charles Henry Gatty, SJC 11/03].

 

George Deacon

It has not yet been possible to established exactly when George Deacon succeeded William Stenning other than it was between 1855 and 1861. 

 

George Deacon was born in Mayfield, Sussex in 1805, the son of John Deacon and his wife Charlotte née Buss.   George married Philadelphia Darling in 1831 at St Georges, Bloomsbury; Philadelphia having been christened at St Nicholas Church, Godstone on 27^th September 1801, listed as daughter of Philadelphia Darling.  George and Philadelphia had at least six children, including; Mary Ann baptised in 1831 in East Grinstead, John baptised in 1833 in Lingfield, George baptised in 1834 in East Grinstead, James S baptised in Godstone in 1836, Thomas born at Wards Farm, Felbridge, and baptised in 1840 in Tandridge and Philadelphia baptised in 1846 in Blindley Heath.

 

In 1834, at the baptism of son George, George senior was recorded as working as a labourer.  In 1841 George and his family were living at Hodgehorn Farm, Tandridge, George listed as an agricultural labourer.  However, by 1851 the Deacon family had moved to Wards Farm, Felbridge, George working as a Bailiff, and by 1861 had moved across the road to the farmhouse at Park Farm, working as Farm Bailiff where he was to remain for the rest of his life. 

 

Working alongside their father at Park Farm in 1861 were his wife Philadelphia as a dairy woman, son James aged 23, as a gardener and agricultural labourer and his son Thomas aged 19, as a farm labourer.  Other possible workers on Park Farm living in the area at that time included: John Darling still living at Woodcock Cottage and still listed as a farm labourer aged 71; Edward Tingley aged 30, lodging at The Star Inn, working as a farm labourer; George Friend aged 33 and his brother Thomas aged 30, both living at Park Lodge (now South Lodge on the Copthorne Road) and both listed as farm labourers; George Wheeler aged 39, living at Park Cottages listed as a farm carter and George Creasey aged 37 living at Park Cottages also listed as a farm labourer.  By 1861 George Gatty had employed an estate Bailiff, Henry Bingham who was living at Park Lodge (now North Lodge, London Road) [for further information see Handout, The Bingham Family of Felbridge, SJC 01/05 & Handout, More Biographies of the Churchyard of St John’s the Divine – Estate workers of the Gatty family, SJC 11/03] to oversee the running of the whole of the Felbridge Park estate, including George Deacon as Farm Bailiff at Park Farm.

 

In 1871, apart from George Deacon employed as the Farm’s Bailiff, the only other member in the household working at Park Farm was Joseph Ward aged 19, as a farm servant.  Henry Bingham was recorded as the Farm Bailiff and other names that may have been working at Park Farm include: Thomas Creasey aged 46, living in a cottage situated between Keepers House (formerly Woodcock Cottage, now The Old Phesantry) and Park Lodge where Henry Bingham was still living, who was working as an agricultural labourer; William Baker aged 51, lodging at The Star Inn, a visiting shepherd; George Friend, now aged 43 and still living at Park Lodge, along with his son James aged 13, both agricultural labourers; George Creasey aged 47 and James Lambert aged 72, both head of households living at Park Cottages, both agricultural labourers; Stephen Buckland now aged 39 and John Hooker aged 68 both living in cottages on Hedgecourt Common and working as an agricultural labourer and farm worker respectively.   

 

George Deacon died aged 68, from Chronic Bronchitis and Valvula disease of the heart on 5^th October 1874 and was buried in the churchyard at St John’s Felbridge, being joined in 1878 by Philadelphia who outlived him by four years dying, aged 76.  George Deacon was succeeded at Park Farm by George Belton.

 

George Belton

George Belton was born in 1826, the second son of William Belton and Mary née Hollands.  George Belton married someone called Jane in 1848 and they had a daughter Annie who was born at Felbridge Place in 1850.  The fact that Annie was born at Felbridge Place would suggest that by 1850 George Belton was employed as an estate worker on the Felbridge Place estate. The only other child that is recorded as born of George and Jane is a son called George who was born in 1868 in the parish of Horne.

  

In 1851 George Belton was recorded as an agricultural labourer living in one of the pair of cottages, later converted as a single dwelling called Long Wall (now the site of the housing development called Long Wall) off Copthorne Road, Felbridge.  In 1861 George and his family were living at Hedgecourt Cottages, situated on Hedgecourt Common in the parish of Horne, working as an agricultural labourer.  In 1871 George and his family were still living in the same cottage but it was by then called Chestnut Trees, Hedgecourt, and he was still working as an agricultural labourer.

 

On the death of George Deacon in 1874, George Belton and his family moved to Park Farm, being listed as a farm labourer in 1881.  From documented memories of some of the older residents of Felbridge, George was known as the farm bailiff.   Also from documented memories, George was an authority on bees and attended all those in the neighbourhood collecting swarms as and when necessary.  George was still at Park Farm in 1891, but seven years later his wife Jane died aged 70 and by 1901 George Belton had moved from Park Farm to Rope Plait House, Rowplatt Lane (now known as Lyric Cottage).

 

Between 1881 and 1901 possible names associated with working at Park Farm include; George Wheeler aged 32 in 1891, living in the cottage between Woodcock Farm Cottage and Park Lodge, was a farm labourer in 1891, being listed as a carter in 1901; Charles Lambert aged 42, living at a cottage in Crawley Down Road (now Chapel Cottages) and George White aged 19, who was lodging with the Lambert family were both farm workers;  Richard White aged 22, lodging with Henry Langford and his family next-door to Charles Lambert, was listed as a farm worker; as was neighbour George Creasey now 57 (living at The Oaks), who was also a farm labourer with sons John aged 21 (still a carter in 1901), Thomas aged 19 and James aged 17 working as carters; John  Hooker now aged 78, was living in a cottage next to Hedgecourt Mill House and was a farm labourer;  Stephen Buckland now aged 49 and his son Stephen aged 14, both living at Park Cottages were both farm labourers; George Friend, now aged 53, living at Park Lodge, was still a farm labourer; and Thomas Daniels aged 43 in 1901, living at Park Cottages, was a carter along with his son Henry William aged 15 who was a carter’s boy.

 

Charles Henry Gatty died in 1903 and the Felbridge estate passed to two of his cousins, brothers Alfred Leighton Sayer and Charles Lane Sayer.  Neither of them resided at FelbridgePark so once again the property was leased out and administered from a distance.  Henry Bingham had died in 1900, having served as Bailiff/Farm Bailiff at Park Farm for over forty years, being buried at St John’s, and was succeeded by George Huggett as Farm Bailiff.  George Belton died aged 81, on 3rd June 1907 and was buried along side his wife Jane in the churchyard at St John’s [for further information see Handout, More Biographies of the Churchyard of St John’s the Divine – Estate workers of the Gatty family, SJC 11/03]. 

 

In 1911 the Sayer brothers decided to put Felbridge Place (the name by which the Gatty estate had become known) up for auction and it was purchased by Emma Harvey whose husband, Percy Portway Harvey, was the Director the East Grinstead Estate Company, specialising in the purchase and development of small country estates [for further information see Handout, 1911 Sale of the Felbridge Estate, SJC 01/11].  At the time of the sale, Martin Poupart occupied Park Farm, which was described thus in the sale catalogue:

Lot 2

A HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE

FREEHOLD

Residential, Agricultural & Sporting Property

 

“The Home Farm,”

otherwise known as Park Farm,

 

In the Parish of Godstone

adjoining the last Lot [Felbridge Place Estate], and embracing an area of about

167a 2r. 10p.,

 

Pasture, Arable and Woodland, with a stream running through

(as more fully set out in the Schedule below), with a

Superior Residence

Most beautifully situate, on high ground with South aspect and lovely views, at a considerable remove from a good road approached by a drive, and containing:-

 

ON THE GROUND FLOOR – Entrance Hall; Drawing Room, 17ft. 6in. by 13ft. 9in., with casement door to verandah, terelith floor and handsome modern stove with brass fittings, tiled sides and hearth; Dining Room, 15ft. 6in. by 14ft. 9in., exclusive of chimney corner, with terelith floor, slow combustion stove and oak mantel, two glazed cupboards; Morning Room, 14ft. 3in. by 12ft. 3in. with modern stove; Kitchen, well fitted with cupboards; Scullery, with glazed sink; Larder and Dairy, with cement floor.

 

ON THE FIRST FLOOR – Three good sized Bedrooms, all with modern stoves; Bath Room, fitted with hot and cold supplies and lavatory basin; W.C.

 

ON SECOND FLOOR – Three Attic Bedrooms

 

OUTSIDE – Lumber Room, Incubator Room and Two W.C.s.

 

Company’s Water Laid On.

 

There is a large PRODUCTIVE GARDEN

 

The capital FARM BUILDINGS

include large Double-bay Barn built of brick and timber and tiled, lean-to Tool shed, four division open cattle shed, five stall Stable (water laid on), Chaff Room adjoining, galvanized lean-to Cattle Shed and Yard, brick-built and slated Oast House, used as a two-stall Stable, with boiler and furnace outside, Granary with cart shed under, timber and tiled lean-to Implement Shed, range of Piggeries, open timber and thatched Cattle Lodge and Yard, Cow Shed with fourteen stalls, built with corrugated iron roof and paved floor, timber and thatched Nag Stable for two and a Loose Box.

SCHEDULE

No. on plan	Description	Area
118	Arable	09.827
186	Pasture	06.846
188	Pond	00.284
183	Wood	09.752
190	Pond	00.268
184	Pasture	02.136
185	Farm House, Buildings	01.735
174	Pasture	07.512
173	Pasture	06.123
172	Wood	02.097
119	Rough Grass	07.309
171	Arable	09.405
175	Arable	11.731
176	Pond	00.258
177	Rough Grass	04.365
170	Wood	01.830
169	Rough Grass	01.812
156	Rough Grass	06.385
157	Wood	00.572
155	Wood	02.299
159 pt.	Wood	00.010
158	Rough Grass	06.000
159pt.	Rough Grass	11.168
160	Arable	16.673
168	The Moats	10.795
167	Rough Grass	03.880
178	Pasture	16.529
166 pt.	Rough Grass	09.607
189	Roadway	00.354
		167.562

 

This Lot includes some really capital Pasture and very useful Arable Land and with the Woods well dispersed forms by itself a most desirable little Estate for any Gentleman fond of country pursuits and desirous of being within an easy distance of London.

 

At present the main portion of this Lot is in the occupation of Mr. Martin Poupart whose tenancy expires and Possession may be had at Michael next.

 

The Timber in this Lot shall be taken and paid for by the Purchaser at the sum of £821 1s. 11d. in addition to the purchase price.  The Purchaser will be required also to pay the amount of the Tenant Right Valuation to which the outgoing Tenant may be entitled, the same to be ascertained by two Valuers or their Umpire in the usual manner.

 

The Tithe Rent Charge apportioned to this Lot for the purpose of sale is £26 18s. Present Value £18 16s.7d.

 

The shooting rights are reserved to the Vendors and their nominees for the coming season, viz., until February, 1^st 1912, except that should this Lot be sold with Lots 1 [Felbridge Place Estate], 3 [Hedgecourt Lake and Mill] and 4 [Park Cottages] this condition shall not apply.

 

Martin Poupart

Martin Poupart was the son of William Poupart and his wife Sarah Fuller née Martin, being baptised on 4^th September 1856 at St James, Bermondsey.  Martin was one of at least five children, his siblings including; William born in 1847, Sarah born in 1848, Mary born in 1850, John born in 1853 and a brother born in 1861 but who sadly died, along with his mother Sarah the same year.   William was a market gardener and in 1851 the Poupart family were living in Bermondsey between Rose Cottage and The Grange.  Although the area was dominated by industry and considered working class, the Poupart family had a domestic servant living within their household.  By 1861, and after the loss of his wife and chid, William had moved to Alma Grove House, Bermondsey, and the family had been joined by William’s sister Elizabeth who was running the household along with a housemaid and a cook.  On 18^th November 1862, William re-married, someone named Elizabeth Emma Cobbing, giving his young family a second mother.

 

In 1871, Martin, then aged 14, had been sent away to school at East Cliff Villa in Margate, Kent.  On 26^th August 1880 Martin Poupart married Amelia Farnes Fitter at St Matthew’s, Brixton; Amelia having been born in Deptford in 1858, the daughter of Joseph (a butcher) and Harriet Fitter.  In 1881 Martin and Amelia were living at Brick Farm (later known as West Park) in Mortlake, Surrey, where Martin was working as a market gardener of 400 acres, employing 40 men, 11 women and 3 boys.  Brick Farm was built just to the west of the house known as West Hall at Kew and it became the home of Sir William Hooker, the first Director of Kew Gardens in 1841.  Sir William Hooker had rented the house and renamed it West Park.  The estates of both houses were let out for grazing and market gardening and by 1881 Martin Poupart was running a fairly successful market garden business from Brick Farm.  Although the house of West Hall still stands much of its estate, and that of the neighbouring Brick Farm, has now been redeveloped for housing.

 

By 1891 Martin and Amelia had moved to Willow Farm in Mitcham, Surrey, where their three children were born; Amy Amelia in 1883, Martin in 1885 and Ruby Dorothy in 1892.  By 1901 the Poupart family had moved back to WestPark, Mortlake; Martin still working as a market gardener.  However, by 1911 Martin and Amelia had moved to Park Farm, Martin listed as a farmer.  It was around this time that Martin’s nephew John (son of Martin’s brother William) began his association with Felbridge Nurseries who sold their produce, grown in Felbridge, through John’s company T J Poupart at Covent Garden, an association that would last until 1971 when the Nursery ceased growing fruit [for further information see Handout, Little Gibbshaven, SJC 07/08].

 

It is not known when the Pouparts left Park Farm but they ended their days in Christchurch, Hampshire, where Amelia died aged 75 in 1934, and Martin died from Myome, 56, Hurn Way, Christchurch, aged 87, on 29^th December 1943.

 

Names of possible workers associated with Park Farm in 1911 include; John Barlett aged 42, living at a cottage on Woodcock Hill, listed as a carter on farm; Henry Mabey aged 66, and his son Joseph Edward aged 34, of Park Cottages, both listed as workers on farm; John Creasey now aged 51 of Park Cottages, listed as a carter on farm; William Streeter aged 39, living at Hedgecourt (one of the Mill Cottages), listed as a stockman on farm; George Wheeler now aged 63, living at South Lodge, listed as a waggoner on farm;  George Marden aged 33, living at Chapel Cottages on Crawley Down Road, listed as a farm labourer; and Thomas Wheeler aged 53, living at Fir Tree Cottage on Crawley Down Road, also listed as a farm labourer.

 

When comparing the sale details between 1855 and 1911, Park Farm remained fairly similar in size being just three acres larger in 1911, but the size can be misleading.  As already established Upper and Lower Warren Fields (Warren House Farm) no longer formed part of the holding, and for the purposes of the 1911 sale, Park Farm also no longer contained Park Cottages and the strip of fields abutting Mill Lane on the east as these formed a separate Lot.  However, Park Farm had acquired more land further north of its 1855 holding. This land was part of Hedgecourt Farm in 1855.  Whether this reflects how Park Farm had evolved between 1855 and 1911 or whether the new area was created for the purposes of the sale has not yet been established.

 

A breakdown of the land usage at the time of sale in 1911 is as follows:

Description	Acreage	% of land usage
Arable	47.636	28½
Pasture	39.146	23½
Rough Grass	50.526	30
Wood	27.355	16½
Pond	00.526	½
House, buildings and roadway	02.089	1
Total	167.562

What is evident is that by 1911 hops were no longer being grown at Park Farm and there was also no mention of an orchard.  Acreage devoted to arable had significantly dropped from 50¾% in 1855 to just 28½% in 1911, this would have been largely due to the loss of Upper Warren Field and the fields abutting Mill Lane.  Acreage devoted to woodland had increased from 12% in 1855 to 16½% in 1911, a reflection of George Gatty’s re-planting and management of woodland as a cash crop.  Acreage devoted to pasture had dropped from 30% of land usage in 1855 to 23½% in 1911 and there was no mention of meadow in 1911.  The over-helming majority of the farm in 1911 was turned over to Rough Grass.  This would suggest that much of the Park Farm acreage was, by 1911, considered to be poor soil providing only enough nutrition to support the growing of Rough Grass (possibly due to mismanagement in latter years), which in turn implies that Park Farm had become a purely pastoral farm supporting only grazing animals such as cattle and sheep.  Another observation is that field sizes had increased between 1855 and 1911 due to the amalgamation of fields by the removal of hedgerows.

 

In 1911, Park Farm failed to sell and over the next five years there was a succession of names associated with its ownership.  On 1^st November 1912 Park Farm was purchased by Alexander Stewart Crum who had interests in the Wire Mill area [for further information see Handout, Woodcock alias Wiremill, SJC 03/06 & Handout, Eating and Drinking Establishments of Felbridge Pt. 3, SJC 09/09].  However it soon returned to the ownership of the East Grinstead Estate Company and on 5^th August 1913, Arthur Smeeton Gurney purchased Park Farm from the East Grinstead Estate Company, along with much of the Felbridge Place Estate [for further information see Handout, 1911 Sale of the Felbridge Estate, SJC 01/11].  However, on 30^th October 1916 Frank Newton Morgan purchased part of Park Farm, but on 8^th January 1917 Henry Willis Rudd purchased the whole of Park Farm to add to his recent acquisition of the Felbridge Place Estate, comprising of the ‘capital messuage’, mansion, park garden and land, Hedgecourt Lake and pieces of land in the parishes of Godstone and Horne totalling 218a 3r 1p; part of Mill Lane lying between Hedgecourt Mill and the Middle Road; strips of land adjoining Mill Lane; and the right of way in Stubpond Lane that he had already purchased on 27^th March 1916 [for further information see Handout, Downfall of Henry Willis Rudd & The Lewis Gun, SJC 10/02].

 

1916 – 1936

The purchase of the Felbridge Place Estate by Henry Willis Rudd had the potential to change the face of Felbridge beyond recognition, as it happens his ownership, in the end, only saw substantial change to the configuration of dwellings at Park Farm and the construction of a substantial new Kennels and Stables at Felbridge Place [for further information see Handout, Lutyen’s Grand Design for Felbridge, SC 07/03].

 

Unfortunately at the time of the 1917 sale, there is no mention of who was in occupation at Park Farm and thus farming the property, although the details do state that the farm was ‘largely devoted to dairying’.  The description of Park Farm in the Revised sale catalogue (2 sale catalogues had been produced in quick succession) was almost identical to that found in the sale catalogue of 1911 and is as follows:

THE HOME FARM

AN IDEAL PLEASURE AND DAIRY FARM.  ITS SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF SOIL AND SITUATION ARE INDICATED BY THE FACT THAT IT WAS FOR GENERATIONS THE HOME FARM OF AN OLD MANORIAL ESTATE.

 

The Home Farm will at once appeal to a gentleman seeking the occupation and attractions of country life with an inclination for farming. No site could be pleasanter in point of the social or sporting amenities of the neighbourhood than the Home Farm, Felbridge. In fact, though it is essentially a profit-earning farm, many parts of it are so beautiful that their desirability as residential sites strikes everyone who visits the Estate, an important feature towards assuring a profitable investment. Home Farm is within a very short drive of East Grinstead, and though the house itself enjoys a pleasant seclusion, the many advantages of the town and social life of the vicinity are available.

It is possible upon Home Farm to select several delightful Sites for an important Residence, with southern aspect.

The soil is good, the drainage and general slopes of the land are favourable and the property is especially well watered. The Farm is at present largely devoted to dairying, and enjoys a valuable and profitable connection with the town.

Fruit, vegetable and flower gardens are laid out. The fruit trees in early springtime are a bank of blossoms, and the gardens of most of the year are bathed in sunshine. Large and wide-spreading old shade trees of beautiful proportions are found here and there at the edges of the meadow lands.

The fact that Lingfield Race Course is within a short distance, and that four hunts are also in this vicinity should make the Home Farm attractive to a gentleman fond of hunting, racing and training.

The extensive Farm buildings comprise large double-bay barn, extensive range of cowsheds and milk cooling room; piggeries, stabling and various enclosed cattle yards. Grinding machinery and gas engine fitted.

The house is an excellent example of the solid workmanship and simple architecture of an earlier day. The walls and beams are in perfect condition, and the entire house in excellent repair, the whole of its interior being consistent with the keynote struck by a low ceiling living room with its deep inglenook. The house has everywhere about it an air of solid and simple comfort, but under the touch of taste and skill and care, it might at a very small expense be made luxurious and beautiful.  Its surroundings afford a setting for one of the most picturesque of old-world residences.

Its situation is sunny and dry with south aspect, and the drainage leaves nothing to be desired. The water company’s mains are laid on to the premises.

On the ground floor are the entrance hall, the drawing room (17ft. 6in. by 13ft. 9in.) with a casement door to verandah, terelith floor and handsome modern stove with brass fittings, tiled sides and hearth; the dining room, 15ft. 6in. by 14ft. 9in. in size, exclusive of chimney corner, with terelith floor, slow combustion stove and oak mantel, two glazed cupboards; the morning room, 14ft. 3in. by 12ft. 3in., and has a modern stove; the kitchen, well fitted with cupboards, the scullery fitted with a glazed sink, and the larder and dairy are floored with cement.

On the first floor are three good sized bedrooms, all with modern stoves, bath room fitted with hot and cold supplies and lavatory basin and a w.c.

The second floor has three bedrooms. Outside are the lumber room, the incubator Room and conveniences.

The estate is intersected by the flowing stream known as Felbridge Water, with wooded banks, which offers every opportunity for fish ponds, trout stream and water gardens.

SCHEDULE

Parish of Godstone

 

Condition: Lot 3 is sold subject to a liability to keep the beds of the Mill Race and Stream from Hedgecourt Mill to WireMillLake so cleaned and the course of the water unimpeded so that sufficient supply of water to WireMillLake can flow through the said Mill Race and Stream.  The Purchasers of this Lot will be required to enter into a proper form of covenant to observe liability and to indemnify the Vendors in respect of the same.

A breakdown of the land usage at the time of sale in 1917 is as follows:

 

What is evident is that arable land had more than halved since 1911 and was down to just 13% of the land usage by 1917.  Acreage devoted to pasture and woodland had remained almost unchanged except for the addition of the plantation.  By 1917 much of what had been classed as Rough Grass in 1911 had become grass but overall they accounted for a similar percentage of the land usage and supports the statement that the farm was ‘largely devoted to dairying’.

 

Henry Willis Rudd

Although Henry Willis Rudd has been mentioned in previous Handouts, more information has now surfaced about him and his wife Mary.  Henry Willis Rudd was born in Elmira, New York, on 13^th February 1866, the son of Darwin A Rudd and his wife Frances née Gilbert.  Darwin A Rudd had been born, one of seven children, in Sheldon, Wyoming County, New York, on 25^th August 1831, the son of Jabez Rudd and Sylvia née Butler.  Darwin was a farmer by occupation, who enlisted on 12^th August 1862, at the age of 32, with the 126^th Regiment, New York.  A short biography on Darwin A Rudd appears in the Freemasons of New York State in the Civil War, Volume IV, which states that he ‘participated in the battles of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, September 13^th, 14^th and 15^th, 1862, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th, 1863; on 27^th July 1863, he was detailed on recruiting service at Elmira, NY, in which capacity he served until the close of the war and was discharged with the Regiment.  In the 1870 census he was listed as an ‘invalid’.   

 

Darwin A Rudd married Frances in 1862 when he was aged 33, and they had just two children, Henry (also known as Harry) Wallis and Darwin Percy.  Darwin A Rudd died in 1876, aged just 44, leaving Frances with two young children to bring up alone.  Henry Rudd trained as a lawyer and married Mary Ann Arnold in New York on 22^nd April 1889.  Mary had been born in Bergen, Genesee County, New York, on 22^nd April 1864, and was the daughter of Henry Windsor Arnold and his wife Mary Ann née Patten.  Mary’s siblings included; Alice Elizabeth born on 9^th March 1857 and Chloe Edith born on 6^th January 1862. 

 

Although a practising lawyer, Henry Willis Rudd saw the advantages of backing the production of the Lewis gun, a light machine gun that was gas-operated, air-cooled and fed by a rotating drum containing either forty-seven or ninety-seven rounds, designed by Col. Isaac Newton Lewis.  In 1912 Col. Lewis set up a company in Liege, Belgium, called Armes Automatique Lewis, for the production of the gun.  Having offered the gun to the American military, who turned it down, Col. Lewis left the military in 1913 to pursue the sale of the gun elsewhere.  During the initial years of the company Henry Rudd had approached the Ordnance and the Admiralty in England and several other European governments, including, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Russia and Belgium, and in all cases orders had been placed for models of the gun, each to be adapted to shoot the small arms ammunition of each particular country. 

 

It was soon discovered that the factory at Liege was totally unsuitable for the manufacture of the gun and the company moved to Antwerp.  However, due to the number of orders that had been placed the company found it necessary to engage another company to supply the assorted sized barrels required.  After some negotiations, an agreement was reached with the BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company) in England to make the assorted barrels.  By July 1914, the BSA had completed all orders for the models of the gun, and those for Belgium, Russia and Sweden were on their way to be delivered when World War I broke out on 4^th August 1914.  In the meantime, Henry Rudd had arrived in England, on 29^th July 1914, from his home at Princetown, New Jersey, to collect the guns that had been made for Germany, Austria and Italy, to accompany them to Antwerp from where they were to be taken to the aforementioned countries.  However, with the declaration of World War I, Henry Rudd was ordered by the British War Office not to proceed with the guns for Germany, Austria and Italy, and that he was on no account to accept any orders from any other country except England.  All the guns destined for the Continent were returned to the BSA for conversion into British calibre.  These instructions were complied with and on 16^th August 1914, the British War Office passed its first official order for fifteen Lewis guns.   

 

Unfortunately, with the outbreak of World War I, the Germans quickly overran Belgium and the Armes Automatique Lewis Company’s factory in Antwerp was abandoned and moved to England.  On arrival in England, the company was invited to operate from the London offices of the BSA at 27, Pall Mall, London, and manufacture of the gun was continued at the BSA factory in Birmingham [for further information see Handout, Downfall of Henry Willis Rudd, SJCSJC 11/02].  Henry Rudd remained in England until February 1916, when he returned to America for a short period of time due to illness.  Having recovered from his illness, Henry returned to England on 18^th April 1916 with his wife Mary.

 

It was during Henry Rudd’s enforced stay in England that he purchased Felbridge Place with its mansion house, park, grounds and HedgecourtLake in February 1916.  On the Rudd’s return they purchased Park Farm and set about creating a grand country estate on the expected proceeds to be gained from the manufacture and sale of the Lewis gun.  From their base at Newchapel House [for further information see Handout, Newchapel House, SJC 11/02], the Rudd’s employed the eminent British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to give the Felbridge estate a complete make-over, suitable for a wealthy gentleman of the early 20^th century.  Newchapel House acquired a Gate House, Stone Cottage and Ward’s Farm received a make-over, a new Kennels and Stables were built within the grounds of Felbridge Place designed with the intention that they would be part of the grand entrance way to a very impressive new Felbridge mansion (the latter was never built but the design was modified and later used for Gledstone Hall in Skipton, Yorkshire [for further information see Handout, Lutyens’ Grand Design for Felbridge, SJC 07/03]) and Park Farm got a new farmhouse and cattle sheds to house Mary Rudd’s herd of Jersey cattle. 

 

An article that appeared in The Ladies Field, dated 9^th February 1918 reads:

MRS. RUDD’S HERD OF JERSEYS.

The Jersey Herd established about twelve months ago by Mrs. H. W. Rudd at Park Farm, Felbridge near Lingfield, Surrey, bids fair to be a great success.  Several judicious purchases were made and animals obtained from Mr. Miller-Hallett, Mrs. Evelyn and Lord Politmore, whose herds are world renowned.  The writer had the pleasure of going over the establishment very recently.

The first animal to be brought out was a fine young bull named Fire King, a beast of excellent promise and full of the typical Jersey character.  His pedigree is also undeniable, by Red Rattle (son of Musette, a gold-medal cow) out of Fairy Fern, a great winner and more than that, perhaps, a heavy milker.  Fire King was purchased at Guildford Market when just twelve months old, for a long price.  He is, of course, the “sultan of the harem”.

We next come to the cows, and taking them in order of age, the first is Pretty Victress, seven years old, a beautiful specimen of the Jersey, and greatly admired.  She has good credentials in the show ring, too, for at the Great Royal Show in 1916 she won first prize and the championship, and she is, besides, a bronze medal winner.  By her side was running a magnificent heifer calf by Leggett’s Chancellor.  Sunny Maid’s Cowslip is the next to be shown.  She is one of the latest purchases from Mrs. McIntosh’s herd, and bids fair to take winning honours later on.  She has a fine frame, an excellent bag and is of a very useful type.  Then we come to Jolly Tidy, a grand cow (a good prize-winner, including first prize, Royal Show, 1915) purchased recently for the record price in England of £480.  She was one of the Leggett’s sale lot, and is considered by breeders and good judges the best Jersey cow in England.  When it is added that she gives five gallons of milk a day and is only four years old, the judges are probably correct.

There are two daughter of Jolly Tidy in the herd, Slim Jim’s Lass, a model little cow – winner of first and third prizes last year as a yearling – and Leggett’s Tidy, of about equal merit.  Pink Pill is another fine cow bred by Mr. Knight.  She is a dark fawn in colour and has a big frame.  Her sire is the champion bull, La Maitrerie Lad, and on pedigree and appearance she is destined to play an important part in the fortunes of the herd.

Mrs. H. W. Rudd was fortunate in securing all the choicest cattle at the dispersal sale of Mr. Jackson of Leggett’s famous herd, and has also been lucky enough to obtain the services of Mr. Jackson’s late herdsman, C. Reynolds.  It was, in fact, on his advice that she purchase some of the best animals.  This fact alone speaks well for the herd, and should bring Mrs. Rudd into the foremost rank of Jersey breeders.

It need hardly be added that the stock that finds a residence at Felbridge will be in clover, for it will be a model dairy when completed.  Building operations have, of course, been greatly restricted, but the plans have been carefully prepared, and all is now ready for completion when the war is over.  Ms. Rudd is overlooking all the details personally, and it should be an ideal home for the Jersey in the course of a very short time.

The pastures are, it need hardly be said, large and convenient, divided off into many spacious paddocks, each surrounded by well grown hedges, affording good keep and nice shade from the hot sun.  The management, etc. of the whole place may be summed up in one word “thorough”.

Jersey cattle are a small breed of dairy cattle originating from Jersey, as the name suggests.  Due to their small size, docile and inquisitive character and attractive features, small herds of Jersey cattle were imported into England by aristocratic landowners as adornments for aesthetically landscaped parks.  The cows are highly recommended for first time owners and marginal pasture.  Being a small breed of cattle, with a lower body weight, allows for a larger number of effective milking cows per acre, hence lower maintenance requirements and superior grazing ability, ideal for a first time owner like Mary Rudd. 

 

Although a novice, Mary Rudd sourced from fairly high circles with regards to her Jersey cattle, associating with people like Mr Miller-Hallett who was the President of the Royal Jersey Herd Society of England, and breeders Lord Politmore of PolitmorePark, Exeter, Devon, and Mrs Charlotte McIntosh of HaveringPark, Romford, Essex, both of whom had extensive pedigree herds.  Also, as the article points out, Mary managed to secure the services of ‘Mr Jackson’s late herdsman C Reynolds’.  Charles William Reynolds and his wife Ada lived at The Shooting Box on the Rudd’s estate during his time as cowman between 1917 and 1921, moving to Park Farm Cottages in 1922 to 1924. 

 

Mary Rudd was also obviously not adverse to spending quite large sums of money on her cattle (especially when you consider one cow cost £480) and for the benefit of her cattle the Rudds commissioned the construction of cowhouses, milking facilities and separate accommodation for a Dairy Farmer designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens; described thus in 1924:

Conveniently situated at the side of this house is a range of

Model Cowhouses

forming 2 sides of a quadrangle, expensively designed and constructed on the most up-to-date principles for a Prize Herd, with glazed stone feeding troughs and glazed brick dados and cement floors with the following accommodation:-

38 cow-stalls, 7 loose boxes, calf pen, root and food stores, and bull stables with 5 looses boxes

 

Not only did Mary Rudd’s herd have the use of a purpose built model cowhouse she was also most

particular about how one of her cattle should be treated in death.  From the memories of a local Felbridge resident whose mother (Emma Curtis) was a dairy maid for Mary Rudd and whose uncle (Tom Streeter) was a cowman, in death ‘the cows were buried between hay in a brick-built pit with bricks over the top, her prize cows could not be buried in the mud!’

 

Besides the model cowhouses, the Rudd’s had a new farmhouse built at Park Farm, also designed by Lutyens.  Again, taken from the sale catalogue of 1924 the house was described as a:

New and expensively built Dwelling House

On the 1^st Floor

Four Large Bedrooms, each about 17’4” x 16’9” with brick built fireplaces and self setting stoves and tiled hearths, Bathroom with enamel porcelain bath, lavatory basin, hot cupboard and W.C.

 

On the Ground Floor

Entrance Hall about 16’ x 15’3”, 2 excellent sitting-rooms each about 17’4” x 16’9” with brick chimneys and dog grates, one having a side door to cow yard, large living room about 21’ x 17’6” with dado of white glazed bricks 4’6” high, Kitchen with tiled floor, range and dresser, larder, coal house, large Wash house with copper and 2 sinks and W.C.  There is central heating in this house.

 

In 1923, Henry and Mary Rudd were joined at their Felbridge ‘estate’ by Henry’s brother and sister-in-law, Darwin Percy and Helene Rudd, who resided at Golands (now Stratfords located in the middle of the Hobbs Industrial Estate), but their residency was to be short lived as in 1924 Henry Rudd was forced to sell up.  They must have realised as early as 1923 that their days were numbered at Park Farm because on 16^th October 1923, Mary Rudd put her entire herd of Jersey cattle up for sale, perhaps in an effort to re-coup some capital in the hope of saving their Felbridge estate, as the purchase of the estate, and subsequent building work commissioned by the Rudds between 1916 and 1924 had been funded by various mortgages obtained from the East Grinstead Estate Company and Barclays Bank on the strength of the British Government owed them millions from the purchase of the Lewis guns.  However, Henry Rudd never reached his desired status of millionaire as the British Government went back on their agreed price regarding the purchase of the Lewis guns.  Even after a lengthy legal battle, Henry Rudd was only paid a tenth of the value of the agreement in useless offshore war bonds.  The result of this was inevitably that the Newchapel House and Felbridge Place estates were put up for auction on 7^th May 1924.

 

Apart from the new farmhouse and the model cowsheds (described above) the remainder of the Lot was described thus:  

This Farm [Park Farm] is a very compact one and is well watered by a stream proceeding from the HedgecourtLake which is described in Lot 22.  It is approached off the Eastbourne Road to which it possesses a long and valuable frontage.  Parts of it are ready for immediate building development and the remainder is yearly growing in value.

 

The water is laid on from the Company’s Mains.

 

The 2 Farm Houses are surrounded by excellent pasture and arable Land, and there are also 2 brick built and tiled Cottages [Mill Cottages, now Mill House] fronting on Mill Lane on having 3 bedrooms, living room and scullery and W.C. and the other 4 bedrooms, living room, Kitchen, scullery and washhouse and W.C.  This Farm covers in all about 168.564 acres as set out in the following

Schedule

 

The owner for the time being of this Lot is liable in conjunction with other owners to contribute to the cost of keeping in repair Mill Lane in proportion to his frontage upon it.

At the time of completion of the sale of this Lot, the customary tenant right cultivation, growing and secured crops and manures, shall be taken to and paid for by the purchaser or purchasers between an incoming and outgoing tenant, by valuation as herinafter provided.

 

Henry Rudd died, aged 68, on 22^nd April 1934 in France and was buried at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Seine.  Mary Ann Rudd (known at the time of her death as Mary Arnold Rudd) died aged 92, in April 1956.

 

John Herbert and Gladys Elizabeth Atkinson

During their ownership of Park Farm, the Rudd’s employed John Herbert Atkinson as their Land Steward and he and his wife Gladys Elizabeth lived at Park Farm in the new Lutyens’ farmhouse from 1918 and possibly between 1916 and 1918 at the old farmhouse of Park Farm.  On the Rudd’s departure, the Atkinsons remained living at Park Farm and on 29^th September 1928, there was a conveyance for land at Park Farm made between Barclays Bank and John Herbert Atkinson.  It was rumoured locally that the Atkinsons were owed money for non-payment of wages and John Atkinson was ‘given’ Park Farm in lieu of these wages.  However, it is evident that John Atkinson also purchased land at Park Farm so if he was given anything in settlement by the Rudd’s it could only have been the Lutyens’ farmhouse in which they’d been living at Park Farm.

 

John Herbert Atkinson was born in Seaforth, Lancashire, in 1876, the son of John Frederick Henry Atkinson and his wife Louisa née Porter.  Both parents came from the upper middle classes of Victorian Britain;

John’s father John being a solicitor’s attorney and notary, and Louisa’s father Henry John Porter being a merchant based in Montevideo, Uruguay, before returning to Britain, and where Louisa was born.  On Henry John Porter’s death in 1864 his effects amounted to just short of £16,000, quite a substantial amount for the time.

 

John Herbert Atkinson’s siblings included; Gertrude Louisa born 1867, Frederick John born 1868, Robert Frank born 1869 and Charles Gerard born in 1879.  John’s brothers trained and practised as architects but John became an Estate Agent in the old sense of the word meaning someone who managed a private estate.  By 1901 John had left the family home and was living at Stamford Road, Bowden, Altringham, Manchester.  At this time John was the head of the household and living with him was his brother Frederick.  By 1911 John had moved to Freeford House, Freeford, Lichfield, Staffordshire, where he was working as a farmer and dairyman, living off his own means in the household of Emily Kate Lawrence.  It was whilst here that John met his future wife, Gladys Elizabeth Berryman, who was a boarder within the same household.

 

Gladys had been born in London in 1885, the daughter of William Ebenezer Berryman and his wife, Kathleen [Kate] Alice née Dawkins.  William was a Lt. Colonel serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Bengal, India, at the end of the 1800’s and beginning of the 1900’s.  Gladys had two siblings; Beryl Irene born in Staffordshire in 1887 and Greville Fielding born in Yorkshire in 1890; all three residing with the Lawrence family in 1901 and 1911.  John and Gladys married in Brighton in 1916 and must have taken up residence at Park Farm sometime around this date as this is the year that the Rudd’s purchased a stake in the Felbridge Place estate, adding Park Farm in 1917.

 

As a Land Steward, John Atkinson would have been the person who acted for the Rudd’s in the management of their estate and lands in Felbridge.  He would also have overseen the management of the prize Jersey herd that Mary Rudd was building up at Park Farm.  Whilst her husband was managing the estate, Gladys began to breed Shetland Ponies after she took over most of the Penniwell Stud owned by Mrs Etta Duffus of Elstree, with early acquisitions like Peace O’ Coln, a black mare foaled in 1919.  By definition a Shetland pony (the breed originating form the Shetland Isles) should stand between 28 inches (7 hands, 71cms) and a maximum of 44 inches (11 hands, 112cms) at the withers (the ridge between the shoulder blades).

 

During their time at Park Farm, Gladys bred at least eight Shetland ponies accredited to her, including:

Name	Foaled	Heritage	SPSB	Description
May Visier of Felbridge	1929	Sire: Discoverer of Penniwells, b 1923, black, 97cm Dam: May Violette of Penniwells, b. 1924, black, 96cm		Black stallion, 1.04m
Dimissory of Felbridge	1930	Sire: Discoverer of Penniwells, Dam: Dimity		Black, stallion, 104cm
Peaceful Prospect of Felbridge			4838	Mare
Silver Spray of Felbridge	1932	Sire: Darnell of Earlshall Dam: Daffy of Earlshall, SPSB 4550	1350	Grey, stallion, 104cm
Silver Lining of Felbridge	1936	Sire: Silver Spray of Felbridge Dam: Silver Blossom of Felbridge		Grey, stallion
Peace of Felbridge	1936	Sire: Dismissory Dam: Peace of Coln		Black mare, 101cm
Rushlight of Felbridge	1938	Sire: Emillius of Earlshal, b. 1922 RWR Mackenzie Dam: Radiola of Sansaw, b. 1924, Lady Estella Hope	1433	Chestnut, stallion, 100cm
Patience of Felbridge	1938	Sire: May Visier of Felbridge Dam: Peace of Coln	4877	Black, mare, 1m

 

There are also a further thirteen Shetland ponies that may have been bred by Gladys whilst at Park Farm, although another breeder, Mrs J R Campbell, was breeding ‘of Felbridge’ ponies from around 1935.

Name	Foaled	Heritage	SPSB	Description
Silver Blossom of Felbridge	1924	Sire: Victor Hugo, b. 1909, SPSB 680 Dam: Silver Gilt of Earlshall, SPSB 3788	4624	Mare, 100cm
Silver Charm	1932	Sire: Darnell of Earlshall, SPSB 1190 Dam: Mabel of Earlshm, SPSB 4074	4688	Grey mare, 0.96m
Barbe of Felbridge	1932	Sire: Bravo of Earlshall, b. 1921 black, 91cm, SPSB 1115/1081 Dam: Boniface of Earlshall b. 1926, grey, 96cm, SPSB 4688	1356	Grey, stallion, 100cm
Silver Charm of Felbridge	1932	Sire: Darnell of Earlshall, b 1924 Dam: Mabel of Earlshall	4688	Grey, mare, 96cm
Nolana of Felbridge	1934	Sire: Ayton Phlox, b. 1927, grey, 95cm, SPSB 1298 Dam: Nola of Manar, b. 1922, grey, 86cm	4811	Grey, mare, 96cm
Maydew of Felbridge	1935	Sire: Dimissory of Felbridge Dam: Mayflame of Penniwells, b 1926, 96cm		Mare
Manadarin of Felbridge	1935	Sire: Dimissory of Felbridge Dam: Mayflare of Penniwells, b. 1927, 1.01m, SPSB 4500		Stallion
Owlet of Felbridge
Kitmagork of Felbridge
King Kong of Felbridge
Redlight of Felbridge		Sire: Emillius of Earlshall, b. 1922, chestnut, RWR Mackenzie Mare: Radiola of Sansaw, b.1924, chestnut, 95cm	1432	Stallion
Ceres of Felbridge			4956	Mare
Madge of Felbridge	1938	Sire: Sire: Emillius of Earlshall, b. 1922 RWR Mackenzie Dam: Madchen of Sansaw, b.1927, black, 0.99m		Black, mare 0.99m

 

Even when the Atkinsons moved on from Park Farm in 1938, Gladys continued to breed Shetland ponies with another fourteen ponies accredited to her and a further eleven potentially bred by her.  Those accredited to Gladys are:

Name	Foaled	Heritage	SPSB	Description
Soldanella of Felbridge	1941	Sire: Silver Spray Felbridge Dam: Brix of Lawmait, SPSB 3729	4878	Mare, 102cm
Rearlight of Felbridge	1941	Sire: Emillius of Earlshal, b. 1922 RWR Mackenzie Dam: Radiola of Sansaw, b. 1924, Lady Estella Hope	1432	Chestnut, stallion, 91cm
Kirby Sweet Surprise	1942	Sire: Emillus of Earlsham Dam: Sweet Home of Sansaw, b. 1930, dark brown, SPSB 4570	4895	Mare
Little Nigger		Sire: Barbe of Felbridge Dam: Peaceful Prospect of Felbridge		Black mare
Bobolink of Felbridge				Stallion
Nolina of Felbridge	1942	Sire: Emillus of Earlsham Dam: Nolana of Felbridge	4876	Grey, mare, 93cm
Starlight of Felbridge
Mary Violet of Felbridge				Mare
Bayleaf of Felbridge Imp. To Sweden 1949	1946	Sire: Emillus of Earlsham Dam: Sweet Home of Sansaw	1640	Brown stallion, 100cm
Redwing of Felbridge	1947	Sire: Flamenco of Felbridge Dam: Ruby of Felbridge	5068	Chestnut, mare, 89cm
Seringa of Felbridge
Little Barbe of Felbridge	1948	Sire: Barbe of Felbridge Dam: Silver Charm of Felbridge	1521	Grey, 92cm
Wells Rainbow	1949	Sire: Flamenco of Felbridge Dam: Ruby of Felbridge	1550	Skewbald, stallion, 84cm
Cereal of Felbridge	1954	Sire: Rushlight of Felbridge Dam: Ceres of Felbridge	1616	Chestnut, stallion, 96cm
Blue Diamond of Felbridge	1957	Sire: Rushlight of Felbridge Dam: Soldanella of Felbridge	1707	Grey, stallion, 96cm
Senencio of Felbridge	1961	Sire: Tempest of Hutton, SPSB 001718 Dam: Santolina of Felbridge	5829	Mare, 100cm

Shetland ponies potentially bred by Gladys Atkinson after leaving Park Farm include:

Name	Foaled	Heritage	SPSB		Description
Onyx of Felbridge	1941	Sire: Emillius of Earlshall, b. 1922, chestnut, RWR Mackenzie Dam: Ozone of Felbridge, b. 1931, 104cm	4941	Mare
Roseway of Felbridge	1944	Sire: Silver Lining of Felbridge		Roan, mare, 93cm
Peacetime of Felbridge	1944	Sire: Flamenco Dam: Peace of Felbridge		Black mare, 99cm
Nigella of Felbridge		Sire: Silverlinging of Felbridge Dam: Nolina of Felbridge
Felbridge Flash				Piebald, stallion
Seronga of Felbridge				Stallion
Memento of Felbridge	1948	Sire: Mandarin of Felbridge Dam: Maydew of Felbridge		Mare
Silver Crystal of Felbridge	1951	Sire: Silver Spray of Felbridge Dam: Silver Charm of Felbridge		Dapple grey, stallion
Santolina of Felbridge	1956	Sire: Flamenco of Felbridge Dam: Solanella of Felbridge	5495	Mare, 101cm
Radiance Rejoice of Felbridge	1960c	Sire: Tempest of Hutton, b. 1955, 99cm, SPSB 001718 Dam: Radiant of Felbridge	6103	Mare
Prima Donna of Felbridge	1960	Sire: Nimbus of Deepacre, b. 1957, 1.01m Dam: Patience of Felbridge
Salva of Felbridge	1963			Mare
Sanfoin of Felbridge		Sire: Tempest of Hutton	6529	Mare
Charlie Boy of Felbridge	1967	Sire: Tempest of Hutton Dam: Radiance Rejoice of Felbridge		Grey stallion, 99cm

 

Whilst at Park Farm, Gladys Atkinson not only bred Shetland ponies she also showed, rode and drove them at various local county, agricultural and horse Shows including: Marsh Green Show & Gymkhana, National Pony Show, Oxted Agricultural Show, Polo, Riding Horse and Arab Horse Show, Redhill Agricultural Show, Richmond Coronation Horse Show, Sussex County Show, Tunbridge Wells Horse Show and Whitstable Horse Show.  Gladys not only entered her Shetland ponies, she also, on occasion, entered Jersey cattle and even hen’s eggs (white). 

 

In 1930 John and Gladys were joined at Park Farm by his mother Louisa and two of his brothers, Frederick and Charles, who took up residence at Park House (the old farmhouse for Park Farm before the construction of the Lutyen’s dwelling).  By 1934 Charles Atkinson had left Park Farm and eventually died aged 76, in Westmorland in 1955.  In 1936 John and Gladys moved into Park House with Louisa and Frederick, being succeeded at Park Farm by Miss Marjorie J Thomas.  John and Gladys remained at Park House until 1938, leaving Louisa and Frederick in residence.  Louisa Atkinson died from Park House in 1940, aged 94, and Frederick was succeeded at the property by André H and Yvonne M Dubar in 1941.  Fredrick Atkinson remained in the area and died aged 81, his death registered in Uckfield, Sussex, in 1950.

As for John and Gladys Atkinson, they moved to Naldrett House, Rudgwick, Sussex, where Gladys continued to breed Shetland ponies and also bred from a Seglawi Arabian purebred chestnut stallion called Rech Al Badia who was foaled in Arabia in 1928 and imported into England in 1938, producing a golden chestnut mare called Shem-El-Nassim in 1941 and a chestnut mare called Falha GB foaled in 1953.   However, as breeders of Shetland ponies go, Gladys Atkinson was up there with the top breeders of the age, with people like Ladies Estella and Dorothea Hope of the South Park Stud in Robertsbridge, Sussex (now run by Countess De La Warr at Buckhurst, great, great niece by marriage of Lady Estella); RWR Mackenzie (Robert Mackenzie of the Earlshall Stud in Fife); and Mrs J R Campbell.  Today ‘of Felbridge’ Shetland ponies and their descendants are to found all over the world, particularly in Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Holland, Norway and Sweden,

 

John Atkinson died from Naldrett House, aged 78 in 1953, and Gladys died aged 80, her death registered in Hove, Sussex in 1966.

1936 – 1962

On her arrival at Park Farm in 1936, Miss Marjorie J Thomas established a new herd of Jersey cattle in partnership with Honoré Dubar.

 

Honoré Alexis Ghislain Benoit Dubar

Honoré was born in Brussels in about 1880, the son of Ferdinand Honoré Desire Dubar and his wife Lambertine.  Honoré married Zoe Victoire Joseph Deloge, who had been born in Brussels in about 1878, the daughter of Augustin Joseph Deloge and his wife Octavie Victoire.  Honoré and Zoe had three children, all born in Brussels: Suzanne Honoré Benoit Ghislain (also known as Suzy) born in 1906, Jean Joseph Honoré Benoit Ghislain (also known as John) born 2^nd August 1907 and André Alfred Joseph Honoré Benoit Ghislain (also known as Andrew), born on 29^th January 1910.

 

Michael Dubar takes up the story: ‘My grandfather Honoré Dubar came over from Belgium in 1913.  He was chairman of the European Iron and Steel Board and was alarmed at the Germans purchasing large quantities of armament grade steel’.   On arrival the Dubar family lived in Finchley before moving to Struan Lodge (now redeveloped as Malvern House, the name it had been known as before acquiring the name of Struan Lodge), Foxley Road, Kenely, Surrey, in 1923.  Also in 1923, Honoré, Jean and André Dubar applied to become Naturalised British Citizens, the application granted by the Secretary of State in 1926.  Jean and André Dubar attended MillHillSchool in London, at the time a leading boy’s only school.  In 1939, both the Dubar sons married; Jean married Eileen Alice Lark and André married Yvonne Asling whose father was manager of the Banque Belge in London.  Suzanne never married and died aged 34 in 1940.

 

In 1936 Honoré Dubar purchased Park Farm and ‘my grandfather installed his mistress Marjorie Thomas’; wife Zoe living at Struan Lodge.  After the departure of Frederick Atkinson from Park House in 1941, André and Yvonne Dubar, who had been living at 15, Wembury Park, Newchapel, moved into the property making it their family home with their two sons, Kenneth born in 1941 and Michael born in 1944, for the next twenty years.   

 

In 1939 the herd of cattle that Marjorie Thomas had built up was dispersed and an almost entirely fresh start was made with the purchase of a number of well-bred heifers imported from Jersey.  After this point no new females were bought onto the farm.  The Felbridge herd, according to the authorities, was a ‘striking example as to what can be accomplished by way of herd building by first-class management – always strictly commercial – and the use of good highly-bred bulls.  In fact the majority of the new Felbridge herd were sired by just three bulls, Groombridge Bradbury, Moles Blushing Postman and Normanby Stately 2^nd  Designer.  ‘Scarcely any showing has been done, good and profitable milk yields and high percentages of butter fat having been the principal aim’.  All the heifers from yearlings upwards were entirely out-wintered and never ‘pampered’ in any way making them of a high standard of health and hardiness.  Through practising strict management, all the mature cows had extremely heavy milk yields, well above the average.   

In 1941, Hobbs Barracks was looking to expand with the installation of a sewage treatment facility for the barracks and to accommodate the works they purchased 10 acres of land at the northern edge of the farm, now enveloped by the site of Beaver Water Plant and Fish Farm[for further information Handout, Hobbs Barracks, DHW 01/03].  The sale of this rather poor quality land still left Park Farm as a substantial dairy farm.  As a point of interest, during the war years, Honoré son André joined the Felbridge Home Guard who honed their shooting skills on the riffle range at Hobbs Barracks and André became a ‘talented marksman’. 

 

Whilst Marjorie was residing at the new farmhouse at Park Farm and André Dubar and his family were living in the old farmhouse of Park Farm (by then called Park House), a third dwelling appears at Park Farm,  The Bungalow, Park Farm, which was in the occupation of Charles F and Lillian M Trigwell in 1945.

 

On 26^th July 1947 Honoré Dubar died aged 67, at Park Farm, leaving effects of £23,258 15s.7d to his sons Jean of no occupation and André, farmer, living at Park House.  Zoe was still living at Struan Lodge at the time of Honoré death but eventually moved to 160, Purley Downs Road, Sanderstead, Surrey, to live with Jean, who was by then nearly blind.  Zoe died on 3^rd July 1959, leaving effects of £45,077 17s. 4d. 

 

Whilst Marjorie ‘had her prize herd of Jersey cattle’ for milk production at Park Farm, Honoré’s son André bred Aberdeen Angus cattle for beef production.  Michael recalls ‘There were magnificent cowsheds with individual stalls for each animal, name plaques and all’.  Besides dairy and beef cattle, part of Park Farm was still turned over to arable as Michael continues ‘My grandfather [Honoré] was one of the very first to buy a combined harvester in England.  It was an Allison All-Crop and still in use by my father 21 years later.  God, how we struggled with that machine, which was designed for 6" straw on the prairies and not our 2ft stuff.  It was my job to help the cut into the drum. No Health & Safety in those days!’  For extra land the Dubars rented fields, for many years, from Nancy McIver at Woodcock [for further information see Handout, Nancy McIver and Woodcock, JIC/SJC 05/15] ‘as well as some on the other side of the road [to Park Farm] behind the garage at the bottom of Woodcock Hill.  We also built a stockman's house.  The brick was a ghastly white colour; maybe it's matured a bit by now’.  We also employed ‘Bill Champion, the son of the hunt master, a great person who put his heart in his work.  

 

After attending HighfieldSchool in East Grinstead, ‘My brother and I were sent to boarding school at Ardingly College near Haywards Heath, as the nearest Grammar school in Surrey was in Oxted and we were the wrong side of the boundary for the one in East Grinstead.  Pity, because it deprived me of my home on a farm.  What better place to grow up?’

  

In 1949, Marjorie Thomas was still living at Park Farm and André Dubar and his family were still at Park House, but there was a change of occupants at The Bungalow, Park Farm, which was by then in the occupation of Eric G and Alice M Edwards.  Around this date, and due to the death of Honoré Dubar, ‘Marjorie went to live in New Zealand and the farm was split into two (Park Farm and Park House Farm).  Mr Balfour-Smith (I believe he was director of a large store chain) bought Park Farm but was not too committed to farming’, thus by 1953 Eleanor Louisa Edwards was living at Park Farm.

 

With the departure of Marjorie Thomas, her attested herd of Jersey cattle were put up for auction on 10^th September 1951:

Name	Heritage	AF No.	Sold gns.
Felbridge Dreaming Lady (45005)	Born: 30.06.1940 Sire: Groombridge Bradbury (20379) Dam: Ambalema  (43318)	3372	60
Felbridge Blush (55224)	Born: 22.04.1943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289) Dam: Felbridge Peggy (45007)	8341	85
Felbridge Winnie (55234)	Born: 27.06.1943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289) Dam: Felbridge Bride (41010)	8348	160
Felbridge Ambelema (55221)	Born: 02.07.1943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289) Dam: Ambalema  (43318)	8349	32
Felbridge Hot Springs (55228)	Born: 18.091943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge Virginia (41024)	9022	380
Felbridge Blushing Ninette (55225)	Born: 15.10.1943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Ashley Ninette 2nd (43329)	9076	330
Felbridge New Moon (55230)	Born: 29.10 1943 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge May Moon (41014)	9858	420
Felbridge Primrose (59146)	Born: 27.02.1944 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge Primula (45009)	12703	170
Felbridge Coulisse 3rd (59159)	Born: 06.03.1944 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge Coulisse (45004)	12704	120
Felbridge Wonderful (56169)	Born: 09.03.1944 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Wonderful Aim’s Usefulness (47368)	12706	160
Felbridge Primrose 2nd (59165)	Born: 09.07.1944 Sire: Felbridge Jester (22673 ) Dam: Watfern’s Primrose (47365)	14004	270
Felbridge Virginia 3rd (59168)	Born: 02.09.1944 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge Virginia (41024)	14032	250
Felbridge Pixie 3rd (63616)	Born: 21.03.1945 Sire: Moles Blushing Postman (22289 ) Dam: Felbridge Pixie 2nd (45008)	15725	200
Felbridge Watfern’s Pride (63617)	Born: 02.07.1945 Sire: Groombridge Bradbury (20379 ) Dam: Watfern’s Primrose ((47365)	17210	300
Felbridge Kahoka’s Winnie (63615)	Born: 17.09.1945 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Winnie (55234)	17246	320
Felbridge Kahoka’s Coulisse 5th  (67648)	Born: 04.03.1946 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Coulisse (45004)	22735	220
Felbridge Kahoka’s Blush (71402)	Born: 18.09.1946 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Blush (55224)	23465	140
Felbridge Designer’s Desiree (78596)	Born: 07.08.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Desiree (59161)	33291	160
Felbridge Designer’s Primula (78597)	Born: 23.08.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Primula (45009)	33292	320
Felbridge Designer’s Reinette (78598)	Born: 27.08.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Reinette (36977)	33293	180
Felbridge Designer’s Pride (78599)	Born: 03.09.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Watfern’s Pride (63617)	33294	150
Felbridge Designer’s Blush (79354)	Born: 23.09.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Blush (55224)	34711	320
Felbridge Designer’s Olivia (78355)	Born: 27.09.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Olivia’s Queen (59163)	34712	270
Felbridge Designer’s Coulisse 7th (90738)	Born: 27.09.1947 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Kahoka’s Coulisse 5th (67648)	36373	160
Felbridge Kahoka’s Charity (90739)	Born: 17.03.1948 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Faith (55227)	36374	116
Felbridge Kahoka’s Nixey 3rd (92219)	Born: 23.05.1948 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Lady Nixey (51641)	38051	130
Felbridge Kahoka’s Lady (90741)	Born: 22.08.1948 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Dreaming Lady (45005)	38093	130
Felbridge Designer’s Winnie (91386)	Born: 11.11.1948 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Winnie (55234)	41108	240
Felbridge Kahoka’s Pride (99771)	Born: 30.01.1949 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Watfern’s Pride (63617)	41175	100
Felbridge Kahoka’s Sybil 5th (99772)	Born: 05.02.1949 Sire: Felbridge Kahoka’s Prince (23238 ) Dam: Felbridge Sybil 2nd (59167)	41176	110
Felbridge Designer’s Coulisse 8th (99773)	Born: 16.03.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Coulisse 3rd (59158)	43009	75
Felbridge Designer’s April (99774)	Born: 02.04.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Olivia’s Queen (59153)	43031	170
Felbridge Designer’s Spring 2nd (99776)	Born: 11.08.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Hot Springs (55228)	44703	230
Felbridge Designer’s Queen (99779)	Born: 21.09.1949 Sire: Bicknor Golden Woodman (23678 ) Dam: Felbridge Designer’s Olivia (78355)	44712	240
Felbridge Designer’s Ninette 2nd (99777)	Born: 12.09.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Blushing Ninette (55225)	44710	200
Felbridge Designer’s Primrosette 2nd (99780)	Born: 30.10.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Primrose 2nd (59165)	44751	270
Felbridge Designer’s Moonbeam (102706)	Born: 07.12.1949 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge New Moon (55230)	47408	320
Felbridge Designer’s Virginia 7th (106294)	Born: 06.02.1950 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Virginia 3rd ( 59168)	47470	160
Felbridge Designer’s Rossett (106561)	Born: 08.03.1950 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Primrose (59164)	47491	160
Felbridge Designer’s Pixie 5th (109262)	Born: 19.04.1950 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Pixie 3rd (63616)	48989	110
Felbridge Designer’s Nixey 4th (110117)	Born: 18.06.1950 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Kahoka’s Nixey 3rd (92219)	47495	65
Felbridge Senator’s Desiree 4th (111945)	Born: 05.08.1950 Sire: Felbridge Designer’s Senator (27791 ) Dam: Felbridge Designer’s Desiree (78596)	48403	75
Felbridge Senator’s Queen 2nd (112749)	Born: 31.08.1950 Sire: Felbridge Designer’s Senator (27791 ) Dam: Felbridge Designer’s Olivia (78355)	48423	200
Felbridge Senator’s Belle 2nd (112750)	Born: 15.09.1950 Sire: Felbridge Designer’s Senator (27791 ) Dam: Felbridge Designer’s Blush (79354)	48424	70
Felbridge Senator’s Winnie 4th (115137)	Born: 29.10.1950 Sire: Felbridge Designer’s Senator (27791 ) Dam: Felbridge Winnie (55234)	48456	250
Felbridge Senator’s Cowslip (117332)	Born: 19.12.1950 Sire: Felbridge Designer’s Senator (27791 ) Dam: Felbridge Cowslip (55226)	53709	60
Felbridge Designer’s Carol (117336)	Born: 26.12.1950 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Kahoka’s Blush (71402)	53710	120
Felbridge Designer’s Olivia 3rd (119386)	Born: 18.02.1951 Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge Olivia’s Queen (59163)	53763	140
Total realised by the Cows			8918 gns.
Felbridge Jersey Herd Bulls	Heritage	AF No.	Sold gns.
Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657)	Born: 02.02.1945 bred by Lt. Col. AS Lockwood. Sire: Normanby Ortona’s Designer (22847 ) Dam: Normanby Stately Lily 2nd ( 34229)	LASM4	1350
Felbridge Designer Jacobite (28853)	Born: 15.11.1949 bred at Park Farm Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbrige Ambelema (55221)	47405	110
Felbridge Designer’s Senator 2nd (30397)	Born: 12.12.1950 bred at Park Farm Sire: Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer (24657 ) Dam: Felbridge New Moon(55230)	48489	340
Total realised by the Bulls			1800 gns.
Grand Total			10718 gns

 

The sale of the Park Farm Jersey Herd amounted to 10,718 Guineas (£11,253 18/-) together with the sale of the dead stock (Fordson Major Tractor, Standard Fordson Tractor, various tractor implement attachments, poultry houses and smaller farming items) the sale realised £12,211 12/-.  From a newspaper article covering the dispersal of the Jersey herd it reported that: ‘The transfer of this bull [Normanby Stately 2nd’s Designer] to Mrs S Wilson was the outstanding transaction of the day, his purchase at 1,350gs being one of the few four-figure prices for Jersey bulls recorded in this country’.  This was a British auction record for a Jersey bull.

 

With Marjorie Thomas having moved permanently to New Zealand, (where she remained for the rest of her life, dying in Oamaru, Otago) and Park Farm split in two, André Dubar continued to run Aberdeen Angus cattle on Park House Farm, whilst the Edwards ran what had been Marjorie’s Park Farm.  However, ‘the pedigree Angus boom’ was coming to an end ‘and times were hard, so he [André Dubar] sold up in 1962’ and the Dubar family went their separate ways.  ‘My brother Kenneth went to New Zealand in 1962 and my father and mother lived for a few years in High Hurstwood [near Uckfield, Sussex], before also going to New Zealand in 1970.  They sold the most of the farm to Mr Edwards but I was given some 33 acres of wood and arable land backing onto Felbridge Place and Colonel Davis's soft fruit farm. This was known as "Parkland" over which Mrs Edwards had a grazing agreement for the land at £100 per year’.  In 1975 this was sold by Michael Dubar to John Edwards, as by then Michael and his family had also moved to live in New Zealand.

 

Post 1962

As established above, after Park Farm was split into Park Farm and Park House Farm, André Dubar and his family resided at Park House Farm until 1962.  However, Park Farm, with its Lutyens designed farmhouse, had a succession of residents after the departure of Marjorie Thomas from Park Farm.  In 1953 Park Farm was in the occupation of Eleanor Louisa Edwards, whoby 1956 she had been joined by Albert V and Jill E Edwards.  However, in 1959, whilst Albert and Eleanor Edwards were listed as residing at Park Farm, their son John Richard Edwards and his wife Clare were living at The Bungalow, Park Farm.  On the departure of André Dubar and his family, John and Clare Edwards and their family moved into Park House and the two farms at Park Farm were once again reunited.

 

Shortly after moving to Park House, John Edwards and his family had a dramatic escape when their house was struck by lightening in September 1968:

Fireball Horror

Family get up early and escape death

A Felbridge family got up half an hour earlier than usual on Sunday, and those few precious moments saved their lives. For while they were in the middle of breakfast, a huge red fireball ‘the size of a room’ smashed into the roof of their home at Park House, Park Farm, almost totally destroying the upper storey where just 10 minutes earlier they had been peacefully sleeping. Mrs Clare Edwards, her four children and a young girl staying with them, were downstairs when the mass of globular lightning plummeted on to the house. It went through the roof, flinging aside tiles and rafters, and then careered through the six bedrooms upstairs, leaving a trail of devastation.

 

‘Blinded Me’

Floorboards were ripped up, walls split open, and the family’s personal belongings hurled around the rooms to finish up as a charred heap of unrecognisable debris. Farmer, Mr John Edwards, who was working outside at the time, was knocked sideways by the blast.  ‘It was worse than a bomb’ he told the Courier.  ‘I was in the cinema in East Grinstead when it was blown up during the war, but I’ve never seen anything like this’. He estimated the damage as running into thousands of pounds. Next-door neighbour, 14-year old Christopher Stonestreet, saw exactly what happened from his bedroom window. ‘My cat, Fluffy, which was on the bed, suddenly bristled with fear’, he said.  ‘I looked out of the window and saw a great red ball rocketing towards the Edwards’ house, as big as a room, it blinded me, and then there was a terrific explosion as it struck the roof’.

 

‘Write-off’

Worst hit of the rooms was the attic bedroom where 10-year old Caroline and her friend Elizabeth McCready, had been sleeping.  All Caroline’s personal belongings and sentimental keepsakes were destroyed.  Clothes, books, toys and bits of furniture were scattered around the room and embedded in the ceiling.  A pink shoe turned completely brown as though cooked in an oven. ‘The whole upstairs was a write-off’, said Mr Edwards.  ‘Our room was like a cave which had been sealed off for 100 years.  It was dark, with the dust and rubble everywhere, complete chaos.  If my wife had been in bed she would have been sliced in two by the mirror which was wrenched off the wall.’ The four children, Caroline, Michael, aged nine, Nicola, 12, and four-year old Jane, had just bought new clothes for a holiday in Majorca with their father’s parents.  These were all ruined.

 

Blasted Open

The exact time of the calamity was recorded on the electric clock in the living room, which stopped at 8.30 am when the electricity was cut off by the blast. ‘Normally we would still have been in bed’, said Mrs Edwards.  ‘But Mike was up and feeling hungry, so we had breakfast much earlier’.

‘It must have been an act of God that we were up’, commented Mr Edwards. Mr Edwards said the East Grinstead firemen could not be praised too highly.  ‘They got here in record time and did a magnificent job.  They were very good-humoured and helpful.’ Although it was the top of the building that bore the brunt of the explosion, all the doors downstairs were blasted open and windows smashed. Fortunately, none of the farm’s 260 head of dairy cattle was affected by the blast, and offers of temporary accommodation for the family have come from tractor-driver Mr Les Stonestreet, and Mr Edward’s parents, who own the farm.

  

As can be seen from the article, Park Farm was still being run as a dairy farm and from other documents, John Edwards also had sheep.  Shortly after the incident, John Edwards had the old mill cottages at Hedgecourt gutted and refurbished.  These still formed part of Park Farm and had been housing the Streeter family who, for many years, had worked at Park Farm.  However, in 1964 the cottages were condemned and the Streeter family moved to Park Cottages on Copthorne Road.  The cottages had then stood empty for several years but in 1969 the property was renovated.

In 1973, Albert Edwards died and by 1974 Eleanor had passed over most of Park Farm to her son John and moved into the recently refurbished Mill Cottage at Hedgecourt [for further information see Handout, Hedgecourt Watermill and Cottages, SJC 07/04].  It is under the ownership of John Edwards that Park Farm acquires several new dwellings as some of the outbuildings are converted as houses.  However, in 1984, Park Farm, described as a ‘former dairy farm’, was put up for sale and John Edwards also moved to Hedgecourt Mill Cottages.  By now the Lutyens farmhouse and Park House had already been sold off but John Edwards retained part of the land at Park Farm for grazing sheep.  He also offered Moat Wood, comprising of the meadow and most of the wood from part of Park Farm, to the Surrey Trust for Nature Conservation, which now forms part of the SSSI site at Hedgecourt [for further information see Handout,  Hedgecourt SSSI, SJC/JW 05/13].

 

Park Farm Today

Park Farm, the amalgamation of three separate farms by James Evelyn in the late 18^th century was consolidated under the Gatty family as the ‘Home’ farm for the Felbridge Place estate.  In 1911 Park Farm amounted to just short of 170 acres and remained fairly static in size through a succession of short term owners until 1947 when it split in two on the death of Honoré Dubar, creating Park Farm and Park House Farm.  Park Farm once again became one entity under the Edwards family until the 1980’s when it was put for sale in Lots.

 

Inevitably, over the years, Park Farm has lost and gained land.  In the 1911 sale the farm lost the strip of land abutting Mill Lane which has since been developed as housing.  Upper Warren Field, the tip of the ‘Felbridge Triangle’ has been developed as McIver Close, the Felbridge Village Hall, Grounds and associated woodland, the Felbridge School playing field and The Crescent off Copthorne Road.  Park Farm sold land on its northern extremities to Hobbs Barracks for their sewage treatment works in 1941 and later for the establishment of Beaver’s Water Plants and Fish Farm.  The meadow and woodland of The Moats was acquired by the Surry Trust for Nature Conservation and was incorporated as part of Hedgecourt SSSI in 1984.  The area around Hedgecourt Watermill and the Mill Cottages, which were sometimes part of Park Farm, sometimes not, formed part of the farm in the 1960’s when John Edwards renovated and refurbished the Mill Cottages.  These have since been sold on and are completely detached from Park Farm.

 

As for the nucleus of Park Farm, the farm house and outbuildings, these have been developed as a series of dwellings, each with associated land and each independently owned, and include:

Park House

The original farmhouse built in the 1790’s, now called Park House being described as a ‘Splendid detached Sussex style farmhouse with easily managed accommodation enjoying a rural location having secluded grounds of about 6 ½ acres.  6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 good reception room, conservatory, kitchen/breakfast room with Aga, utility room, cloakroom/shower, central heating, barn with “Cottage” gardens and field’. 

Park Farm

The farmhouse designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Rudds as a replacement for the old farmhouse of Park Farm, described as a ‘charming country house set in grounds of nearly 28 acres built in the 1920’s, with spacious, easily managed accommodation and a range of outbuildings including a staff/granny flat in one while the remainder are suitable for a variety of uses from workshop to stabling’.

The Manor House

Formerly known as Ten Acre Cottage, described as a ‘detached Sussex style farmhouse comprising of a sitting room with beamed wall and ceiling and a stone open fireplace, a dining room with casement door to the patio, a kitchen/breakfast room fitted with oak style units, a utility room, and a cloakroom, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom; set in 3/4 acres of gardens’.

Park Farm Stables Detached house with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 reception rooms.

The Oast House Built on the site of the former oast house that burnt down in the late 1960’s.

The Barn A new-build detached house built in 1996 at Park Farm.

 

As for the farm land itself, it was sold off in Lots between 1982 and 1984 and is now in the hands of several different owners and has been used for haying or silage, cut annually by Haydon Wickington of Churchill Farm, Felbridge, ever since its sale.

                               

Bibliography

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