Mill Lane West | Pirb Props Hist

Mill Lane - West

This section covers first a piece of land called Hazel Acre, and then the houses along Mill Lane west of Pirbright Lodge. We deal with them in approximately a north-south order as follows:

Vines Farm Area (Vines Farm, Brambles, The Studio)
Springfield Area (Timber Lodge, Springfield Cottage)
Little Cutt Farm
Nos 1-6, Longhouses
Admiral’s Walk, Buttercup Lodge
The Duchies
Duchies Cottage
Track End Cottage
Rails Farm
Rayles Cottage
Kiln Cottage

We have shown the current OS map of the area (with thanks) below in 2 parts. Apologies that the writing is small, but this section covers a wide area!

As the reader of this section will soon notice, there was historically a tendency for the occupants of the smaller houses in this outer area of Pirbright to “stick together” somewhat. There are many examples of families moving from one of these houses to another close by, and of intermarriages between these families. These houses are a little isolated from the rest of Pirbright, and so we should not find this altogether surprising.

Below is a table showing when each house was built.

But to begin with, we have written a section about a special piece of land called Hazel Acre, where were once the Common Fields of the parish.

Hazel Acre

Hazel Acre is the name given to the area to the west of the Manor House, north of Mill Lane. It has been spelt in a variety of different ways over the years – Hasleacre, Hasilacre, Hazelacre, etc. No dwellings have ever been constructed on Hazel Acre, yet it was an important feature of Pirbright history. To understand this, we need to understand the medieval custom of strip-farming.

In medieval times, the Lord of the Manor would usually set aside some fields for tenants to use, usually the least productive , or, as in this case, difficult for horse and plough cultivation. The fields (or the single field in Pirbright’s case) would be split into narrow strips called furlongs, because they were typically a furlong (220 yards) in length. Each strip was called a selion. The selions in Hazel Acre were about 250 yards long, judging by what we can see today.

The ploughing methods used often created a series of ridges and furrows, with furrows between ridges dividing holdings and aiding drainage. On sloping ground this tended to result in a terraced landscape.

A footpath (heading west) today leads directly across the site where Hazel Acre lay. Towards the top of this path, 2 or 3 terraces can be clearly seen on each side of the path. These terraces are the remains of medieval selions. The selions (and the footpath) were marked on the 1873 OS map, and we are fairly sure that they would have formed part of the early Hazel Acre structure. We have shown photos of the terraces from below and a closer-up view below.

In 1574 we can see a record of the tenants at Hazel Acre (see table right).

Unfortunately we then have to jump to 1805 for further information. We have shown part of the 1805 Survey map below, with Hazel Acre coloured green. We’re sorry, but the small size of some of the plots makes them hard to read in places.

In total Hazel Acre comprised 18 acres in 1805. We have listed in the table below the owners and occupiers of each plot:

A few points of interest:

Henry Halsey 1 owned 6 plots. He was Lord of the Manor and his story is told in the Manor of Pirbright section. He rented out all 6 plots to James Honer (see bullet below).
James Honer occupied 11 plots totalling 8 acres, which is nearly half of Hazel acre. He was in fact James Honer II, who had purchased Heath Mill a couple of years earlier. We tell his story in the Heath Mill section.
John Woods was the other main occupant of Hazel Acre at this time, owning 5 acres freehold, including the largest field, “Long Three Acres”, which is No 255 on the map. John lived in The Manor House at the time.
Henry Stevens was the farmer at Jordans.
George Tate was the owner of Fords Farm.
John Collins was the farmer at Newman’s.
James Giles was the copyholder of Hods Farm and Robert Dover was the tenant farmer there.
“Mrs Shered” was probably Sarah Sherratt who lived at Stone Cottage (refer section below).

Jumping forward 36 years, in 1841 Hazel Acre was the same size as it had been in 1805. We have shown part of the 1841 Tithe map below, with Hazel Acre coloured green. Fortunately the map is easier to read than the 1805 version.

We have listed in the table below the owners and occupiers of each plot:

A few points to note:

In total Hazel Acre was still 18 acres. But there were now only 2 main landowners.
Henry Halsey 2, the Lord of the Manor of Pirbright had acquired the plots of Henry Stevens and John Woods (and a few small ones) to become the owner of more than half of Hazel Acre.
The other main landowner was Rev John Fitzmore Halsey (1795-1864), who had acquired George Tate’s plots (refer Ford’s Farm for the story of this). John was the vicar of Great Gaddesden, near Hemel Hempstead. He had been born John Fitzmoor in Clifton, near Bristol in 1796, but had married Sarah Halsey (1786-1869) of Great Gaddesden in 1821 and changed his surname to Fitzmore-Halsey. Was Sarah related to Henry Halsey 1, who became Lord of the Manor of Pirbright in 1784? Possibly, otherwise why on earth would the Rev John have bought Ford’s Farm and some strips of land in Pirbright? However, Sarah came from aristocratic Hertfordshire stock with a lineage back to the 1500s, whereas Henry’s father may have been a tenant farmer in Stepney. So it’s difficult to know whether they were in fact related.
Stephen Stonard was the tenant farmer of Ford’s Farm.
The Rev William Parson was the incumbent parson in the village at the time, living at The Manor House. His story is told there.
Ann Stevens had become the owner of one of Henry Stevens’ plots from 1805 after Henry’s death in 1820. She owned Springfield Farm (refer section below), which she had also rented to Thomas Sherwood.
Stephen Saunders, who farmed at Newman’s, had purchased the plot from John Collins.
As was the case in 1805, there were few instances where next-door strips were owned by the same person. Instead there seems to have almost been a deliberate effort to prevent individuals from owning 2 strips next to each other. Maybe there was a fear that this might have led to 2 strips being merged into one.

In 1870, the sale of Fords Farm included the 4 strips of Hazel Acre (6 acres in total). Additionally the Rev Halsey had purchased the field numbered 393 (which lies to the immediate north-west of the top of Hazel Acre).

By 1922 the whole of Hazel Acre was owned by Henry Halsey 4, and sat next to some of Halsey’s other fields. We think that its historical function of providing small strips of land for local people to husband had been discontinued long before 1922. By this time, the concept of private ownership of land was well-established, and the old strip-farming would have been seen as very old-fashioned. Hazel Acre had probably become just another field belonging to the new owner of Manor Farm and we continue its history there.

In 1922 Henry Halsey 4 put Hazel Acre up for sale as part of the 110-acre Manor Farm. Hazel Acre was described as “Pasture” on the sale document and sized at 19 acres. It soon ended up in the hands of Sir Arthur Smith, who had bought next-door Pirbright Lodge in 1928. In 1941 Arthur leased Hazel Acre (without a written agreement) to Bob Fulk. Bob presumably required the land to maintain a supply of quality meat to his newly-opened butcher’s shop by The Cricketers pub.

In 1962 Arthur sold the land to Sir Adrian Jarvis, who had bought Admiral’s Walk (refer section below) in 1936. Sir Adrian allowed Bob Fulk to remain on the land. When Sir Adrian died in 1965, Hazel Acre was put up for sale as part of Vines Farm, which Sir Adrian also owned (refer section below). The Vines Farm lot (including Hazel Acre) was bought by William (“Neil”) and Patricia Poupart (more on them below, under Vines Farm). Today it is owned by a descendant of the Poupart family, who lives elsewhere in Pirbright.

The reader will be pleased to learn that Sir Arthur was smart enough to place a restrictive covenant over the land, preventing any building (fixed or portable) to be erected on the land, and requiring it to be used for agricultural or amenity purposes only. Thus the ancient lands with their selions have been preserved!

The Vines Farm Area (an introduction)

We’ll start by saying a few words about the houses near Vines Farm. As well as Vines Farm itself, there are 2 other houses (Brambles and The Studio) close by. Brambles was built c1830, and was originally called Vine Cottage. The Studio is a newer creation, having been built in 2013.

There are 2 houses a little further to the east, called Timber Lodge and Springfield Cottage. Their origins were on a farm called Springfield Farm, and so we have considered them a little further down in a separate section called The Springfield Area.

Vines Farm

The present Vines Farmhouse stands on what was in 1805 a piece of land called Kiln Field. But the Vines name comes from the six fields a little to the east called Further, Middle & Hither Vine Moor and Further, Middle & Hither Vine Field. Originally they were part of a finger of land sandwiched today between West Hall Farm land and Hazel Acre (refer above), coloured orange on this extract from the Halsey Survey of 1805–7.

The fields belonged to Goldmoor Farm, which was one of the old Pirbright farms, dating back at least to the early 1500s, and now known as Appletree Cottage. Goldmoor Farm is to the north-east of the orange fields, just off the map. As these fields do not seem a likely spot for grape vines, we think the name Vines Farm may have originally come from a family named Vyne. Sure enough, a document from 1567 refers to a Henry Vyne living at “Spitche In Le Hethe”, although we don’t know where that was in Pirbright.

At the time of the 1805 survey, Goldmoor Farm was in the hands of John Stevens’ executors. John Stevens (1757-1798), who we discuss on the Stevens family page, had died in 1798, and his will specified that his real estates should be sold and the money divided amongst his wife and children. However, the family must have had other ideas, as Goldmoor Farm ended up being divided between two of his two sons, John and Richard Stevens in 1820. The south part of Goldmoor Farm, which included Kiln Field and the Vine fields, was left to Richard Stevens (1790-1846), who we think took on a mortgage to make this happen. Eight years later Richard sold “certain parts” of his inherited land for £150 to a John Wakeford, who paid off Richard’s mortgage and promptly resold the land to Henry Halsey 2 for £500.

John Wakeford (1781-1829) had been born in Woking, and in 1807 had married Elizabeth Honer (born 1789) in Byfleet. Elizabeth was a daughter of James and Ann Honer (nee Jelly). We have written about James and Ann in the Heath Mill section, where we refer to him as James Honer II. James had bought Heath Mill c1803, and had become a well-known figure in Pirbright.

On the 1841 Tithe Map, the Vine fields (coloured orange on the map right) are still owned by Henry Halsey 2 and occupied by Richard Stevens.

There are 2 differences from the 1805 map. The first difference is that Field 385 (named Kiln Field) is no longer part of the Vines property. Instead, it had been transferred (by the owner, Henry Halsey 2) to a group of 24 nearby fields (totalling 81 acres), let to William Wakeford, a grocer who lived on The Green, and a son of John Wakeford who had bought the Vine Fields in 1828.

The second difference is of greater significance. There is now a dwelling in the south-west corner on the plot numbered 289. It was located near to today’s Brambles, and must have been built between 1805 and 1841. This dwelling was usually known as Vine (or Vines) Cottage and we have continued its history in the separate section dealing with Brambles, below.

For the next 100 years or so, the 13 acres coloured orange on the map above were, we think, usually used to exercise and feed the horses of the tenants/owners of Pirbright Lodge. The horses were tended by a groomsman and/or coachman who lived at Vine Cottage (today, Brambles – see section below)).

We will now fast forward to 1936. Alfred and Eva Fry, who at the time owned Vine Cottage and the 13 acres attached to it, gained planning approval to build a house on a different part of the property and they called it Vines Farm, the name it has today. We have shown below a plan and a sketch from the 1936 plans, together with a photo of the newly-built Vines Farm the same year. It looks like the builder followed the original sketch of the house pretty accurately. We have written about Alfred and Eva and their family in the Fry family section, but is a great photo of their wedding in 1916.

Alfred and Eva lived at Vines Farm until Alfred’s death in 1949. Eva continued to live at the farm until 1958, when it was put up for auction. A page from the sale document and the accompanying map are shown below. The farm was bought by Sir Adrian Jarvis of Admiral’s Walk, presumably as an investment.

The farm was still 13 acres in size, and comprised the same fields as in 1841 (refer map above), with the addition of the field at the south-westerly end on which Vines Farm had been built in 1936. The sale document stated that Vines Farm was a 3-bedroom house, and the property included the original 5-room detached cottage (Vine Cottage), which was being let (unfurnished). The farm would be suitable “either for a Dairy Holding or Riding Stables. Alternatively it would make an attractive Pig Farm”.

The next occupants from c1959 were Leonard and Georgina Maidment, we assume as tenants. Leonard had been born in Dorset in 1910, the son of a farm carter, and Georgina (nee Lane) in 1911, the daughter of a farm labourer. They were married in 1931, and had 2 children. In 1939 Leonard was working as a cowman at a farm called Little Piddle Farm in Piddlehinton, Dorset, which sounds nice and rural.

We don’t know why the Maidments moved to Pirbright. They stayed at Vines Farm until c1976. In 1977 he received some adverse publicity as a joint farm manager of a farm near Henley. Leonard and his partner had sacked a worker, but a tribunal deemed that the dismissal was unfair. The Maidments moved to Swindon and died there – Georgina in 1993, and Leonard 4 years later.

Meanwhile after the death of Sir Adrian Jarvis in 1965, Vines Farm was again put up for sale. The map accompanying the sale is shown below.

Vines farm is coloured pink on the map, and it is obvious that Sir Adrian had expanded the farm considerably during his 7 years of ownership. It now comprised 83 acres in 3 discrete segments:

The original 13 acre Vines farm (directly below “1965”) had been expanded by c30 acres to the south-east as far as Mill Lane. It now included Hazel Acre (refer section above) and the 2 public footpaths that run across it. 15 acres of Hazel Acre were let to Mr Fulk of Manor Farmhouse. It still included Vine Cottage (which was let to the Stevens family).
9 fields (c15 acres) to the north-west abutting Church Lane. Most (but not all) of these fields were sold by later owners of the farm.
5 fields on the south side of Mill Lane (c25 acres). This land had been sold by the Ibberson family (who owned Millcroft to the Frys (who owned Vines Farm) in the 1950s.

Right is a photo of Vines Farmhouse in 1965.

The buyers in 1965 (or shortly thereafter were William (“Neil”) and Patricia Poupart. Neil was born in Ashford, near Sunbury in 1932, the son of a metal merchant. Patricia (nee Cookson) may have been born in Cornwall in 1931. They were married in 1957 and by 1961 were living at Stanyards Farm, Chobham, just opposite Fairoaks Airport.

The Pouparts allowed the tenants to continue at Vines Farmhouse and Vine Cottage, but Neil soon set about adapting the farm as a piggery. The Pouparts built a new house c 1970 on the south side of Mill Lane (The Glen) and decided to live there. The outbreak of swine vesicular disease in England in 1973 would have required Neil to take appropriate precautions on the farm.

In 1981 Dennis and Yasmine Cullen were living at Vines Farmhouse. They had married in 1979.

Neil Poupart died in 2008, and we think that Vines Farmhouse and some of the land north of Mill Lane was sold by members of the family to a John and Ingrid Busby. Hazel Acre, however, was kept by the Poupart family. The Busbys immediately received approval to demolish the farmhouse and build a new one close by. We are not sure that this was ever put into effect.

c2010 Vines Farm was sold to the current owners. Since then there have been several planning applications, most of which were retrospective applications dealing with changes of use of land or buildings.

Brambles (previously Vine(s) Cottage)

The first evidence of a house where Brambles is today was on the 1841 Tithe Map. There was no house on the 1805 survey map, so we can be fairly sure that the house was built between 1805 and 1841. It was generally known as Vine (or Vines) Cottage. It was attached to 13 acres of fields which became part of Vines Farm, and we have covered the history of these fields in the Vines Farm section above.

The 1841 census shows the new dwelling (named just “Vines”) was occupied by Richard Stevens (now a farmer) with his wife Martha and a large and mostly grown up family (8 children aged between 12 and 28), who must have been packed in like sardines. Richard had owned the fields a few years earlier (refer Vines Farm section above), but died 5 years later, in 1846.

Unfortunately, not all the early censuses show the property names, so the next census mention (of Vines Farm this time) is in 1871, of James Stonard (1820-1901), another well-known Pirbright surname. His occupation was a labourer, and so we assume that the farmer was elsewhere, maybe Goldmoor again, or the farm was managed on behalf of Henry Halsey 2 through a bailiff. There’s no way of telling. We have covered James’s story in the section dealing with Little Cutt below. James had married Eliza Cox (1827-1894) in 1843, when Eliza was aged 16. In 1871 they were at Vine Cottage with their 5 children. The Stonard family were still living there in 1881, with 4 of their children. By 1891 James and Eliza were living at Church Cottage in Church Lane with one of their daughters who (unmarried) was accompanied by her 6 year-old daughter. Eliza died in 1894 and James in 1901.

From c1883 Frederick and Edna Street and their family were living at “The Vines”, where Frederick was coachman, first to Sir Sydney Dacres, and then to Ross Mangles, both of whom lived at Pirbright Lodge. We think that the cottage was actually leased by Henry Halsey 2 to Sir Sydney (and then Ross Mangles), both of whom then let it out to sub-tenants who worked for them.

The first of these sub-tenants was Frederick Street. Frederick was born just south of Newbury in 1851. Edna (nee Giles) was born in 1854 in Elstead, the daughter of an agricultural labourer. They were married at Thursley in 1878. In 1881 they were living at the Coach Building by Munstead House, near Godalming, where Frederick was a “Coachman, domestic servant”.

In 1891 the Street family (they had 4 children) was living at “Vine Cottage”, but Frederick died in April that year, aged only 39. Edna moved out the same year to Goal Road, where she was working as a charwoman in 1901. By 1911 she had moved to a town about 15 miles north of Cardiff, where she was still working as a charwoman. She died there in 1928.

After Edna Street left Vine Cottage in 1891, Samuel and Emily Bloomfield moved into the cottage. Samuel was born in Suffolk in 1859. Emily (nee Hill) was born in Horsley in 1863 or 1868 (it varied). Both of their fathers were farm labourers. Samuel was a coachman/groom working for Ross Mangles (who lived in Pirbright Lodge). But in 1900 the Bloomfields moved out of Vine Cottage and were living in Brookwood, where Samuel (in the 1911 census) was recorded as being an unemployed coachman, which does not sound good, as by then they had 11 hungry mouths to feed (with another 2 to follow in the next couple of years). By 1921 Samuel was a jobbing gardener, and the family still lived in Brookwood (Connaught Road). Samuel died in 1943 and Emily in 1946, both in Surrey.

In 1900, Charles and Winifred Upham moved into Vine Cottage. Charles had been born in Guildford in 1869, but his early years are strangely difficult to track down. Winifred (nee Crittall) was born near Tunbridge Wells in 1869, the daughter of a farmer of 160 acres. They married in Guildford in 1895 and had 7 children.

All 3 of Charles Upham, Samuel Bloomfield and Frederick Street were coachmen and/or grooms working for the occupants of Pirbright Lodge, so it is quite likely that at that time the Vines fields were used for grazing the horses from Pirbright Lodge.

The Uphams only stayed at Vine Cottage for a couple of years. Later, in 1910, Charles (who was living at Myrtle Cottages, Brookwood) was found guilty of working a horse when it was unfit to work. A sharp-eyed police constable had spotted the horse being used to pull a cab with nasty-looking wounds (which were obviously painful to the horse). Charles was fined 10 shillings (£100 today). Charles and Winifred continued living in Brookwood (Connaught Road) until their deaths in 1948 (Charles) and 1961 (Winifred).

The next people to live at Vine Cottage from 1902 were Alexander and Louisa Meldrum. Alexander, a coachman, was born in 1863 in Forfarshire, while Louisa (nee Sutherland) was born in 1867 in Datchet. They married in 1889 and had 8 children. Prior to moving to Pirbright, they had previously lived in Kingston and Compton.

In 1907 the Meldrums had moved (or maybe were encouraged to move) to No 3 Longhouses (see section below). By 1921 they had moved to Reigate, and Alexander died there in 1929. Louisa may have remarried 3 years later.

The 1911 census shows William and Bertha Collyer at The Vines (ie Vine Cottage). William was a journeyman butcher who we think had sub-let the cottage from another tenant, Frederick Hughes (about whom we know nothing). William Harry Collyer was born in Brookwood in 1887, the son of a Cemetery labourer. The family had lived at the Cemetery, which must have felt a little odd for a young lad.

Bertha (nee Field) was born in Bramley in 1889, the daughter of a stockman. She grew up first in Bramley, and then in Bisley, when her parents moved to Shaftesbury School Farm. The Field family then (c1905) moved to 10, Model Cottages (LINK), where they were the first occupants.

William and Bertha were married in Pirbright in 1908, when they were living at Model Cottages. Bertha’s brother Edward was one of the witnesses. The previous day, Edward was married (to a Hilda Murrells), and Bertha had been one of the witnesses! Both marriages took place in St Michael’s, Pirbright. This sort of event is quite rare, and so we have shown a copy of the relevant page from the marriage register below.

Edward would die near Ypres in 1918, 5 months after one of his brothers was killed in action in Jerusalem. William and Bertha had 3 children but didn’t stay long at The Vines. By 1914 they were living at St John’s, before moving to Brookwood Farm and then Loampits, Queens Road, Bisley. William died at the War Hospital in Oriental Road, Woking in 1945 and Bertha at Loampits in 1963.

In 1918 John and Mary Lambert were tenants at The Vines. But Henrietta Mangles (who was by then the main tenant of Vine Cottage) died in 1918. Henry Halsey 4 lost no time in re-leasing the property, and the new tenant was Alfred Fry, the farmer at Stanford Farm (leased from Henry Halsey 4), of whom we shall hear a lot more. The Vines property leased included 2 additional fields (9 acres in size).

And then in 1919 the cottage and 13 acres of land were put up for sale by auction by the owner, Henry Halsey 4. The cottage was unoccupied at the time, but the land was recorded as being let to a Mr W Fry. [This was William Fry (1886-1918), who had been killed in action fighting with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers near Cambrai in France a few months previously in September 1918. William was the younger brother of Alfred, who had just leased the property from Henry Halsey 4 (see paragraph above). So it looks as though Alfred’s plan was to sub-let the property to his brother William for him to use after WW1 finished. But sadly that was not to be.]

Both Alfred and William were sons of George Fry, who was the farmer at Leonards Farm. We have devoted a separate page to the Fry family here. But briefly, Alfred had been born in Pirbright in 1880 and had grown up on his father’s Leonards Farm. After the death of his father in 1906, he ran Leonards Farm. He married Eva Etherington in 1916 and by 1918 Alfred, Eva and their family had moved to Stanford Farm.

At the 1919 auction, Alfred Fry purchased the 13 acres of land plus Vines Cottage that he already leased. 2 years later, in 1921, the wonderfully-named Septimus and Ethel Jelly were living at the cottage. Septimus was a farm labourer, working for Alfred Fry at Stanford Farm. He was in fact married to Alfred’s younger sister, Ethel. Septimus had been born in 1872 at Wisley, the son of a “general labourer”. Ethel (nee Fry) was born in 1883 and grew up on Leonards Farm with her family (see separate page on the Fry family here).

They were married in 1906, when Septimus was a coachman at Stanford Farm and they had one daughter. In 1911 they were living on Heath House Lane, where Septimus worked as a coachman. By 1921 they had moved into Vines Cottage, but they soon moved out to The Bungalow, Stanford, where we presume that Septimus worked for Alfred Fry. Ethel died in 1929, aged only 46. Septimus was a night-watchman at Stanford in 1939 and died there in 1949.

Alfred, Eva and the Fry family moved into Vine Cottage c1921. We have shown below 2 photos of Vine Cottage: The first (with the fine-looking cockerel in the foreground) was taken by Mary Cawthorn in the 1920s. The second, where the house and garden look a little less cared-for, is from 1934.

In 1936 Alfred built today’s Vines Farm, and the family moved into that house. We have continued their story in the Vines Farm section above. He continued to own Vine Cottage, renting it out as described below.

The first tenants of Vine Cottage post-1936 were John (Jack) and Ivy Street. They had previously been living at Stanford Farm, where Jack was a labourer. Jack was born Murray John Street in Chobham in 1903, the son of a farm labourer. Ivy (nee Boylett) was born in Pirbright in 1911, the daughter of Herbert and Lily Boylett, who lived at Swallow Pond. Herbert was a builder’s carman.

Jack and Ivy married in 1931 in Pirbright. At the time Jack was living at East End Cottages and Ivy at No 1, Council Houses. Initially they lived at Stanford House (LINK) and they had 3 children there. In 1939 Jack was a Heavy work labourer. By 1956 the Street family had moved to 11, Council Cottages, West Heath. By coincidence, another family named Street had lived in the cottage several years previously c1883 (refer above). As far as we can tell, the 2 Street families were not related. So, just a coincidence. We have shown a (not very good) photo of Jack, right.

The next tenants from 1957 were Alfred and Brenda Stevens. Alfred was born in 1925, the son of Frank and Catherine Stevens, who lived at No 1, Stanford Cottages. His twin brother, Frank Stevens junior, moved into nearby Older Lodge, near Pirbright Lodge, in 1962, which suggests that the 2 brothers were close friends. Brenda was born Brenda Hatton, we think in Kidderminster in 1930. She and Alfred were married in 1953 and they had 2 daughters. By 1969 the Stevens family had moved to 4, Council Cottages, West Heath. Alfred worked for a local engineering firm.

Alfred and Brenda Stevens later moved to No 4, Thompson’s Close. Alfred died there in 1975, aged only 49.

Alfred Fry, who owned Vines Farm, had died in 1949, and in 1958 his widow, Eva, had decided to sell Vines Farm, together with Vine Cottage (which was recorded as let unfurnished). The buyer was Sir Adrian Jarvis of Admiral’s Walk (refer section below). On Sir Adrian’s death in 1965, the farm (and the cottage) was again sold, this time to Neil and Patricia Poupart, of The Glen. Despite the changes in owner, the Stevenses remained at Vine Cottage until 1969. We then have a short gap until c1979 when Dilys (or Dillys) and Joanna Robinson were living there.

Dilys (nee Stafford) had married Gerald Robinson (born in St Neots in 1924) at Wood Green in 1954. They had 1 daughter, Joanna, born in 1961. The family lived in Ottershaw, but Gerald died in 1977 and this prompted Dilys and Joanna to move to Pirbright. We assume that Dilys had purchased the house. For some reason her name is strangely hard to find in the usual records..

Various extensions were made to the house in 1977 and 1980. By 1992 the name of the cottage had been changed to The Brambles. Dilys was still living there, with a Roy Peet.

Brambles was sold to the current owners in 2006. An agent’s photo of the house is shown below (with thanks). The chimneys show the extent of the original Vine Cottage.

The Studio

The Studio (the building next to Brambles, see above) was created in 2013 by the current owners of Vines Farm (refer above) by converting existing Vine Farm buildings into a photographic studio. Hence the name of the building. After a protracted planning appeals procedure, the building has been approved for use as a dwelling.

The Springfield Area (An introduction)

We now look at the 2 houses (Springfield Cottage and Timber Lodge) which lie to the east of Vines Farm. They were both built in 2004 by the owner of the land, Neil Poupart, close to the site of an old farm, Springfield Farm, which was demolished at the same time. We first deal with the history of the original Springfield Farm, followed by short pieces on the 2 new houses.

To illustrate this, we have shown below an extract from the 1915 OS map (with thanks). Springfield Farm is coloured turquoise, and Vine Cottage orange. Next to the 1915 map we have shown today’s OS map (with thanks). The overall outline of the fields remains unchanged, but looking carefully, there are some differences between the 2 maps:

Springfield Farm is no more.
A new house, Timber Lodge stands on the site of the ring of farm buildings.
A new house, Springfield Cottage (marked as “Springfield Co”) stands a little further south.

Springfield Farm (now demolished)

This section deals with the original Springfield Farm (sometimes called Springfield Cottage). The farm is not shown on the 1805 Pirbright survey map, but does appear on the 1841 Tithe Map. This is odd. The west wall is clearly a complete timber frame, and the roof photos show substantial rafters, suggesting an earlier date. Maybe it was built partly from a demolished house. So we know that, like Vine Cottage above, it was built (or rebuilt) between 1807 and 1841. The farm was 5 acres in size in 1841, and is coloured turquoise on an extract from the Tithe map below. The farmhouse itself is the small red shape in plot 389. The land included an odd-shaped field (plot 338), which was part of Hazel Acre. At the time this was owned by Henry Halsey 2, and let out (in strips) to local farmers.

In 1841 the farm was owned by an Ann Stevens and rented out to Thomas Sherwood.

We think that Ann was the eldest daughter of Richard and Martha Stevens, who had inherited next-door Vines Farm (see above) from his father, but had sold the property to Henry Halsey 2. Ann had been born in Pirbright in 1812, and in 1847 married Henry Harding, an agricultural labourer who lived close by at Duchies (see below). Henry had recently become a widower and was 10 years older than Ann. By 1851 they were living in one of the almshouses, also known as the Poor Houses, (which were rebuilt to become Longhouses – see below).

Thomas Sherwood was the farmer at Duchies, and we have written more about him there.

In 1861 Henry and Charlotte Saunders were living at “Stringfields”. Henry was an agricultural labourer born in 1795. His father, Stephen Saunders was a yeoman (ie a farmer) at West Heath, who had owned one of the Hazel Acre strips in 1841. Charlotte (nee West) was born in 1794 in Woking. Both Henry and Charlotte died in 1866. By 1871 one of their sons, John Saunders (1822-1899), a widower, was living at “Stringfield Cottage”, along with a 69 year-old nursery labourer called Henry Loveland.

By 1881 Henry Halsey had sold Springfield Farm (as well as houses at East End, a house on Bullswater Common (we’re not sure exactly where) and some land near The Green to a Frederick Lee. Frederick was a builder in Hersham, who had been born at Guildford in 1839 and married Mary Faulkner (born 1836). Mary’s younger brothers James and William acquired Berners Farm and some other land in Pirbright. As well as Springfield, Frederick Lee also bought property and land at East End in Chapel Lane and land on the Green before he died in 1898, leaving an estate valued at £5,522 (£600,000 today). Mary owned Springfield certainly up to 1912 and probably until her death in 1914.

In 1883 Frederick was named in a rather amusing (to 21st century eyes) case, reproduced below without further comment.

The occupiers of Springfield Farm after 1881 were as follows:

1881-84: Frederic Lee (the owner – possibly he was doing some renovation work on the farm buildings).
1884-85: Charles and Emma Collins
1886-87: John Maskell
1891-95: William and Mary Ann Crouch
1896-97: McArthur
1897-1905: John Tucker
1905-06: Major Kellie

We have made brief comments about some of these occupants below.

Charles Collins was born in Worplesdon in 1844, the son of Henry Collins, an agricultural labourer. In 1879 he married Emma Parlett, a widow with 2 children, and they had 4 more children. Emma had been born Emma Fry in Farnham, and may have been related to Albert Fry, who later owned Vines Farm. Charles was an agricultural labourer, and he and Emma only stayed at Springfield Farm for 2 years, during 1884-85. After that, the family moved to Stanford House. Charles died there in 1909.

William Crouch was born in 1867 in West Clandon, the son of an agricultural labourer. By 1891 he had moved to Pirbright, recently widowed. In 1892 he married Mary Ann Norman (born 1872 in Petersfield, the daughter of a carter). The Crouches settled in Pirbright and had 9 children, 6 of whom were born in Pirbright. By 1897 the Crouch family had moved to East End, and they stayed there until at least 1911. William was a carter.

By 1921 William and Mary were living at No 3, The Terrace, where William was now a gardener. They were still living at No 3 in 1939, when William described himself as a retired nurseryman. Mary Ann died there in 1948, and William in 1951.

John and Eliza Tucker were born in Devon in 1853 and 1854 respectively. John was the son of a farmer of 63 acres. John and Eliza married in 1876, had 6 children, and lived in Datchet and elsewhere in Surrey before moving to Springfield Farm in 1897. The previous occupants of Springfield Farm had been labourers, but John was the farmer on the farm. In 1905 the Tuckers moved to Rails Farm, where we continue their story (see section below).

In 1906 George and Fanny Randall moved into Springfield Farm. Previously they had lived at Manor Cottage, near the Manor House, and we have described their early life in that section.

George and Fanny had 3 more children at Springfield Farm, and George farmed there for the rest of his life, where the remaining three children were born. These lovely photos would have been taken there during the next few years.

In the 1911 census George described himself as a self-employed market gardener and Springfield as a farm, though it was never more than a smallholding (only 12 acres). At this time they also somehow squeezed in three schoolboys, who may have been orphans, as they came the previous year and stayed for one or two years before going on to a home. This may have been because the family were Non-Conformists, as the Surrey Advertiser reported the Providence Chapel summer treat being held at Springfield in 1919. In Kelly’s Directory Harry was a farmer in 1927 and a smallholder in 1930. We have shown right a photo of Springfield Farm in 1921 below. Looks like there was a good springtime breeze to dry all that washing.

A few screens above, we showed the 1915 OS map of the area. The main development between 1841 and 1915 is the construction of several farm buildings in a ring just south of the farm. Some of the fields had been consolidated into larger fields.

On July 25th 1931, Florence, their second daughter, married William Herbert Webb, a carter of Coventry at St Michael’s Church. The couple chose to live in Coventry. George died in 1933, aged only 58. Fanny stayed on at Springfield for a year or two before moving away, dying at St John’s in 1960 at the ripe old age of 84

c1937 Frank William Stubbs moved into Springfield Farm, perhaps having purchased it. He was born Frank Hodges in 1892 in Shepherds Bush, the son of a piano maker. In 1911 he had the misfortune to be a guest of His Majesty at Brixton Prison. The reasons for his spell in prison are explained in the press cutting below. It is worth pointing out that Frank’s parents had both died recently, aged only 40 and 37, and so the Stubbs family would have been in complete disarray. As the cutting points out, Frank had “no fixed address” at the time of his crime.

When Frank emerged from his 3-year spell in prison, it seems he and his siblings were taken into a family called Stubbs, and he now called himself Frank William Hodges Stubbs. In 1921 he was a carpenter, albeit out of work, living with the Stubbs family in Fulham.

By 1937 he had found his way to Pirbright and the same year married Annie Gosden (born in Chobham in 1901, the daughter of a labourer. She was no relation to Eric Gosden, later the landlord of The Fox pub).

On the 1939 register, Frank and his younger brother Harold Stubbs were recorded as living at Springfield Farm, together with a Patricia Stubbs, born in 1930. We’re not sure who Patricia was. Also we don’t know why Annie wasn’t shown on the register.

By 1949 Frank, Annie and their family had moved out of Springfield Farm to Connaught Road, Brookwood. Harold remained at the farm, now with his wife, Doris Hodges-Stubbs (nee Jackson in 1907), whom he had married in 1941.

Harold died in 1967. Doris stayed at Springfield Farm until 1987, moving to 3, Collens Field.

Up until now, Springfield Farm had been owned by the owner of Vines Farm (refer section above). In 1987 this was Neil Poupart, and he decided to demolish the old farm and build a replacement bungalow. To a modern eye, this may seem like a commercial decision, given the buoyant financial mood of the 1980s. But judging by structural photos we have seen of the old farm, it was probably a sensible decision, more based on practicalities.

Plans for the replacement bungalow (located in the old farmyard several yards to the south of the farmhouse) were eventually approved in 2004, and the new house was named Springfield Cottage (covered in the section below). Below are 2 photos of the old farmhouse, taken in 1987 before its demolition.

Springfield Cottage

As explained in the section above, today’s Springfield Cottage is in a different position to the original Springfield Farm. It was built in 2004 (at the same time as Timber Lodge below) when the owner of Springfield Farm, Neil Poupart gained approval to build a house on the site of the yard at Springfield Farm (a short distance to the south of the original Springfield Farm). The cottage was sold to the current owners in 2005.

Timber Lodge

Timber Lodge was built in 2004 (at the same time as Springfield Cottage above). The owner of Springfield Farm, Neil Poupart gained approval to demolish Springfield Farm and build a bungalow close to the site of the demolished Springfield Farm). We think the cottage was sold to the current owners in 2005.

Little Cutt Farm

The first clear record of Little Cutt (or Little Cut) we can find is in the 1805 Pirbright survey. It is shown on the extract from the survey map below coloured green. Vines Farm is coloured yellow.

It looks isolated from the rest of Pirbright on the map, and at the time it would have indeed felt isolated, as there was nothing further west for about 5 miles other than the Pirbright Ranges. Little Cut is still rather isolated today. In 1805 Little Cutt comprised 3 fields which totalled a little less than 3 acres in size. The property remains the same size today.

There was no house or other building on the property, which was leased by Henry Halsey I to a James Giles (a member of the Giles family who had lived in Pirbright for many years) and occupied by a J Howard. We think this was John Howard, a local farmer (1769-1843), who married Ann Stevens (1762-1821), a widow, in 1801. They had one daughter, Anne (1801-1867), who married Benjamin Harding (1801-1875) in 1822.

The smallest field (on the north-eastern corner) was owned freehold (the name of the owner was not disclosed). It delighted as being described as “A small piddle” in the survey.

In 1841 the property was unchanged, comprising the same 3 fields with no building. The 2 larger fields were now owned by George Marshall. We think that this is the same George Marshall who was a wealthy timber merchant in Godalming, whose wife, Sarah, later bought Brook Farm in Rickford. Little Cutt was occupied by Benjamin Harding and Stephen Chuter. Benjamin Harding was John Howard’s son-in-law (see paragraph above). Stephen (1793-1869) was a potter, born in Aldershot, who lived at East End. The small field on the north-east side was now occupied by Edward Bridger who later moved to Longhouses (refer below).

The first record of a building at Little Cutt is not until the 1861 census. 2 families are recorded as living at Little Cutt, but the records don’t look quite right. Instead we think that probably only 1 family lived there, but we don’t know which family it was, so we will say a few words about both.

James Rose was born in Pirbright in 1805, the son of Richard Rose, a farmer. James was a railway labourer. He married Ann Stevens in Pirbright in 1826 and they had 7 children. Ann had been born in Pirbright in 1808, the daughter of John and Mary Stevens. By 1871 the Roses were living at Pirbright Green. Ann died in 1880, and James moved to Brookwood to live with one of his grandsons. James died in 1885.

James Stonard was born in 1820 in Pirbright, the son of Daniel Stonard, a farmer. He married Eliza Cox in 1843, when Eliza was aged 16. Eliza had been born in Basingstoke, the daughter of a baker. In 1841 they were living nearby (the census does not specify where) with their 3 young children. James was a labourer. By 1861 James was a carter and the family (then including 5 children) were living at Little Cutt. By 1871 they had moved to Vine Cottage (refer section above) and we continue their story there.

By 1871 Henry and Mary Cranstone were living at Little Cutt. Joseph Henry Cranstone was born in 1830 in Pirbright, the son of John Cranstone, a bricklayer who died in 1836, aged only 32, when Henry was just 6 years old. By 1861 Henry had become a pig butcher at Causeway Farm with his wife Mary. Mary had been born Mary Chitty in Horsell in 1817 and was 13 years older than Henry. They had no children. We cannot trace Henry’s death, but Mary died in 1886 at Little Cutt.

At this time Little Cutt was owned by John Cherryman. John had been born in 1816 in Bisley and was the farmer of 110 acres at Causeway Bridge.

After Mary Cranstone’s death in 1886, Little Cutt was rented by Elijah and Emma Gosden. Elijah was born in Bisley in 1836, the son of James Gosden, who by 1851 had moved to Pirbright and was farming 100 acres at Hammonds and then Cowshot. In 1854 Elijah married Emma Hockley (born 1829 in Pirbright). Emma’s father, James Hockley was an agricultural labourer from Yateley, who lived at Dawneys.

By 1861 Elijah and Emma were living at Sandpit Cottages with 2 children. But by 1865 he was declared bankrupt. We don’t know the circumstances of this, but his profession was given as farmer, and so perhaps he had tried his hand (unsuccessfully) at farming. The family moved to Cove Bridge, and then, c1887, to Little Cutt. After his bankruptcy Elijah gave his occupation merely as an agricultural labourer for the rest of his life. Not surprising as the 1870s and 1880s were a very tough time for farmers in Britain, as described in the section on economic history.

The Gosdens had 7 children. Emma died in 1905 and Elijah in 1907, both still living at Little Cutt. During the next few years 2 of their sons lived at nearby Longhouses (refer sections below) – James and No 3 and George at No 6.

The next tenants, from 1908, were Robert and Mary Kite. Robert was born a few miles south of Trowbridge, Wiltshire in 1847, the son of a weaver who died aged only 33, just 3 months after Robert was born. Robert’s mother, Mary Kite, must have been quite a woman. Not only did she proceed to bring up their 5 children after her husband’s death, but she also worked as a wool weaver, had another child (father unidentified), and lived to the age of 80.

Back to Robert. He married Mary Strickland (born 1842) in Wiltshire in 1868 and they had 9 children (of whom only 5 survived) there over the next 18 years. Robert worked as an agricultural labourer, and Mary as a dressmaker. But the 1880s were hard times for British agriculture, and the family moved to Woking. In 1891 and 1901 the family were living at Poyle Hill, where Robert was a stockman.

Then in 1901 the family moved to No 4, Longhouses (refer section below) and lived there until 1908, at which point they moved into nearby Little Cutt. Robert worked initially as a cowman, but by 1921 he was assisting in the garden of Admiral’s Walk (refer section below), aged 74. Mary was aged 79, and they were supported by their youngest daughter, Edith, who kept poultry. Mary died in 1926, followed by Robert in 1928. Edith never married and moved to Surbiton, where she lived with one of her sisters, who kept a general shop.

The owner of Little Cutt, John Cherryman, had died in 1925, and we imagine that (unless already sold) the property was left to his wife Maria (who died in 1933) or one of their 10 children, but we do not know for sure.

In 1930, the new occupants (probably owners) were Percy & Dora Goulter. Percy was born in Richmond in 1905, the son of a butcher, but his family moved to Guildford (Bedford Road), and then Connaught Road when he was only a few years old. Percy’s father, Allen, worked from 1915 to 1940 at the Brookwood Necropolis.

Dora was born in 1905, the daughter of Herbert and Elizabeth Boylett of Cook’s Green. She and Percy were married in Pirbright in 1929. The next year they produced their only child, a daughter and moved into Little Cutt. In 1939 Percy described himself as a dairy farmer at Little Cutt.

Doris Fry remembers the Goulters: “Yes, I worked with Mr Goulter. We were partners. Perce Goulter, and Dora, his wife also helped with the milk round (from) Little Cut Farm. He had the dairy there & milk was delivered. Half past five, I used to go to inspect the pony. Winter & summer. Harness her up & what have you. Used to go all the way down Mill Lane, right round the village, right down Rowe Lane, right up Chapel Lane. Down Fox Corner. Mr Goulter’s son, he had a car later on & he did some of it.”

Dora died in 1979 and Percy in 1986. Left are 2 photos of Percy.

The next owners from 1987 were Mr and Mrs Henbest. In 1997 the property was sold to a Mr & Mrs Hill. The original house (described as rather run-down at the time) was then demolished and a new house built c1998. In 2006 the property was sold to the current owners.

Longhouses

We don’t know for sure when the first buildings appeared on the site of today’s Longhouses. But the 1805 survey map shows a building there. It stood on the very western edge of the parish, beyond Pirbright Lodge. The building was described as “Poors House” or “Workhouse”. But it wasn’t a workhouse in the usually understood sense (ie a harsh place, reminiscent of a prison). Instead, it was built to provide housing the old, infirm and very poor. It was owned by “The Parish”.

The 1841 Tithe Map shows the building as comprising 7 dwellings in a single terrace. It was still owned by “Pirbright Parish Officers”. The 1873 OS map shows the same building, but now named Longhouses. We have shown the 1805, 1841 Tithe and 1873 OS maps below (with thanks).

Sometime between 1841 and 1880, the Poor Houses were acquired by Henry Halsey 2. The original Poor Houses were then demolished sometime between 1881 and 1885. The current Longhouses (comprising the 3 separate buildings which still stand today) were built for Henry Halsey 2 on the same site.

Henry Halsey 2 died in 1885 and his estate (which included Longhouses) passed to eldest son Henry Halsey 4. We have described the lives of the Halseys in the Halsey Family section.

The new Longhouses were given numbers (1-6), so we have been able to identify them individually from c1883. Below are 2 early photos of Longhouses, together with a more recent photo.

From around this time, Longhouses began to be occupied by working families, rather than the poor, old and infirm. This was probably a deliberate policy by Henry Halsey 4 so that he could use the rents from Longhouses to help finance his rackety lifestyle in Monaco, as described in the Halsey Family section. Some of Longhouses were rented by Pirbright Lodge staff, in particular gardeners, employed by Admiral Sir Sidney Dacres, Ross Mangles VC and The Smiths.

In November 1930, Nos 1-4 Longhouses were sold to Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Smith, of Pirbright Lodge for his staff. He died in 1977, and his wife, Lady Monica in 1990. When the other properties were sold is unknown.

In the next few paragraphs, we have listed the main occupants of Longhouses between 1841 and 1871, together with some comments. They tended to be older people, who were Pirbright-born. But some were surprisingly young with young families. And one or two were even born outside the village (shock horror).

1841 (4 families, living in “Parish Cottages”):

James and Hannah Hockley. James, aged 55, was an agricultural labourer.
Samuel and Jemima Bonner. Samuel, aged 24, was also an agricultural labourer. He soon moved to Kiln Cottage (see section below), before returning to Longhouses in 1881.
James and Sarah Roberts. James, aged 40, was a broom-maker or broom squire, who made besoms from Pirbright Common heather.
William and Sarah Bullen. William, aged 57 was an agricultural labourer. The Bullens later moved to Dawneys (LINK).

1851 (7 families living in “Alms Houses”):

William and Ann Howard. William, aged 32, was a labourer. In 1841 they had been living on The Green.
John and Elizabeth Harding. John, aged 62, was a cordwainer (ie a shoemaker).
William and Maria Bullen. William, aged 41, was an agricultural labourer, and son of William and Sarah Bullen, who were living in the cottage in 1841 (above). William (the son) was an agricultural labourer, born in 1810 in Pirbright. Maria (nee Wheatley) was born in Guildford in 1809. They married in 1830 and had 3 children. c1883 they moved to Sandpits, where they died (Maria in 1893 and William in 1894).
John Sherwood, aged 67, a broom-maker. In 1841 he had been an agricultural labourer on Bullswater Farm.
James and Rebecca Hampton. James, aged 67, was an agricultural labourer.
Henry and Annie Harding. Henry, aged 49, was an agricultural labourer.
John and Matilda Stevens. John, aged 26, was a labourer. He was the son of Richard Stevens, who had owned (and farmed) Vines Farm (refer section above).
Edward and Jane Bridger. Edward, aged 76, was a gardener.

1861 (5 families living in “Alms Houses”):

Henry and Ann Harding, as in 1851(above).
Stephen Stonard, widower, aged 81 and formerly a farmer (possibly at Whites Farm).
William and Maria Bullen, as in 1851 (above)
John and Elizabeth Harding, as in 1851 (above)
William and Ann Howard, as in 1851 (above).

1871 (7 families living in Alms Houses):

George and Mary Stonard. George, aged 26, was a labourer.
James Stonard, an unmarried 26 year-old hay binder, who had been living with his grandfather, Stephen Stonard, in the Almshouses in 1861 (above).
William and Maria Bullen, as in 1851 and 1861 (above).
Maria Croney, a 75 year-old “Pauper widow of an agricultural labourer”.
William and Ann Chandler. William, aged 70 was a pauper, who had previously worked as an agricultural labourer at Goldmoor.
Henry and Ann Hogsflesh. Henry, aged 27, was an agricultural labourer from Wyke.
James and Matilda Stonard. James, aged 26, was a gardener. This James Stonard was probably related (but not very closely) to the James Stonard who was also living in the Almshouses in 1871. Refer the Stonard family section.

1881 (7 families living in Alms Houses):

Charles and Harriett Hood. Charles, aged 70, was an agricultural labourer
Samuel Bonner, a 64 year-old widowed agricultural labourer, who had lived in one of the cottages in 1841 with his wife, Jemima.
William and Maria Bullen, as in 1851 and 1861 (above).
James and Alice Stonard. James was the 26 year-old hay binder who had been living in the Almshouses in 1871. He had married Alice (nee Smith) in 1873. By 1881 they had 4 children.
Anna Searle, a 55 year-old unmarried needlewoman.
William Chandler, as in 1871 (above), but now widowed.
Maria Croney, as in 1871 (above).

We will now deal with each of the 6 Longhouses in turn from c1884 onwards.

1, Longhouses

In 1884 Alfred and Mary Stonard were living in the new No 1 Longhouses, which is the nearest of the 6 to Pirbright village. Alfred, a gardener, was one of the sons of James and Eliza Stonard, who had lived nearby at Vine Cottage (refer section above) and Little Cutt (refer section above). Alfred had been born in Pirbright in 1854 at Vine Cottage. In 1882 he married Mary Hatch in Bisley, and the couple moved into the newly-built No 1 Longhouses. They had 2 children, but Mary sadly died in 1885, aged only 25. In 1887 Alfred remarried in Battersea to Alice Morton (born 1863 in Pimlico, the daughter of a butler). The couple remained in No 1 and had 10 children (of whom 7 were daughters). Alfred died in 1913, and Alice moved (or was moved) from Longhouses to Gibbs Acre at that time. In the 1930s she moved to Connaught Road, Brookwood and died there in 1947.

We then have a gap from 1913 until 1937, when Arthur Cranstone and his mother, Annie Norah Cranstone moved into No 1. Arthur had been born at Nursery Cottage (today Track End Cottage – see below) in 1913, the son of Andrew (the pig-sticker, ‘generally girt about with sacking & had a knife stuck in his girdle’ according to Mary Cawthorn) and Annie Norah Cranstone (born Ann Creese in Roedean in 1875, the daughter of a milkman). We have discussed Annie Norah in the Track End section below.

Later the same year (1937) Arthur married Mary Rabbetts. Mary had been born in Shaftesbury in 1916.

In 1939 Arthur and Mary were living at Falcon Road, Guildford (just off York Road). Arthur was a gardener/chauffeur. This was a temporary move, presumably dictated by a job opportunity. During this time, Arthur’s younger brother, William Cranstone (1917-1984) moved into No 1 as company for his mother, Annie Norah.

After WW2, Arthur and Mary briefly moved back into No 1 with Annie and William. Arthur set up a Tree Felling and Landscape Gardening business (see copy of one of his 1948 invoices below). We have also shown a photo of Arthur with a state-of-the-art lawn mower at Admiral’s Walk (refer below).

But by 1950 Arthur and Mary had moved to 18, Rapley’s Field, leaving Annie and Norah alone in No 1. In 1953 William married Winifred (Win) Stuteley (born in Suffolk in 1927, the daughter of an agricultural labourer). In 1953 Win had been working at Bullswater House (LINK), although we do not know what led her to move from her native Suffolk to deepest Pirbright. Win was a doughty ‘character’, known for her often forthright comments & her trusty bicycle.

Annie died in 1958, aged 82. William died in 1984, aged 67. Win remained at No 1 until she died in 2007, and thus ended 70 years of continuous Cranstone occupation of No 1.

No 1 was sold to the current owners in 2008.

2, Longhouses

The first people we can place at No 2 Longhouses were Alfred and Annie Johnstone in 1891. In the census of that year they were living at The Green, and Alfred gave his occupation as “Foreman Gunpowder Proof Butts”. Proof Butts were safe areas for shells to be fired into. They were used to test (ie proof) field guns and carriages, ensuring that no damage was done to people or property. We assume that these particular butts were located within the military area on Pirbright Ranges.

The same year (1891) the Johnstones moved into No 2, Longhouses. Alfred had been born in London in 1863, the son of a surgical instrument maker. Annie (nee Simmonds) was born in Wonersh in 1867. Her father worked in a gunpowder mill (presumably the mill that had been based at Chilworth since the 1600s). Alfred and Annie were married in Wonersh in 1887 and soon moved to Pirbright. They stayed only 3 years at Pirbright, and by 1901 they had moved to Marlborough in Wiltshire, where Alfred was the Marlborough College Stores Manager. They had no children. We have shown a picture of Alfred left.

Thomas and Mary Hiscock lived at No 2 in 1892 for a year only. They had previously lived at Furze Hill Lodge. Between 1895 and 1899 Charles and Ellen Hack lived at No 2. Charles was a carter, born in Farnham in 1871. Ellen had been born in Knaphill and was 10 years older than Charles.

The next tenants from 1899 were Henry and Susan Grace. Henry Arthur Hickey Grace was born in Gosport in 1857, the son of a domestic coachman. Susan was born near Stockbridge in 1853, the daughter of a gardener. They married in Winchester in 1880. They had 3 children and lived in Oxfordshire for a while.

By 1899 they had moved to No 2 Longhouses. Their only son, Leonard, died at Flanders in 1916, which must have been a terrible shock for the family. Leonard’s life story and war experience is told in our War Memorial section.

Henry worked as the gardener at Pirbright Lodge for the Mangles family and then the Smiths until his death in 1934. Susan then moved to Connaught Road, Brookwood, where she died in 1939.

By this time, Nos 1-4 Longhouses were owned by The Smiths at Pirbright Lodge, and, we assume, were rented out. The next occupants 1935-1937 were William and Mary Jane Brown. Between 1939 and 1946 Norman and Irene Sutton lived there, although some of the Brown family lived there as well. One of the Sutton’s sons, Keith, would become Bishop of Lichfield between 1984 and 2003.

We are very fortunate to have a copy of the recollections of Pat Brown (later Baker), the daughter of William and Mary Jane Brown, who, as a young girl, lived at No 2 during WW2. She lived there with “Gran” and “Aunty Rene”, while her parents stayed in London. Here are some of her choicest recollections:

It was quite a squash in No 2 with 2 families living there, and only 2 bedrooms.
The children were expected to eat everything on their plates. However sitting in front of lumps of fat swimming in gravy, or tapioca, or milk with skin on it, or sour gooseberries made life a bit hard. They were then mustered at bedtime for a good rub-round with a wet flannel.
There was no indoor toilet, only an outdoor one, featuring a bucket which needed to be emptied regularly. Newspaper was cut into squares and then threaded onto string and hung there for toilet paper.
The woods were a wonderful place for the children to play. They also gave up plenty of firewood and there were always loads of fir comes (editor’s pedantic note: they were more likely to be pine cones) lying around to get things going.
Prior to D-Day, Pat remembers jeeps and armoured vehicles thundering up Mill Lane, and waiting by Longhouses. This signalled the arrival of American and Canadian troops, but unfortunately meant that the woods were now out of bounds.

The rapid turnover of short tenancies continued throughout the 1950s:

1947-54: Charles and Mildred Pike. Mildred was born Mildred Frizzle in 1924 in Dorset. She and Charles married in Dorset in 1946.
1955-56: Arthur and Ellen Burchell. Arthur was born in Hackney in 1888, the son of an Emery cloth cutter. Eileen (nee Ball) was born in 1890 in Bermondsey, daughter of a journeyman tailor. They married in Epsom in 1917 and produced 3 daughters. In 1939 Arthur was a Contracts manager and a Master Asphalter, and the family was living in Leatherhead. They stayed only 2 years in Pirbright before returning to Leatherhead.
1958-60: John and Margaret Bell.
1960: John Wilson.
1962: Mark and Catherine Rigby.

In 1970 Reginald and Violet Trowbridge were at No 2. Reginald was born in Tonbridge in 1928, the son of a Contractor’s labourer. Violet was born in Dorchester in 1916. He and Violet married in Weymouth in 1954, and lived in Stroud.

By 1976 Jeffrey and Gillian Hawkins lived at No 2. Jeffrey was born in Hull in 1945, son of a Dairyman. Gillian was the daughter of Jim Rice, who ran the hardware shop on The Green. They married in Pirbright in 1968, and had 2 daughters.

In 1994 the current occupants (we presume as owners) moved into No 2.

3, Longhouses

Initially there was a fairly rapid turnover of tenants in the new No 3, Longhouses. Our knowledge starts from 1891:

1891-92: James and Mary Bridger. James was born in Normandy in 1865, the grandson of an agricultural labourer at Willey Green. Mary (nee Digance) was born in West Horsley 10 years earlier. Her father was also an agricultural labourer. They only stayed a short time in Pirbright before moving in 1892 to Pyrford, and then Surbiton.
1892-99: James and Elizabeth Gosden. James was born in 1871, the son of Elijah and Emma Gosden, whose story is told in the Little Cut section above. In 1892 James married Elizabeth Hawkins, born in Pirbright in 1871. She was the daughter of James Hawkins (a farmer/cowman, living at Cowshot) and his wife, Mary. We have not been able to trace whether James was related to Eric Gosden (who ran The Fox pub in the 1950s and 1960s). James was a bricklayer. The couple had 8 children and moved to Bisley c1899.

1899-1904: Charles and Alice Davey. Charles was born in Pirbright in 1872, son of James and Hannah Davey, who had both been born in Pirbright, and who lived at various places around Pirbright. Alice (nee Cheeseman) was born in Donkey Town, Chobham in 1874, the daughter of a labourer. Charles and Alice married in 1898 in West End and had 4 children. They only stayed 5 years in Pirbright before returning to West End.

1905-1907: William and Mary Smith. William was born in 1873 in Merrow, son of an agricultural labourer. Mary (nee Harding) was born in Pirbright in 1876, the daughter of John Harding, a carman of West Heath. They were married in Pirbright in 1900, but 3 weeks before the wedding a man named William Smith, who was a navvy at the railway works at Pirbright, was sentenced to 7 days hard labour for attempting to steal some of Mr Faggetter’s chickens (he was caught in the act). We don’t know which Mr Faggetter was the owner of the chickens. But assuming this was the same William Smith, it was not a good way to start a marriage or impress your in-laws, we think. By 1901 William and Mary were living at No 7 West Heath with Mary’s recently-widowed mother. William and Mary had 4 children, and only spent 2 or 3 years at No 3.In 1911 they were living in Blatchford Row, William being a labourer.In 1939 they were living at No 14, Council Houses at West Heath, with William occupied as a gravedigger (aged 73).Both William and Mary died in 1950.

1907-15: Alexander and Louisa Meldrum. The Meldrums had been living at Vine Cottage (refer section above) since 1902, and their story is told there.

After these short tenancies, No 3 seems to have been unoccupied for the next 10 years or so, until 1925, when Albert (“Bertie”) and Violet Spong moved in. They can lay claim to having one of the more unusual-sounding surnames in Pirbright. Actually, Spong is a more common surname that one might think. Apparently it derives from the Middle English word for a strip of land.

Bertie was born c1891 in Highgate, the son of a gardener. Violet (nee Taylor) was born c1894 in Frimley, daughter of the lock-keeper at Frimley Lockhouse. They married in Woking in 1915, when Bertie was serving as a soldier. In 1921 they were living in Connaught Road with their 2 daughters. Bertie was working as a temporary postman at Woking GPO. They moved to No 3 Longhouses c 1923, but only stayed there around 3 years before moving to Knaphill c 1928, where they stayed. In 1939, Bertie was still working for the GPO Woking, but as a cleaner.

Between 1930 and 1933 Maurice and Edith Siddall lived at No 3. Maurice was born in Yorkshire in 1896, son of a domestic gardener. Edith (nee Ridgard) was born in Newmarket in 1902. They married in 1922, but only stayed in Pirbright for 3 years before moving to Caterham, where Maurice worked as a temporary postman (perhaps he knew the previous occupant, Bertie Spong, who did the same job).

The next tenants were Arthur and Harriet (Rita) Vickery from c1935 to 1955. Arthur was born near Hartley Wintney c1895, son of a horseman on a farm. Rita was born in Kingsclere in 1897, daughter of a farm foreman. The 1939 register shows Arthur and Rita at No 3 with a 9 year-old daughter, Agnes Vickery, aged 9. We can’t trace this person, and it may have been a reference to Iris Knight, born in 1934 (who later married at Pirbright in 1955). Arthur and Rita only married in 1941. The Vickerys left Pirbright c1956. Arthur died the same year in the town of his birth.

The next tenants from c1956 to 1962 (and possibly later) were Harry and Flo Johnson. Harry was born in 1909 in Kettering, son of a gas labourer. Flo (nee Gates) was born in Thrapston, Northants in 1912. They married in 1935 and had 1 daughter, Bridget, who married Robert Timpson (of Goal Road) in Pirbright in 1960. Harry and Flo moved back to Northamptonshire in the 1960s.

In 1970 Arthur and Vera Tate were living at No 3.

By 1981 the current owners had moved into No 3.

4, Longhouses

There doesn’t seem to be anyone living at No 4 at the time of the 1891 census. The first record we can see after 1885 is that of a William Day there in 1892-93. William was born in Hersham, and was living there in 1891. But he moved to Pirbright for some reason in 1892, and there is a record of banns being read in Pirbright Church for William to marry an Anne Childs from Hersham. William was a gardener aged 25. They duly married in Hersham later that month, and the couple remained there.

The next tenant was Mary Bruce from 1893. She stayed at No 4 until 1903, but curiously, the 1901 census recorded the house as uninhabited.

From 1902 Robert and Mary Kite lived at No 4. They stayed there for 6 years before moving to Little Cutt (refer section above), where we tell their story. After the Kites, Alfred and Mary Aldridge rented No 4 from 1908. They were both born in 1873, Alfred in Buckinghamshire and Mary in Wiltshire. Like his father, Alfred was a gardener. They stayed at No 4 until 1913 before moving to Esher.

The same year (1913), Charles and Sarah Thorp moved into No 4. They had both been born in Rutland, Charles in 1876 (son of an agricultural labourer) and Sarah (nee Thompson, daughter of a shoemaker) in 1883. Charles was a gardener. In 1911 Sarah had been working as a servant at Admiral’s Walk (refer section below) for Sir Bernard and Ivy Halsey-Bircham, while Charles was still living in Rutland. We have no idea what brought them all the way from Rutland to Pirbright in the first place. In 1912 they were married in Rutland, and had a daughter (at Pirbright) the following year.

During WW1 Charles served in the Middlesex Regiment in the Army Reserve (at Sevenoaks, Thetford, Eastbourne, Margate and finally near Basingstoke) until 1919. They left Pirbright soon afterwards, returning to their native Rutland.

By 1920 Walter and Nellie Shepherd were living at No 4. Walter was born near Oxford in 1874, son of a miller. Nellie was born in Oxford in 1882, daughter of a boat-builder. Oxford may seem a strange place for a boat builder, but probably he was involved in making boats for use on the river, maybe even for the university boat race. Walter and Nellie were married in 1905.

Walter had joined the army in 1896, and was a sergeant in the Rifle Brigade in India in 1911. Their daughter Freda had been born in Calcutta in 1911. Walter fought in WW1 and spent some time as an Officer Cadet at Pirbright in 1915. He left the army in 1919, physically unfit to serve.

In 1921 Walter was working as a government clerk at the Army Pay Office in Oriental Road, Woking. Walter died in 1934, and the following year Nellie moved to Herefordshire.

By 1937 Reginald and Alma Townsend were living in No 4, quite possibly as owners. Reginald was born in 1893 near Cirencester, son of a farm carter. He joined up on 18 August 1914, aged 20, just 2 weeks after Britain entered WW1. He served as a private in the Labour Corps until 1919.

Alma (nee Trower) was born in Knaphill in 1896, daughter of a lamplighter. The Trower family lived very close to The Garibaldi pub. Reginald and Alma married in St John’s in 1919 and had 4 sons. In 1929 they were living at Appletree Cottage, and the following year moved to No 5, Longhouses (see section below), before moving to No 4 in 1937.

In 1939 Reginald was a labourer on War Dept land (ie the Pirbright Ranges). He died in 1953, aged 59. Alma remained at No 4 until her death in 1994, aged 97. She had lived at No 4 for 57 years.

A photo of Reginald and Alma in their younger days is shown right.

The house was purchased in 1995 by Jeffrey Hawkins. He had previously been living at No 2, Longhouses (refer above). The house was sold to the current owners in 2019.

5, Longhouses

From 1891 Edward and Elizabeth Collyer lived at No 5. Edward was born in 1842 in Pirbright. His father, also Edward Collyer was an agricultural labourer who lived at West Heath. Elizabeth (nee Woolford) was born at Odiham in 1848, daughter of a railway labourer. By 1861 the Woolfords had moved to Pirbright, living in one of the Railway Cottages.

Elizabeth married a James Ironmonger from Lambeth in 1871 and they lived in Pirbright, producing 2 children. But James died in 1877, aged only 29. 2 years later she and Edward married in Pirbright, and they had 4 children. In 1881 they were living in a cottage near The Royal Oak at Stanford, with Edward working as a gardener. By 1901 he was a farm carter. Edward’s brother, William, a gravedigger, was living with them.

In 1907 the Collyers moved to Goal Road. The next tenants were Henry and Ellen Gagen. They were both born in Norfolk, Henry in 1857 and Ellen (nee Baxter) in 1855. Both of their fathers were labourers. They married in 1886 and had 1 daughter.

It seems that they moved fairly frequently, presumably following where the work was (Henry was a domestic gardener). First they lived at Goose Rye, Worplesdon in the 1890s. They then moved to No 5 in 1908 and stayed until at least 1914. After WW1 they moved to Send and then Horsell. While they lived at Longhouses, we imagine that Henry would have worked either at Admiral’s Walk (refer section below) or Pirbright Lodge.

After WW1, from 1918, Albert and Kate Rabbitts lived at No 5. They both hailed from Wiltshire, Albert being born in 1878 and Kate (nee Whatley) in 1876. They were married in Wiltshire in 1903, but like the Gagens before them, they moved around the country somewhat, following the work (Albert, like Henry, was a domestic gardener – in 1911, working in Dorset, and in 1921 working for Lady Woodall at Admiral’s Walk (refer section below). They stayed at No 5 until 1925, when they moved to Hampshire.

The next tenants of No 5 were Charles and Gertrude Perry. Charles was born in Redhill c 1887, and in 1921 had been living at No 6, Longhouses, working as a chauffeur for Lady Woodall of Admiral’s Walk. The Perrys moved into No 5 from No 6 in 1925 and stayed there until 1928, when they moved to Knaphill.

Between 1930 and 1937 Reginald and Alma Townsend lived at No 5. In 1929 they were living at Appletree Cottage, and in 1936 they moved into No 4, Longhouses (refer section above), where we tell their story.

The next tenants from 1936 were Alfred and Edith Brown. We are not sure about their backgrounds, but we do know that Alfred was born in 1881 and Edith (or Edyth) in 1896. Alfred was a “Chauffeur mechanic” in 1939, presumably working at Admiral’s Walk or Pirbright Lodge. The Browns stayed at No 5 for a long time: Edith died in 1968 and Alfred moved out soon afterwards, dying in 1977 (aged 96).

The current owners moved into No 5 in the 1970s.

6, Longhouses

The first occupants of the new No 6 we can find were George and Julia Gosden. George was born in Pirbright in 1865, the son of Elijah and Emma Gosden, whose story is told in the Little Cutt (where they had lived from 1886) section above. One of George’s brothers, James Gosden, lived in No 3, Longhouses (refer section above) between 1892 and 1899. Julia (nee Thompson in 1869) was the daughter of William Thompson, a gardener who lived not far away at Dog Kennels.

George and Julia married at Pirbright in 1891. George was at this time a labourer. One of the witnesses at the marriage was James Gosden, to whom we referred in the previous paragraph. A month before the marriage their first child, Lizzie, was born. They proceeded to have a further 3 children. Sadly Julia died in 1908 aged only 39, leaving George to bring up 4 children alone in No 6. In 1911 George (now a bricklayer) was still living in No 6, but with just one of his sons.

In 1914 George remarried to Agnes Elizabeth Sayers in Guildford and they moved to The Green. By 1921 they had produced 5 children (2 of whom appeared before the marriage in 1914). George was still a bricklayer in 1921 and died in 1929.

The next tenants of No 6 were George and Lilian Tait. George was born in the Orkney Islands in 1877, the son of a wheelwright. We are curious as to whether any other Orcadians have been Pirbright residents – we can’t think of any. Lilian, more prosaically, was born in Lewisham in 1884. George came south in the 1890s and found work as an omnibus driver. He and Lilian married in 1901 and they had 4 children. They lived at Mytchett and then Connaught Road before spending 3 years at No 6 between 1915 and 1918. They later moved to Norwood.

From 1918 to 1919 Herbert and Elizabeth Kite lived at No 6. Herbert was the son of Robert and Mary Kite who had lived at No 4 Longhouses, then Little Cutt. Their stories are told in the sections above dealing with these properties. Herbert was born in North Bradley, Wiltshire in 1884. Elizabeth was born in 1886, the daughter of Daniel and Mary Boulter, who lived at Duchess Cottage (see section below).

They married in 1908 and lived in Ash, then Woking initially and had 3 children. Herbert was a machine minder at a printer. During WW1, Herbert served as a private in the Army Services Corps as a painter. Immediately after WW1 he served in Basrah, but was invalided home after an injury. In 1919 the Kites moved to The Bungalow, Rails Farm (today Kiln Cottage) and we tell their story there (see section below).

The next tenants of No 6 from 1921 were Charles and Gertrude Perry. Charles was born in Redhill c 1887, the son of a policeman. In 1921 he was working as a chauffeur for Lady Woodall of Admiral’s Walk. Gertrude (nee Rogers) was born in Farnham in 1888, daughter of a baker. The Perrys were married in 1919. At the time of the 1921 census Gertrude was visiting a family in Shalford with her mother and her 2-month old nephew. Charles and Gertrude moved next door into No 5 from No 6 in 1925. They stayed there until 1928, when they moved to Knaphill.

From c1926 Christopher and Emily Dowsett moved into No 6. Christopher, seen in the photo left at Admiral’s Walk (refer below), where he was the head gardener, was born in Boreham, Essex in 1884, the son of a gardener. Emily (nee Chapman) was also born in Boreham, 11 years later in 1895. They married in Middlesex in 1914. During WW1 Christopher served as a private in the Labour Corps. After the war they lived in Epsom, where Christopher worked as a gardener, before moving to No 6 and produced 2 children. Christopher died in 1936, aged only 52 and Emily moved to Rosskeen in Chapel Road with her children.

In 1940 Emily remarried John Stanborough, a widowed farm labourer, who was living at the Pirbright Research Station Bungalow. They remained at the bungalow until c1956, when they moved to No 13, Upper Stanford. Emily moved out of Upper Stanford and died in 1985, aged 92.

From 1937 Stephen and Lilla Norman lived at No 6. Stephen was born in 1893 in Wimbledon, the son of a tobacconist. He served as a Private in the Royal Berkshire Regiment during WW1. In 1920 he married Lily (nee Nash, in Thursley in 1891), the daughter of a labourer. Lily, however, died in 1930, aged only 38, at Witley.

In 1932 Stephen remarried Lilla Wheeler (born 1895 in Shropshire). The couple initially lived in Witley, but moved into No 6 in 1937, where Stephen worked as a domestic gardener. During WW2 Stephen was a Sergeant in the Pirbright Home Guard. c1955 the Normans moved to the Goldsworth area of Woking.

By 1956 John and Nansi Johnston were living at No 6. Nansi (nee Griffiths) was born in Llandovery in 1914. They married in Wycombe in 1953. They only stayed a couple of years in Pirbright. By 1959 Edgar and Florence Burchell were living at No 6. Edgar was born in 1901 and was a gardener. They had married in 1948 in Buckinghamshire. By 1961 the Burchells had moved to Coulsdon.

From 1967 Zelda Lewis lived at No 6 (either as tenant or owner). As far as can tell, this is the same Zelda Lewis who was born in Kensington in 1934, the daughter of Dr & Mrs Spencer Lewis. As a child she was featured in several society magazines. One example from 1937 (Zelda is on the right) and another from 1939 are shown below.

However, her father, Dr Lewis (1871-1950), who practised in Kensington, had a far more chequered career. He was charged in 1929 with carrying out illegal abortions for money, although the charge was later dropped. In 1942 he was jailed for 3 years for the same offence and struck off. 2 years later he was jailed for a further 3 years for conspiring with intent to procure abortions (he asked for 13 similar cases to be taken into account). Earlier, as a young doctor, he had also been convicted of receiving stolen medicines and reselling them.

One judge later called him “A thorough ruffian. He made his very large fortune by disgracing his profession”. Oh dear. After his death in 1950, a family argument over their inheritances ensued and was aired publicly in the Courts. It ended with the doctor’s wife being jailed for 5 years for forging his will. She was found to have £30,000 in banknotes (£700,000 today) stashed under her bed. Oh dear, oh dear.

Zelda left No 6 in the 1980s and died in Bagshot in 2018. By 1992 Antony and Elizabeth Michael were the owners of No 6. In 2012 No 6 was sold to the current owners.

Admiral’s Walk

We now cross back to the other side of Mill Lane and walk up the hill to Admiral’s Walk. This is an impressive building in an impressive setting. The name derives from the avenue of pines, possibly planted by Vice-Admiral John Byron, which used to run from what is now the front of the property. The avenue was known as Admiral’s Walk, as described in the section on Pirbright Lodge (see below).

Curiously it has its own Wikipedia page, which describes it as mock-Tudor in style. We were already aware of all the information on the Wikipedia page, except for the fact that the house was the location of 3 films made in the 1970s. These films are described as “British horror sexploitation” films and so we won’t dwell on them (but our thanks anyway to Wikipedia for pointing them out).

It was built c1909 on land previously owned by the Halsey family, who were the Lords of the Manor of Pirbright. The land was described as consisting of furze and firs in 1841, and formed part of Furzefield Copse. 30 years later, it found itself directly adjoining part of the lands acquired by the War Dept in 1877 for army training purposes (as described in the Bullswater Common section).

The story of the Halsey dynasty is told in its own section. Henry Halsey 4 (1858-1937) had acquired the title of Lord of the Manor in 1885 on the death of his grandfather, Henry Halsey 2, but needed cash in order to fund his lavish lifestyle. He immediately set about selling off pieces of the 2,000-acre Henley Park estate, spread over Pirbright, Worplesdon, Woking, Ash and Farnham. This continued apace until 1922, when virtually the last bit of land was sold.

In 1907 the land for Admiral’s Walk was purchased by Anne Dalrymple. Anne (Annie) was born Anne Gunning in Cambridge in 1825, the daughter of Francis Gunning, a solicitor. Mr Gunning’s partner in his law firm was one Francis Thomas Bircham, of whom more later. In 1849 Annie had married Robert Farre Dalrymple, a solicitor from Norfolk. They lived in Portland Place, and then Park Crescent, looking out over Regents Park. They had 1 son (Francis) and a slew (6, actually) of servants, and so we can deduce that they were a wealthy family. Robert, however, died in 1876, aged only 58. Their son, Robert, had joined the army, soon to reach the rank of Major in The Carmarthen Artillery.

By 1891 Annie had moved to Warnham, just north of Horsham, in Sussex with Robert, who was by then a retired major. And with 5 servants.

We don’t think that Annie ever lived in Admiral’s Walk. Instead it was leased to a solicitor called Sir Bernard Edward Halsey-Bircham. We saw the name of Bircham a few paragraphs earlier, and this is not a coincidence: Bernard’s father was Edward Halsey (one of the sons of Henry Halsey 2), who had married Katherine Dalrymple Bircham (the daughter of Francis Thomas Bircham and Katherine Dalrymple, the sister of Robert Farre Dalrymple). So Annie and Bernard were 2nd cousins, once removed (if we calculate correctly). And Bircham & Co were the Halsey firm’s solicitors. The connection between the Dalrymple, Bircham and Halsey families explains why Annie chose Pirbright as a place to build a large house (no doubt tipped off by one of the Halsey family). A photo of Sir Bernard is shown below.

Bernard was born Bernard Halsey in 1869 in Pirbright. In 1897 he married Ivy Clelia Guilietta Vaughan who had been born in Winchester in 1876, the daughter of an Inspector of Factories employed by the government. In 1899 Bernard changed his surname from Halsey to Halsey-Bircham for some reason.

The Halsey-Bircham family lived at Admiral’s Walk (with 5 servants) from when it was built. Annie Dalrymple died in 1914, leaving an estate of £129,000 (worth over £12 million today). It was probably at this time that Sir Bernard bought the property (or perhaps it was left to him by Annie).

The Halsey-Birchams extended the house in 1911 and remained at Admiral’s Walk until c1921. The probable reason for their leaving was that Bernard was about to be appointed Private Secretary to King George V. This may have required him to move a little closer to Buckingham Palace. In fact they moved to Chester Square, which was about 800 yards from the Palace. He was appointed a KCVO in 1925 and then Knight Grand Cross in 1936. He had been a magistrate and Chairman of Surrey County Council. He and his wife attended the burial of the last of the Halseys to own estates in Pirbright, Henry Halsey 4, in 1937.

We have shown below some early photos of Admiral’s Walk.

By 1921 the house had been purchased by Dame Anne Woodall. She was born Anne Whiteman in 1840 in Woolwich, and in 1965 married Corbet Woodall. Corbet had been born in Liverpool in 1841, where his father was the manager of Liverpool Gasworks. He followed his father into the gas business and worked as a gas engineer for several gas companies. Surely his most enduring claim to fame was being in charge in 1878 of the construction of the Kennington gas holders which overlook The Oval cricket ground. At the time it was the world’s largest gas holder, and so we have shown a photo of it below (also, we enjoy cricket).

Corbet became a director of the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1897, and helped steer it to become the largest gas company in the world. Corbet became its governor in 1906 and was knighted for services to the gas industry in 1913.

Corbet and Anne had 10 children and retired to the south of France in 1914, after Corbet developed heart problems, but he died (in Torquay) in 1916, leaving an estate of £97,000 (worth £6.9 million today). A statue of him stands in a park in Bromley-by-Bow (photo shown below, with thanks to Wikipedia). We have also shown a picture of Corbet and Anne on a beach (perhaps in France?) in their later years.

5 years later Anne had purchased Admiral’s Walk and was living there with 7 of her extended family (but no servants), but in 1927, Anne died.

Admiral’s Walk was purchased by Reginald (Cedric) and Dorothea Boustead in 1928 for £10,100 (£520,000 today). The estate included Nos 5 & 6, Longhouses. Reginald (known by his middle name of Cedric) was born in 1888 in downtown Surbiton, the son of a merchant who had spent time in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He joined the army, and by 1911 was a Second Lieutenant. He then served as a Captain in the Middlesex Regiment, later being transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (the predecessor to the RAF), until 1919, having been diagnosed as “Permanently unfit for general and home service”.

In 1917 Cedric married Dorothea Hunt (born in Brighton in 1895) and they had 3 children. Like his father Cedric became a merchant, and like his father he spent some time in Ceylon, suggesting he may have been a tea and/or rubber merchant. He had an office in Seething Lane, near the Tower of London. Right is a picture of Cedric from 1951 (when he was President of the Ceylon Association in London) drinking tea (what else?) with the wife of the Sinhalese ambassador.

In 1936 Cedric and Dorothea sold Admiral’s Walk (which included 11 bedrooms and dressing rooms) and moved to house abutting Wimbledon Common. Cedric was in Colombo at the time of the sale. The sale price of the house and its 21.5 acres (still including Nos 5 & 6, Longhouses) was £8,800 – a c10% loss for the Bousteads.

The purchasers were Adrian and Joan Jarvis. Arnold Adrian Jarvis (known as Jimmy) was born in 1904, the eldest son of Sir John Jarvis, 1st Baronet of Hascombe Park and a wealthy industrialist. In 1927 Sir John had bought Bakersgate as a wedding present for his eldest daughter, Joyce Jarvis, who had married Charles John Leonard Lyle (a scion of the Tate & Lyle empire). Sir John was an interesting fellow, and his story is told in the Bakersgate section. Charles and Joyce Lyle then acquired the title of Bakersgate in 1928 and their story too is told extensively in the Bakersgate section. It was proximity to Joyce at Bakersgate that no doubt attracted Jimmy and Joan to the area in 1935.

Joan was born Joan Brightman in 1913 in Hampstead, the daughter of Cecil Brightman, a steamship owner and broker from Jarrow. They married in 1935 in a high profile ceremony in London – the guests and wedding presents consumed 3 whole columns of the Surrey Advertiser, from which we have extracted the photo below. We have also shown a slightly better quality photo of Jimmy.

During WW2 Jimmy saw service in the Middle East and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. However, we believe that in 1945 the Jarvises divorced. In 1950 Jimmy became Sir Adrian Jarvis and assumed the title of 2nd Baronet on the death of his father. In 1957 he gave a new pavilion to Pirbright Cricket Club (see cutting below), which finally gave up the ghost a few years ago and was replaced by a shiny new model in 2023. We have also shown a picture of Jimmy in his cricket gear, L to R: RWV Robins (England’s cricket captain in 1937), Stan Garland, the club captain and Jimmy.

In 1958 the Jarvises purchased Vines Farm (refer section above). As the couple had no children, the baronetcy became extinct on Jimmy’s death in 1965 (which followed his collapse at Waterloo Station). He had been a director of several companies, including Armstrong Whitworth, and racehorse owner. A photo of Jimmy is shown below. Joan died in Chichester in 1996.

Jimmy’s beneficiaries decided to sell Admiral’s Walk. We are fortunate to have access to the detailed sale particulars, which tell us the following:

The entire Jarvis estate included Vines Farm, No 6 Longhouses and No 3 The Terrace. It totalled 128 acres, 94% of which was held freehold.
Admiral’s Walk by itself comprised 37 acres.
The house had 4 decent-sized bedroom on the first floor, with a further 3 (smaller) bedrooms on the top floor.
The property included a garage, a stable block and a hard tennis court.

Photos of the drawing room and one of the bedrooms are shown below.

The sale particulars also included a very helpful map (shown below). Admiral’s Walk is the large blue area numbered 1. The pink areas (numbered 2) are Vines Farm, the green area (numbered 3) a 7-acre plot leased by the Jarvises, and the 2 tiny blue areas are No 6 Longhouses (numbered 4) and No 3 The terrace (numbered 5).

The purchasers in 1965 were the gloriously-named Eugene Amable Adolphus Edward du Cadier Baron de Veauce and Baroness Ethel Mary de Veauce. These must surely be the people with the longest names ever to live in Pirbright. The sale price was £22,500 but excluded No 6 Longhouses and Furzefield Copse.

Eugene (as we will call him) came from a line of French Barons de Veauce, who owned Chateau de Veauce in the town of Veauce, not far from Vichy in Central France. The chateau was originally built in the 12th century and has over 100 rooms including a dungeon. It is thought by some to be haunted.... He had been born in London in 1908, the son of Charles Eugene Amable Cadier, Baron de Veauce and his wife, Gertrude Burton, an Irish lady. We think that Eugene grew up at the family home (Chateau de Veauce), but after his father’s death n 1934, moved to England.

He was a keen flyer. In 1931 he owned a Farman F 200 monoplane, based at Clermont-Ferrand (near Vichy). In 1935 he was involved in a scare when his glider collided with a stone wall in Thirsk, Yorkshire (he survived intact). The same year one of his exploits in Galway on the west coast of Ireland was reported in the local press (see cutting below). 2 other pictures of him below are from 1939 (L) and 1951 (R). Eugene joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1940, but resigned later the same year.

Eugene married Ethel Woodward in 1947 in London. Ethel had been born Ethel Mary Crick, the daughter of a confectioner in Cambridge. Ethel initially married a typewriter dealer named William Woodward in Cambridge in 1930, when aged only 20. They had one son, but the marriage did not last, as explained in the cutting below from the front page of the Daily Mirror in April 1947. Eugene and Ethel were married in Kensington just 2 months later.

We don’t know what Eugene was doing in England in 1947 (he gave his profession as “Buyer”), but evidently he decided to continue living here with his English wife after they married. They lived in a variety of local towns (including Byfleet, Woking, Windlesham and Englefield Green) before moving to Admiral’s Walk in 1965.

The couple had some exotic interests: In 1951 Eugene put out public requests as to the whereabouts of Napoleon’s death mask, as he was a keen “Napoleonic scholar”. And in 1960, it was reported that the Baroness was breeding 3,000 mink on her Englefield Green farm. Their son, Louis was a good chess player, at one time being the British Under-21 champion. The family had no less than 5 cars (hence their planning application for a set of 6 garages in 1968). In 1985 they invented a board game called “Sequence” as described in the cutting below. There’s no sign of it today (which might be partly because there was already another board game called Sequence on the market at the time - oops). The Baron was also an early fungi-forager. He could be seen on a rickety bicycle with Dr Blass from Duchies Cottage (refer section below) competing for edible fungi in the autumn. It got quite heated at times - chanterelles at dawn perhaps?

Ethel died in 1993 aged 83, and Eugene in 1996, aged 88. At this time the current owners purchased the house.

Buttercup Lodge

Buttercup Lodge was created as a conversion of the Admiral’s Walk stables in 1967 by the then owners (Baron and Baroness de Veauce). The council approved this conversion with a stipulation that use of the new dwelling should be “restricted to staff accommodation or other purpose incidental to and in connection with the property (ie Admiral’s Walk, refer section above). 5 years later in 1972 the de Veauces tried to widen the use of the new dwelling to outsiders (“because of the general shortage of housing in the area”). We presume that they were successful in this endeavour.

The stables themselves had been built in 1908, shortly after the main house was completed. The original building plan is shown below (note the dovecot at the very top).

The Duchies and Duchies Cottage

We have written detailed sections on each of these houses below, but first a few general words. These 2 houses are fairly isolated from other houses, sit on good-sized (3½ acres in total) plots, and share a common name - Duchies. The reader may be wondering about the origin of this word “Duchies”. Did a Duke or Duchess own the properties at some point in time? Was there a Dutch connection? The short answer is – we don’t know. We invite our readers to make up their own minds.

Of the 2 houses, Duchies Cottage goes back a long way. A dwelling existed on the site in 1653, and almost certainly earlier. The Duchies, however, was not built until the mid-1800s. We’ll begin our history with the older building, Duchies Cottage, before then moving on to The Duchies.

Duchies Cottage

Duchies Cottage sits a little further east from The Duchies. A little time ago it was easy to overlook this cottage, as it looked a complete ruin, covered in thick undergrowth. This has now changed quite dramatically. But the cottage does have a long history....

In 1982 a survey of the cottage was carried out by the Domestic Buildings Research Group (DBRG). It showed that the cottage probably dates back to the early 1700s, albeit with later alterations. The surveyors were told that it might have been a resting place for drovers, although there was no evidence for this. The cottage with 3 rooms originally was larger than many in Surrey at the time, and the plot (3½ acres) was also much larger than many (useful for drovers and their flocks, perhaps?). Some 16th century bricks were used in the cottage’s construction. Intriguingly, 2 bricks are inscribed “HH”. Below is a delightful drawing of the cottage made by the DBRG representatives (with thanks).

The cottage was first mentioned (as “Dutchies”) in the Court Rolls of 1653. Over the years it was spelt in various different ways (eg “Duchess”), but we’ll use its current name, Duchies Cottage. Its early history (to 1785) is as follows:

1653: The copyholder, Rowland Rapley, died. His widow, Bridget Rapley, inherited Duchies, which comprised the house and 6 acres. Rowland was born in Guildford in 1573. He and Bridget had several children in Pirbright in the early 1600s.
1659-1763: The property was passed down 4 generations of Rapleys (3 Georges, followed by Charles).

1763: Charles Rapley surrendered Duchies to John Stephens. John was probably the son of Henry Stevens, who died in 1703, and who was the first of the many Stevenses to live in Pirbright over the next 300 years.

1780: John Stephens died. The property passed to his son, John Stephens 2, who promptly takes out a mortgage from a Robert Dover.
1784: John Stephens 2 paid off his mortgage and surrendered the property to Joseph Stringfield, a victualler from Kingston.

In 1785, Joseph Stringfield sold Duchies to Admiral John Byron. At this point, Duchies effectively became part of the Pirbright Lodge estate, owned by Admiral Byron. When Admiral Byron died in 1786, Duchies was held in trust for his wife, Sophia Byron and their children. On Sophia’s death in 1790, the whole estate was sold to William Wallen, and then Robert Shuttleworth, before finally being acquired in 1801 by Henry Halsey 1. For more information on these transactions, please refer to the section on Pirbright Lodge. The reader will see there the newspaper advert placed to sell the whole estate. Duchies was called “Duchess Farm” and had been combined with other land in the Admiral’s estate to comprise 11 acres.

In the 1805 survey, the property was written as “Dutches”, and comprised a house and 3 meadows, 10½ acres in total. The occupier is not shown. We have shown an extract of the survey map below. Duchies is shaded blue, and may have been used as a pottery (which would explain why the largest field bears the name “Kiln Field”).

By 1841, the house and 3 fields were rented to William Stirling, who was living with 3 of his siblings at Pirbright Lodge, where his story is told in more detail. William in turn sublet the cottage to the Simmonds and Harding families, who were living there in 1841. The cottage was later (between 1841 and 1851) rebuilt (these are the renovations referred to in the DBRG survey – see top of this section). The original cottage was only 2 and 3 rooms. Between them the two families had 11 children, so we think it would have been pretty crowded and noisy.

First, the Simmonds family. Allen Simmonds was born in Pirbright in 1806, the 9th of 12 children. Rhoda Cranstone was born in 1807 in Billingshurst, the 4th of 10 children. She moved to Pirbright (with her parents) c 1815. The widow of one of her brothers, John Cranstone, lived at next door at the cottage now called The Duchies (refer section below). Allen and Rhoda married in Pirbright in 1829.

By their parents’ standards the Simmondses went on to have a modest family – only 7 children. Allen was an agricultural labourer, and by 1841 they were living at Duchies Cottage. The house was rebuilt between 1841 and 1851, as in 1851 it was called “New Cottage”.

Allen died in 1864, and after his death, Rhoda invited one of her daughters and her husband (Sarah and Henry Boylett) to live in the cottage with her. Rhoda stayed at the cottage until her death in 1875.

After Rhoda’s death, Henry (born 1822 in Worplesdon, also an agricultural labourer) and Sarah stayed in the cottage for a few years. But by 1881 they had moved into Burner’s Cottage, where we pick up their story.

As to the Harding family (who lived in the cottage with the Simmondses in 1841), Henry and Jane Harding were both recorded in the 1841 census as being born c1811, but Henry was actually born in Pirbright in 1804, the son of John and Elizabeth Harding. Jane (nee May) was born in 1809 in Lambeth. The couple married in Guildford in 1830 and had 5 children. Jane died in 1842, aged only 33 and Henry remarried Anne Stevens in 1847. Henry was a labourer, and by 1851 the family were living in Longhouses (refer section above). Henry died in 1865.

The next occupants (by 1891) were Daniel and Mary Boulter. Daniel (pictured left) was born in Datchet in 1843, the son of a carpenter. Like his father, he had become a carpenter. Mary (nee Lewis) was born in 1841 in Datchet, the daughter of an agricultural labourer. They married in 1863 and proceeded to have 14 children. They lived in Duchies Cottage for the rest of their lives, Mary dying in 1924 and Daniel in 1930, aged 83 and 86 respectively.

In 1922, Henry Halsey 4 had included the 2 Duchies Cottages in his sale catalogue (see extract below), but they did not reach their reserve price of £450 (only £21,000 in today’s money).

After the Boulters died, Richard and Dorothy Joyner briefly stayed in the cottage. The newspaper cutting below from 1931, suggests that the Joyners had rented the property from Henry Halsey 4, but that one of the Boulters’ children (Grace, born 1883) did not want to move out. The judge, however, found for the Joyners and so Grace had to go. In 1939 she was a domestic servant in Esher. She died at Rails Farm Cottage (refer section below) in 1972, aged 90.

Richard Joyner was born in Enfield in 1860, the son of a baker. In 1893 he married Elizabeth Freakes (born 1864 in Flexford, the daughter of James Freakes, a farmer, and Rhoda) in Wyke. The couple lived in Ash and had 2 children. Richard was a “Sanitary engineer” for a London company. Elizabeth died at Brookwood asylum in 1918.

In 1925 Richard remarried to Dorothy Denman (born in Shepherd’s Bush in 1893). Richard died in 1933, after living only 2 years in Duchies Cottage. Dorothy moved out soon afterwards and in 1939 was living in Cheltenham. She died in Dartford in 1948.

By 1935, Joseph and Norah Wardale had purchased Duchies Cottage (in Norah’s name). Joseph was born in Newcastle in 1893, the son of a steam engine fitter. After the death of Joseph’s father in 1905, the Wardale family moved south, and in 1911 were living at Wimbledon. In 1917 Joseph joined the 16th Battalion of the London Regiment, describing his profession as musician. Norah (nee Stephenson) was born in Hexham in 1894, the daughter of a farmer. In 1923 Joseph and Norah married in Hexham. They had 3 children.

The 1921 census had showed Joseph as living with his widowed mother and brother in Raynes Park, his occupation being Organist and Teacher of Music at St Dominic’s Priory in north London.

The 1939 register for Duchies records Joseph’s occupation as “Schoolmaster and lecturer, music. Organist and Choir master, Dir of Music. During WW2 he joined the Home Guard. We don’t know the details of where Joseph worked, but he did compose music. He taught at Farnborough Hill School, where Pirbright Historian Joan Foster remembers him from her schooldays after WW2.

As a composer, one of his pieces was a Mass Of Our Lady Of Victories. He also wrote for the piano - works such as The Toy Box (The Clown, Hippo, The Fort, The Dancing Bear, The Sailing Boat & The Flying Scotsman) and The Toy Cupboard (Mickey Mouse, Dismal Desmond, Jumbo, Japanese Doll, Peter Rabbit & Monkey-up-the-stick). Alas, we have not managed to track down any recordings of these pieces. Left is a photo of Joseph (then Dr Joseph) in later life at the piano with some admirers.

In 1939 the Wardales extended the cottage on the western side. By 1946 the Wardales had moved to Earls Court. They let the house out for a while, but this was not altogether successful, as shown by the cutting, right.

But one of the Wardale children, Joan Wardale (born 1924) had married a William Cobby in 1944, and by 1948 the couple had moved into Duchies Cottage, owned by Norah Wardale. Hopefully the leak had been fixed. The Cobbys had one daughter, but sadly Joan died in 1954, aged only 29, and William then left the Pirbright area. Joseph Wardale and Norah then left their London home and moved back into Duchies Cottage c1955.

The Wardales stayed in the cottage until 1966, when it was put up for sale (see newspaper ad below). The property included 3½ acres and was described as “secluded rural surroundings”, which is definitely not an overstatement. The Wardales moved near to Lowestoft, where Norah died in 1968. Joseph died in Great Yarmouth in 1989, aged 96.

Dr Richard and Barbara Blass purchased the cottage in 1966. Richard Georg Blass was born in Berlin in 1904 of Polish parents. We don’t know when he married his first wife, Irmgarda, born in Hamburg in 1908, but they probably came to England to escape Nazi persection. In 1939 Richard and Irmgarda were living in Hatfield. Richard described himself as a “Qualified German chemist, seeking work”. At that time, although they were both potentially “enemy aliens”, they were both deemed exempt from internment.

But soon after WW2 they divorced and each remarried, Richard to Barbara Henderson (born in London in 1914). Barbara died in 1900 and Richard in 1993, leaving an estate of £178,000 (worth £370,000 today). Richard was an enthusiastic (and passionate) pianist on his full-size grand in the lounge, Beethoven being his favourite composer. Barbara was a talented clarinettist.

The next owners in 1993 were Jennifer Gale and Robert Pollard. The neglected cottage (still with its 3½ acres) remained empty for several years, gradually falling into disrepair, until mid-2024, when there were indications that it would be renovated.

The Duchies

The Duchies stands a few yards to the east of Duchies Cottage and is a much more substantial building. It appears on the 1875 OS map, but not the 1841 Tithe Map. Examination of the censuses suggests it was built between 1841 and 1851, but this is not certain. Like the other cottage in the vicinity, it was originally referred to as “Duchies Cottage”. Sometimes it was called “Duchess Cottage”, and so for the next few paragraphs we will use this term – not because it is necessarily correct (it probably isn’t), but to distinguish the 2 cottages from each other.

In 1851, the occupants of “Duchess Cottage” were Jane Cranstone and her 2 sons. Jane was the daughter of James and Jane Collyer and was born in Pirbright in 1801. She was the widow of John Cranstone, a bricklayer, born in Billingshurst in 1804. John was the sister of Rhoda Cranstone, who had married Allen Simmonds and was living at Duchies Cottage (refer above). John and Jane had married in 1829 in Shoreditch and had 4 children. But John had died in 1836, aged only 32, leaving Jane with the 4 children, all aged under 6.

In 1841 Jane and her family were living somewhere near Hogleys Farm, but by 1851 they were installed in the newly-built “Duchess Cottage”, where Jane was a laundress.

By 1861 Jane had moved to a house on The Green. However, her 2nd son, John Cranstone, was now living in Duchess Cottage, a farm labourer.

John Cranstone died a year later (in 1862), aged just 30. The new occupants were Daniel and Elizabeth Fry.

Daniel was born in Godalming in 1829, the son of non-conformist parents. As a carpenter he had moved to Pirbright, and in 1852 had married Eliza Stevens, aged 19. But Eliza died 7 months after the marriage, we think in childbirth. Tragically, the child, a daughter named Eliza, died 15 months later.

A month after the death of his daughter Eliza in 1854, Daniel had married Elizabeth Simmonds (daughter of Allen and Rhoda Simmonds, who lived next door at Duchies Cottage – refer above).

Daniel and Elizabeth had 10 children and in the 1870s moved to The Green. By 1881 James and Matilda Stonard were living at Duchess Cottage. James was the eldest of 14 children of James and Eliza Stonard, who had lived at Little Cutt (refer section above). Please also refer to the Stonard family page for more background on the Stonards.

James was born in 1844. In 1865 he married Matilda Mose (born 1840 in Windlesham, daughter of a blacksmith) in Bisley, where she lived with her family. The Stonards had 4 children, a very modest amount by Stonard standards of the time. James became a gardener, possibly working at Brookwood Cemetery, Pirbright Lodge or The Manor House. He died in 1897, aged 53.

Matilda remained at Duchess Cottage until her death in 1912, aged 71. Tragically she was found drowned in the Hodge Brook near Hazelacre. She had gone to visit a friend in Goal Road and was found lying near the bridge in 18 inches of water. The bridge comprised 2 planks each 9 inches wide, with a handrail on one side. The inquest found that she had probably missed the bridge in the dark, and fallen into the stream – an accidental death.

c1912 Mark and Mary Ann Boylett moved into the cottage. Mark was born in Bisley in 1863, the son of a farmer. Mary Ann (nee Hockley in 1855) was also born in Bisley, the daughter of a blacksmith. She was working as a servant (or housekeeper, as she put on the marriage certificate), and the pair were married in Clapham in 1888. They had 1 daughter and lived in Bisley before moving to Duchess Cottage in 1912. In 1921 Mark was working as a gardener at the London Necropolis, Woking (ie Brookwood Cemetery).

In 1922, Henry Halsey 4 had included Duchies and Duchess Cottages in his sale catalogue), but they did not reach their reserve price of £450 (only £21,00 in today’s money). We have included an extract from the sale catalogue in the Duchies Cottage section above.

In 1934 the Boyletts decided to move away from Duchess Cottage and have a house built in Chapel Lane. The house was called Rosemarie, and we continue their story in the Chapel Lane section.

c1936 the cottage was bought by Francis (Frank) Montague and Ada Ethel Rose Williams. Frank was born in Fulham in 1897, the son of a London cab driver called William Williams. Ada (nee Watts) was born in Hoxton in 1896, daughter of another London cabbie. Frank and Ada were married at Merton in 1923. Frank worked at the London Stock Exchange. By 1939 Frank was a stockbroker with Woolf Christey & Co (which no longer exists).

We think that the cottage was substantially extended by Frank and Ada after WW2 to become The Duchies that we see today.

Ada died in 1966 and Frank in 1976, still living at The Duchies after 40 years. Left is a photo of Frank, looking every inch the stockbroker.

The next occupant for a few years was Margaret Wheeler. c1985 the current owners moved into The Duchies.

Track End Cottage (previously Fillmoor Cottage then Nursery Cottage)

Track End Cottage first appears on the 1841 Tithe map. As it is not shown on the 1805 survey map, we can date it to between 1805 and 1841 (but not more precisely than that).

In 1841 the cottage was owned by Samuel Greenfield, the owner of Bakers Gate Farm. It sat on the edge of 4 fields (called Fill Moor or Till Moor, and comprising 14 acres of pasture), also owned by Samuel Greenfield. We suspect therefore that Samuel built the cottage to service these fields. It didn’t seem to have a name until the 1860s, when it was called Fillmoor Cottage. By 1911 it was called Nursery Cottage, and then, in the 1930s, it became Track End Cottage. We struggle to think of a more appropriate house name in Pirbright. It does indeed sit at the end of the track.

In 1851 we think that the cottage was occupied by James and Hannah Saunders. They had both been born in Pirbright, James in 1786 and Hannah (nee Collyer) in 1788. They married in Pirbright in 1810 and had 3 children. Hannah died in 1852 and James, a broom-maker, died in 1868, still living at what was then called Fillmoor Cottage.

By 1871, the cottage (now called Nursery Cottage) was occupied by Charles and Mary Saunders. Charles was born in 1826, the youngest son of James and Hannah and was an agricultural labourer. Mary was around 5 years older than Charles, but we do not know who she was, nor can we trace their marriage. They had 3 children. Mary died in 1873, but we cannot trace what happened to Charles.

In 1871 another family lived in Nursery Cottage with the Saunders family: Henry and Elizabeth Stevens. Henry was an agricultural labourer. He had been born in 1815, the son of Edward Stevens, who was the only licensed victualler (ie innkeeper) in Pirbright at that time (refer Stevens family page). Elizabeth (nee Stonard) was born in 1819 in Pirbright, daughter of Daniel Stonard, a labourer (refer Stonard family page). They married in Guildford in 1839 and then lived successively in the Bullswater area, West Heath, then Stanford, before arriving at Nursery Cottage. They had 5 children.

In 1881 the Stevenses were still at the cottage, but the census recorded it as “Full Moon Cottage” – a classic case of the census-taker mis-hearing what he or she was told (it should have been “Fillmoor Cottage”, which in any case was no longer the cottage’s name!).

Elizabeth died in 1894, but Henry remained at “Fillmoor Cottage” (without Charles and Mary Saunders as co-tenants) until he died in 1897. Samuel Greenfield’s heir, Henry Greenfield had sold the property to Lord Pirbright in 1895, but this didn’t seem to make much difference to the arrangements.

During this time, a large (8 acre) nursery had been created on the Fillmoor fields adjoining the cottage. The nursery was looked after between 1880 and 1897 by Anthony Waterer, and his son of the same name, who both lived at Knaphill.

The next occupant, from 1897, for a couple of years was a James Pudvine. We can find few other reference to this person, so we think it is either a mis-spelling, or a false name. In 1888 Mary Pudvine (daughter of Harry and Alice Pudvine) from Pitch Place, Worplesdon came to school here. Harry though was in his 60s, and was unsure as to the date or place of Mary’s birth. Perhaps he and Alice were really Mary’s grandparents, rather than parents? In 1911 Harry and Alice were living in Chobham.

There were a few short-term lets of Fillmoor Cottage until 1908, when Andrew and Ann Nora Cranstone moved in. We think that Andrew took over the running of the nursery, and at the same time, the name reverted to Nursery Cottage.

Andrew Cranstone had been born in 1862 at Bridley, where his father, Jesse Cranstone was working. Andrew had several relatives who were living (or had lived) in the immediate area of Nursery Cottage – a sister, Eva, at Manor House Cottage, an uncle, Henry, at Little Cutt (refer above) and a grandmother (Jane) and great aunt (Rhoda) had lived at Duchies Cottage (refer above). Ann Nora had been born at Roedean, near Brighton, in 1875, daughter of a dairyman. Andrew and Ann married at Petersfield. Initially they lived at The Green before moving to Nursery Cottage in 1908. They had 6 children.

At some stage Lord Pirbright (or his widow, Lady Pirbright) had sold Nursery Cottage and the adjoining nursery to Henry Halsey 4. When this gentleman put up his remaining estates up for sale, the nursery was included. Right, we have shown a copy of the relevant page from the sale catalogue. It highlights that the nursery was particularly good for growing rhododendrons and azaleas, which will not come as a surprise any local gardeners. There are still remnants to be seen - rhododendrons, azaleas and amelanchiers are growing on the hill overlooking Duchies.

Despite the tempting description, the lot remained unsold. Andrew Cranstone died in 1929, just a month before Daniel Boulter in nearby Duchies Cottage. Ann Cranstone remained at Nursery Cottage until 1937, when she moved to No 1 Longhouses (see section above) with one of her sons, Arthur. Ann died in 1958.

The next occupants (we think owners) from 1937 were William (Bill) and Ellen Matthews. It was they who chose the name “Track End Cottage”. William was born in Southwark in 1896, the son of a packing case maker. He moved to Tooting and there met Ellen Rawlinson (born 1897). They married in 1921. At that time Bill, described as ‘one of the greatest craftsmen of the 20th century’ was working for WT Morrell & Son, a firm of bookbinders in Long Acre, but started his own practice in 1926. In 1929 William wrote his own book (pictured left). It would have been of great interest to budding bookbinders no doubt (but sadly not to the author of this page).

The Matthews family moved into Track End in 1937, but in 1939 William and Ellen were registered as living in Epsom. William was a teacher of bookbinding there. William has his own Wikipedia page and we encourage readers to take a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Matthews

Ellen died in 1964, and a few years later, Bill became particularly close friends with a Beryl Dixon, a former pupil of his, who moved into Track End with William. Beryl, also a bookbinder, had been born Beryl Braund in Bath in 1910 and had married Joseph Dixon in West London in 1938. Bill had an eclectic taste in liquor. When visiting others, he was known bring his own favourite brand of sherry....

Bill died in 1977. Beryl died in 1999. Her headstone reads "Beryl Dixon 1910 – 1999. Mother, artist, bookbinder. Partner of William MATTHEWS, bookbinder".

The house was sold in 2000 to Mark and Lynette Keene. The house was sold again in 2014 to the current owners. Right is an agent’s photo from 2013 (with thanks). The house has a special character about it, which the current owners put down to William Matthews’ influence and careful attention to detail over his 40 years of careful ownership.

Rails Farm (previously Castle House, then West Brooks)

Rails Farm (and the nearby Rayles Cottage and Kiln Cottage) are accessed by following the track from the end of Mill Lane past Admiral’s Walk, up the hill, down the hill, round the bend, past The Duchies and Duchies Cottage and then continuing on. And on. It is a surprisingly long track. The track runs along a geological boundary:

The sand and gravelly Camberley Sands lie to the north. These infertile beds make up most of the Ash Ranges and have never been used agriculturally.
The Windlesham Formation lies to the south. These beds are a little older than the Camberley Sands (well, 10 million years or so). They contain more clay and silt and are therefore much better suited for agriculture.

The contrast between the 2 underlying beds is obvious when one looks for it. It is evidenced by the pond lying right opposite the entrance to Rails Farm. The pond is not a new phenomenon – it can be seen on the 1805 survey map. It marks a spot where water percolating down through the sandy beds cannot pass through the clay beneath and hence lies on the surface.

Early history to 1805

In the early days the large expanse of land where Rails Farm, Rails Cottage and Kiln Cottage now lie was called “Rayles”, or similar. The 1574 rental return shows “Le Railes, lying between Pyrbright and Henley Pke containing by estimation 60 acres the time of Henry VIII” as being held copyhold by “George Chamblaine”. This was Sir George Chamberlaine. Queen Elizabeth I had given him 116 acres of the Manor (including Le Railes) for services unknown.

Around this time, deer belonging to the monarch were kept within a fence called Purbrighte Rayles, whose name still partially exists as Rails Farm. The fence is shown on a 1605 map of Windsor Forest, from which an extract is shown below. Despite some present-day places being identifiable (Purbright, Rickforde Bridge, Worplesdon, Henley Parke), it’s difficult to work out exactly where the fence stood. We think it stretched from today’s Rails Farm across to Bullswater.

At some stage during the next 60 years Le Railes reverted to the Lord of the Manor of Pirbright.

In 1654 and 1655, a rather unusual series of transactions was recorded:

Firstly, Viscount Montagu (who was Lord of the Manor of Pirbright at the time) sold c60 acres of pasture and meadow called Rayles, lying between Pirbright and Henley Park to a Matthew Taylor. This Matthew Taylor was based in the City of London. At the time, Rayles was occupied by George and Robert Rapley and others.
A few months later, Edward Thurland, a London lawyer acting under the Authority of Oliver Cromwell, demanded 90 acres of land in Pirbright from Matthew Taylor.
Another few months later, the land was duly transferred to Oliver Cromwell’s government.

This seems as though it was a blatant land grab by Cromwell from individuals who had supported the losing side in the Civil War.

But not all of Rayles was seized. A dwelling called Castle House remained the property of the Manor of Pirbright. Castle House was situated where Rails Farmhouse is today, but it was only allowed to keep 4 closes of land – those at the western end of the Rayles property. They totalled just 6 of the 100-odd acres of land previously owned. We can see the Court Rolls relating to the property from 1665 onwards. Here are the main changes in the property over the ensuing years:

1676: George Rapley (the copyholder of Castle House) died, having bequeathed Castle House (with its 6 acres) to his son William Rapley.
1707: William Rapley bequeathed the property to his son, George Rapley 2, and his wife, Mary Rapley.
1756: Mary Rapley died, and, her husband George having died previously, the property passed to their son, George Rapley 3.
1756: 6 months after inheriting Castle House, George Rapley 3 sold it to John Westbrook.
1770: John Westbrook died. He left Castle House and the 6 acres of fields to his 2 cousins, Ann Kidd and Mary Pritchard, in equal shares.
1779: Mary Pritchard died and left her half-share of the property to Benjamin Kidd, husband of Ann Kidd. This seems odd to us – although Mary’s husband had died 4 years earlier, they did produce 14 children. However, it isn’t difficult to think of a few reasons why Mary decided to give it to her sister-in-law’s husband, rather than to any of her children.
1796: Ann Kidd died, leaving her half-share of Castle House to her eldest son, Richard Kidd.
1799: Richard Kidd sold the property to Robert Shuttleworth.
1801: Robert Shuttleworth sold the property to Henry Halsey 1.

We’ll now take a look at some of these people.

Firstly, the Rapley family. The name Rapley is of course enshrined in one of Pirbright’s roads (Rapley’s Field), which we cover in the Mill Lane - East section. However it is surprisingly difficult to track down the detailed Rapley lineage (and so we won’t try to do so). Instead we will summarise.

The first mention of the name Rapley in Pirbright records is from 1609. But it is absent from a 1586 listing, which gives us a good indication of the time frame for the Rapleys’ arrival in Pirbright. We think the family originated in the Lurgashall (Sussex) area, and may have migrated to Pirbright via Alfold, Dunsfold and Chiddingfold, although we can’t be sure. But there is another Sussex connection with Pirbright at this time, which may be connected with the Rapley migration: The Browne family of Cowdray Park, Midhurst held the Manor of Pirbright from the mid 1500s to late 1600s. This is described more fully in the Manor of Pirbright section.

After their initial arrival, the Rapley family increased rapidly in number in the area during the 17th and 18th centuries, but the name had all but disappeared by 1800, with only a few records thereafter, mostly from Bisley, Windlesham or Chobham.

We think that John Westbrook (c1700-1770), who bought the property in 1756 from George Rapley, was born in Godalming and married a Martha Bartlett there in 1736. They had at least 2 children, but for some reason, when John died at Shalford in 1770, he chose to leave Castle House to 2 of his cousins, daughters of his brother, James Westbrook, a husbandman (ie a farmer), who had died in 1729, aged only 39.

One of the cousins was Mary Westbrook (1728-1779), who married Edward Pritchard. They had 14 children.

The other cousin was Ann Westbrook (1723-1796), who married Benjamin Kidd. They had 3 children. Benjamin Kidd (1725-1800) had been born in Reading to a Quaker family. He and Anne married in Reading, where Benjamin was a mealman, in 1747. The couple moved to Godalming and had 3 children. The Kidds continued to live in Godalming, with Benjamin working as a mealman. He died in Godalming in 1799. He never lived in Castle House. Instead he let the house and the fields to James Honer, who would, a few years later, move into Heath Mill. His story is told there.

After Benjamin died, his eldest son, Richard Kidd (1750-1838) lost no time in selling both half-shares of the property in 1799. Richard married, had 3 children and died in 1837, aged 87.

The purchaser of Castle House in 1799 was Robert Shuttleworth of Wandon, Bucks. This gentleman had recently bought Pirbright Lodge and Duchies Cottage (refer section above), so seemed intent on building up a property portfolio in Pirbright. However the pockets of Henry Halsey 1 (c1745-1807) were deeper. He bought the Castle House property in 1801 along with the other Shuttleworth properties, and it was he who was to buy most of Pirbright in later years.

Neither Rayles Cottage nor the forfeited 90 acres appear in the Pirbright Manor Court Rolls and we do not know who owned them until 1805.

1805 – 1841

By 1805 the entire Rails area had been purchased by Henry Halsey 1. We have shown below the 1805 map of the area, showing the 2 properties (defined in the accompanying survey) at that time:

Castle House (coloured turquoise – 7 acres) and
“Rayles and Fillmoor Lands” (coloured orange – 119 acres).

Both of these properties included a cottage. As they are tricky to spot, we have put a red ring around each. They are in the positions where Rails Farm and Rails Cottage are today. However there is no trace of a cottage where today’s Kiln Cottage stands (which is at the top of the 3 fields shaded turquoise).

It’s also worth commenting on the area marked “Railes Peat Moor”. It’s the largest of the orange-coloured fields. Anyone who has tried to access this area in winter will know it as an inhospitable tangle of undergrowth sitting in pools of unpleasant-looking water. We think the “Peat Moor” description is quite appropriate. To our knowledge it has never been cultivated.

The occupancy of the 2 properties was rather confusing. The bulk of the farmable area (83 acres) was farmed by a Joseph Davies (or Davis). Joseph and his family lived at Castle House (in the turquoise area), and farmed the entire turquoise area and most of the orange area. But 2 fields (2½ acres) were farmed by a George Webb. George and his family lived at what is today Rails Cottage. So the areas which the 2 gentlemen farmed do not match up with the colours on the map. We have no idea how this situation arose, but it did. Henry Halsey 1 kept the peat moor and some woodland for himself.

We know next to nothing about either Joseph Davies or George Webb, except that George Webb died in 1814, aged 89 (a terrific age in those days – the Napoleonic Wars were still in progress). And “Webb’s Farm” occasionally appears in official records in later years. Neither of these farmers appear to have been Pirbright-born.

1841 - present

We now fast-forward to 1841, when things become clearer. Since 1805, Henry Halsey had reorganised the Rails area into 4 smaller areas. The 1841 Tithe documentation is summarised on the right.

Meanwhile Henry Halsey 1 had kept for himself the 57 acres of peat moor and woodland (which could not be cultivated).

It appears from the outside that the original Castle House was demolished at some stage to make way for today’s Rails Farmhouse, but we are not sure when this occurred, though it appears that the massive chimney and fireplace were retained. By 1841 Castle House had been renamed West Brooks, and so we suspect the rebuild may have happened around then. It’s surprisingly difficult to work out where each person was living, but we’ll take a look at each of the above.

Thomas and Celia Boyer (Boyear). Thomas was born in Frimley in 1785. Celia (nee Woods, the daughter of Thomas Woods 4 and Elizabeth Knowles) was born in Worplesdon in 1783. They were married near Newbury in June 1805, but had moved to Pirbright by the time of the birth of their first child (in November 1805). 4 more children followed.

We don’t know where they lived initially in Pirbright, but by 1841 they had moved to a Halsey-owned farm in Willey Green, even though Thomas appeared on the 1841 records for Pirbright. The name of the farm in Willey Green was Bails Farm (as opposed to Rails Farm in Pirbright!). Thomas was farming 75 acres there in 1851. Celia died in 1855 but we’re not sure what happened to Thomas.

Thomas Wood. We think this was actually Thomas Woods 4, who was born in 1761 in Pirbright, married Elizabeth Knowles, and who had sold Heath Mill to James Honer. He was aged 80 at the time of the 1841 census, and was living with 2 of his sons and 2 servants. It was Thomas and Elizabeth’s eldest daughter, Celia, who had married Thomas Boyer (refer 2 paragraphs above).

Richard Rose. Richard was born in 1774 in Pirbright. In 1804 he had married Elizabeth Woods, who was the 2nd daughter of Thomas Woods 4 and Elizabeth (refer above). They had 7 children. Richard died during the 1840s, and in 1851 Elizabeth was living with one of her married daughters in Shalford.

Henry Colyer (Collyer). We think that Henry was born in Horsell in 1805 or 1808. He married Ann Faggetter in 1831. Henry went on to farm Whites Farm and we tell the Collyers’ story there.

In 1851, we are fairly sure that Rails Farm was occupied by John and Fanny Woods. Unfortunately, the census of that year does not give a house-name for where the Woods lived. But John was recorded in the census as being a farmer of 70 acres (which was roughly the size of the whole Rails property), and the sequence in the census is also about right. John Woods was the son of Thomas Woods 4 (who had been farming 24 acres of Rails in 1841, but who had died in 1849). So it seems very feasible that John had taken over the job of farming Rails when his father died.

John Woods was born in 1804 in Pirbright. Fanny (nee Page) was born in Farnham in 1799, the daughter of a publican. She was living as a domestic servant in Farnham in 1841. They married in 1842 in Clerkenwell, although we can’t work out why they chose this location. They were both definitely “of full age”, but maybe there was some parental disapproval on one side or the other.

John presumably did not take to the job of being a farmer. By 1861 he and Fanny were living at Hatchers on The Green, with John having reverted to his previous trade of being a butcher and Fanny had a small grocery. They didn’t have any children, but they were living with William, one of John’s brothers. They were still there in 1871, but Fanny died in 1873 and John 12 years later (at Little Cutt (refer section above), with the Cranstones).

By 1857, Richard and Elizabeth Thompson were the occupants of Rails Farm (renamed as Holmes Farm). Richard was born in Seal in 1805. Elizabeth (nee Bateman) was born in Selby, Yorkshire in 1808. They were married in 1808 in Marylebone. They initially lived in Ash, and by 1841 had moved to Willey Green, where Richard was a farmer. They were living very near to Thomas and Celia Boyer, who, according to the Tithe records of that year, had farmed Rails Farm in 1841. Surely it was the Boyers who convinced Richard and Elizabeth to move to Rails Farm.

The Thompsons had 9 children before they arrived in Pirbright. In 1857 Richard caught a young boy, James Stonard, aged 11, in the act of stealing some beans from a barn. Richard had marched him to the police station, and James was brought before the magistrate. Colonel Onslow (the magistrate) told James that he had been brought up in a way of which his parents should be ashamed. James was sent to the “House of Correction” for a month and ordered to be once whipped. Wow.

In 1865, Richard suffered an outbreak of “the cattle disease” and lost his entire herd of 11 cattle. However, Henry Halsey 2 and Sir William Bovill (MP for Guildford) paid for most of the loss incurred by Richard.

Elizabeth died in 1881. In 1885 Henry Halsey 4 tried to sell the whole of the Rails area, unsuccessfully. An extract from the plan prepared for the sale is shown below.

In 1887 Richard decided to leave Rails Farm. This is not surprising, given his age (he was 82). We have shown an ad for his closing sale right. 8 months later, he died.

James Loveland Martin and Alice Martin were the next occupants of Rails Farm. James was the eldest child of James and Jane (nee Loveland) Martin, who had farmed Whites Farm from 1880. Young James had been born in 1855 in Woking, and in 1887 married Alice Thompson. Yes, Alice was a member of the same Thompson clan from Seal as Richard Thompson, who had farmed Rails Farm immediately before them. However, she was not a particularly close relative of Richard (as far as we can work out). The Martins only stayed at Rails Farm until 1893.

Between 1894 and 1897 there were 3 very short-term occupants: Robert Bews, Edward Moorey and Alan West. None of them stayed more than a year or 2 in Pirbright. Between 1997 and 1902 a William George Smith occupied the farm, but we know little about him.

In 1906 John and Eliza Tucker were farming at Rails Farm. They were born in Devon in 1853 and 1854 respectively. John was the son of a farmer of 63 acres. John and Eliza married in 1876, had 6 children, and lived in Datchet, Sussex and elsewhere in Surrey before moving to Springfield Farm (refer section above) in 1897. They moved into Kiln Cottage (refer section below) and Rails Cottage (refer section below) before settling at Rails Farm.

A very sad event occurred in 1913 as reported in the local newspaper (see cutting below left). The following year another of the Tucker children, George, died of wounds at Bailleul in France. His story is told in the WW1 War Memorial section. John and Eliza and their family stayed until 1917, at which time they sold up all their farming gear. The cutting below right describes what was being sold. The Tuckers moved to Micheldever, where John became the landlord at The Sun Inn.

Briefly Bernard Brooke Barnes and Kate Barnes and their family lived at Rails Farm from 1917. Bernard was born in 1868 in Carshalton, the son of a blacksmith. Kate (nee Miles) was born in Redhill in 1869. Bernard was a builder by trade. They had 4 children.

We have shown below a photo of the family in front of the house below. There is also a great photo of Elsie Barnes in the section dealing with The Mill House. The Barnes family soon moved to Sheet’s Heath.

The next tenants of Rails Farm from c1919 were Walter and Lily Turner. Walter was born in Warfield, just north of Bracknell, in 1888, the son of a farm carter. Lily (nee Rushen) was born in Swindon in 1891, the daughter of a farmer. They married at Devizes in 1915, when Walter was a soldier. Lily’s parents (Mark and Mary Rushen) moved into nearby Millcroft in 1919, and in 1921 Walter was an agricultural labourer, working on his father-in-law’s farm, Manor Farm. They had one daughter.

In 1922, Rails Farm was included in Henry Halsey’s final sale of his Pirbright properties. It was included in one lot with Henley Park but it was probably left unsold. We have shown a copy of the 1922 sale particulars below. Rails Farm comprised 80 acres and included Rails Cottage and Kiln Cottage (described as “Bungalow Cottage”). We have also shown 2 photos of the house from that time.

Instead, it was probably sold separately c1937 to Major Ronald Owen Armstrong-Jones, MBE QC DL (1899-1966, photo left), who lived briefly at Stream Farm before WW2. This gentleman was a barrister and a soldier, but is best known for being the father of Anthony Armstrong-Jones, the husband of Princess Margaret. There are stories (possibly apocryphal) that they had assignations in a caravan at Stream Farm before the marriage, but of course we cannot comment on this. Major Ronald has his own Wikipedia page.

Walter Turner became a dairy farmer, but in 1933 he had a misfortune with some milk he was selling, as detailed in the cutting right. £10 in 1933 would be worth £600 today, so it was quite a stiff penalty. 6 years later, in 1939, their daughter was an assistant in the village Post Office. 4 years later she married John Collyer of School Lane at St Michael’s.

During WW2 Arthur and Elsie Hills lived at Rails Farm, probably after the Turners were forced out by the sale of the farm – see below) . Elsie had been born Elsie Barnes (the same person in the photo above and the photo with the bull in front of The Mill House). We are very fortunate to have the fascinating reminiscences of Arthur and Elsie’s daughter, Marjorie (Jill) Hills (later Cawson), who was a young girl at the time. Click here to read these reminiscences

In 1945 Rails Farm (including Rails Cottage and Kiln Cottage) was offered for sale by Major Armstrong-Jones. The property was 84 acres in size. Walter Turner and his family had been given notice to quit by the Surrey County War Agricultural Executive Committee (whose job was to better manage the country’s agricultural resources in wartime). Stream House Farm, which was the Armstrong-Jones’s house, was included in the sale. Below we have shown part of the plan of the properties for sale. Rails Farm (including Kiln Cottage) is coloured pink, Rails Cottage is yellow, and Stream House Farm is blue. We have also shown an ad for the sale by the Turners of their agricultural assets at the same time.

Rails Farm was purchased for £3,050 (worth £110,000 today) by Horace Cherryman. Horace (1895-1958), pictured here with one of his grandchildren, was a scion of the Cherryman dynasty, being the 7th of 11 children of John (1854-1925) and Maria (1861-1933) Cherryman, who lived at Causeway Bridge Farm.

By 1949, Humphrey Cyril Bindloss Boddington and Joan Mary Vaughan Boddington had moved in (we presume as owners). We’re sure you’re wondering whether Humphrey had any connection to Boddington’s beer, and the answer is – Yes. He was the grandson of Henry Boddington (1813-1886), who had converted what was a small local brewery into Manchester’s largest. Henry died in 1886 leaving £150,000 (worth £15 million today), and a lot of happy customers.

Boddingtons remained family-controlled until 1989, when it was bought by Whitbread. It is now owned by AB InBev, but the Boddingtons name seems recently to have been allowed to slip into decline. Below we have shown a picture of Henry, together with something to remember him by.

Humphrey was born in Hawkshead, near Ambleside, in 1910. His father (also called Humphrey) had fought in the Boer War, and in WW1, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. But after the war he seemed to take an early retirement and led a quiet life just south of Dorking, playing no part in the family business. Joan (nee Thomas) was born in 1916 in Newport.

By 1939 Humphrey was an architect in Wharfedale, while Joan was living in Chobham, working as a secretary for a Canadian Bank. They married in Croydon in 1949 and moved into Rails Farm the same year. However they didn’t seem to appreciate the peace and beauty of Rails Farm, as they soon moved to Ripley Manor House, and then Margate, where Humphrey died in 1976 aged 66. Joan died at Shoreham in 2018, aged 92

c1956 Rails Farm was bought and so had new owners. The family of the 1956 purchasers moved out of the house some time ago and now live elsewhere on the farm, but still own the property. A recent photo of the house (which has been uninhabited for some time) is shown below, together with a wonderful (though not very realistic!), recent painting of it by David Deamer.

Rails Farm and the barn nearby are Grade II listed buildings. The listing particulars are shown below.

House. C17 with C19 extensions to right and rear. Timber framed, clad in whitewashed stone and brick, whitewashed brick infill to partly exposed frame on centre, whitewashed brick extension. Plain tiled roofs stepping down to right. 2 storeys on plinth with plat band over ground floor left. Ridge stack at junction of roofs, offset end stack to right. Irregular fenestration, 2 casement windows on first floor right and on ground floor below. Half-glazed door under braced, gabled, hood to left of centre. 2 gabled wings to rear facing the lane.

Interior: some framing visible, mainly on ceilings.

Barn and stable. C18 with C19 extensions to ends. Timber framed on brick plinth with weatherboard cladding; plain tiled, half-hipped, roofs. Single storey extension to

right at right angles to barn forming L shape. Barn: 3 framed bays with central opposing double doors. Stable door to left and 3 stable doors in range to right.

Interior: Queen-strut, clasped purlin roof with diagonal wind bracing in barn.

Rayles Cottage (previously The Lodge Cottage, then Webb’s Farm or Cottage, then Rails Cottage or Rails Farm Cottage)

Rayles Cottage is accessed down a track leading off the main track past Rails Farm. We have covered the early history of Rayles Cottage in the Rails Farm section above. However, as a quick recap:

The earliest mention of Rayles Cottage is in the 1805 survey commissioned by Henry Halsey 1, who owned the cottage (which was called “The Lodge Cottage” at the time). It was on a 2 acre property occupied by George Webb and sometimes known later as Webb’s Farm. George died in 1814, aged 89.

These facts suggest that George had been farming there for some time. George does indeed appear on the Land Tax records of 1781 as farming a 2 acre property owned by Benjamin Kidd, who at the time owned the Castle House property (refer Rails Farm section above). So we are fairly sure that Rayles cottage originally dates from 1781 or earlier.

In 1841 the cottage was occupied by Thomas Woods 4, who was farming 24 acres.

By 1861 John and Ann Stonard were living in Webb’s Cottage. John was born in Pirbright in 1815, the daughter of Stephen and Hannah Stonard. For further details of their family, please refer to the Stonard family history page. Ann (nee Sherwood in 1821) was also born in Pirbright, the daughter of Thomas Sherwood, who farmed Fords Farm.

John Stonard was an agricultural labourer. The couple had 11 children, a fairly normal number for Pirbright Stonards in those days, it seems. They stayed at Webb’s Cottage until the 1870’s when they moved to near The Royal Oak at Stanford. John died there in 1892 and Ann in 1896.

By 1881 Richard and Hannah Thompson were at “Rails Cottage”. Richard had been born in 1847 in Normandy. In 1881 his parents, Richard and Elizabeth Thompson, were living not far away at Rails Farm, and we tell their story there (refer section above). Hannah was born in Scotland in 1845. We cannot trace their marriage, but they had 3 children. Richard, a carpenter, died in 1883, aged only 35. We cannot trace what happened to Hannah and her children after this, but an Annie Thompson, born in 1845, died in Pirbright in 1889, and this may have been Hannah.

But from this time onwards, Rayles Cottage began to be occupied on a short-term basis by a series of different occupants and their families as follows:

1884-1885: John Coles
1891-1893: William and Annie Stevens. William was an agricultural labourer, born in Pirbright in 1859. Annie was born in Fetcham in 1867.
1893-1897: Frederick Martin. He may have been the son of James and Winifred Martin of Whites Farm.
1897-1902: George Smith. George was a stockman on Rails Farm who had been recently widowed. In 1906 he was living at No 3, Longhouses (refer section above) when he remarried to Alice Lavinia Farrow. They moved to Manor House Cottage, where we tell their story.
1903-1905: Alice Sophia Kirk
1905-1906: Frederick and Fanny Miller, having previously lived at No 2, Pirbright Gardens, where we tell their story. After their short stay at Rails Cottage, they moved to Kiln Cottage (refer below).
1906-1907: William and Elizabeth Pursey. William died while at the cottage in 1907, aged 43.
1908: Mrs M Williams
1909-1912: John and Eliza Tucker. They had moved from Kiln Cottage (refer section below) and were farming Rails Farm (refer section above), but also occupying Rails Cottage. We tell their story there.

Below is a wonderful photo of Rayles Cottage c1913 with (we think) 2 of the Tucker children hard at work.

In 1897 Henry Halsey 4 had sold the cottage and some land to Lord Pirbright, but we suspect this made little or no difference in practice to the tenants.

By 1918, Alfred and Amelia Elliott were living at “Rails Farm Cottage”. They were accompanied by a certain James Henry Etherton. James was the person who had eloped with a Lois Harding to Pirbright from Rudgwick in Sussex, without providing properly for the wife he left behind. We tell his story in some detail in the section dealing with The Mill House.

As to the Elliotts, we can find little about their origins. Alfred was born in 1875 and helpfully gave his place of birth in the 1921 census as “Don’t Know”, while Amelia was born Amelia Turvill in Ash in 1876. They married in Farnham in 1907 and had 2 children. Amelia had already had one child with another person in 1906. Alfred’s occupation in 1921 was “General Labourer (when in work)”.

Two of the Elliotts’ daughters were married in Pirbright, in 1929 and 1933. c1935 the Elliotts moved to No 1, Chapel Road, where we continue their story.

Between 1918 and 1933 the Elliotts appear (from the Electoral Registers) to have shared Rayles Cottage - or some part of it - with a Joseph Parlett. Joseph was born in Hascombe in 1875, but his father died within a few months of Joseph’s birth. Joseph’s mother, Emma Parlett (nee Fry), moved her young family to Pirbright, where her brother, George Fry, was farming Leonards Farm. In 1879, Emma married the beerhouse-keeper next door, Charles Collins, at Stanford House.

But for whatever reason, things do not seem to have gone well for Joseph. He worked as an agricultural labourer, never married, and died in Pirbright in 1934, aged “about 60”. The burial records rather sadly record him as being “of no fixed address”.

In 1922 the cottage was included with Rails Farm in Henry Halsey’s unsuccessful sale attempt. As explained in the Rails Farm section above, the whole of Rails was sold c1937 to Major Ronald Armstrong-Jones. Right is a photo of Rayles Cottage taken in 1922.

The next occupants of Rayles Cottage from 1935 were John (Jack) and Grace Douthwaite. John was born in 1900 in Malton, Yorkshire. Grace (nee Denman) was born in 1910 in Walworth, the daughter of a clerk. They married in Guildford in 1929. Initially they lived in Council cottages at Clasford, but they soon (1931) moved to Kiln Cottage. Just to confuse us, this was not the cottage next door to Rails Cottage. It was another house called Kiln Cottage on the north side of Berry Lane, a little past Bridley Manor going eastwards. The Douthwaites had 3 children. Jack was a boiler stoker. Below are 3 photos of the Douthwaites at Rayles Cottage in the 1930s.

After WW2 Jack and Grace moved into No 8, Stanford Cottages, then No 9, Mill Lane and we continue their stories there.

In 1945 Major Armstrong-Jones put the Rails property up for sale, as described in the Rails Farm section above. Rayles Cottage (which was vacant at the time) was sold as a separate lot.

The purchasers in 1945 were Neil Sutherland Eaton and Esther Eaton. Neil was born in Stoke Newington in 1906, the son of a Plate glass merchant. Esther (nee Rickards), also born in 1906, was the daughter of a Bristol bank manager. They married in Westbury, north Bristol in 1932 and had 2 children.

The Eatons lived in central London. In 1939 Neil was a company director, living in Shoreditch. After buying Rayles Cottage, the Eatons continued to live in London, settling in Chelsea. Coincidentally they lived in a street named Halsey Street. We assume they used Rayles Cottage as a form of weekend retreat.

The Eatons sold Rayles Cottage to the current owners in 1965. Since then, there have been several improvements to the property, as shown by the photos below. The left-hand photo was taken in 1965. The right-hand photo was taken recently.

Kiln Cottage (previously Kiln Cottage, then Pinewood and then The Bungalow, Rails Farm)

Kiln Cottage was built between 1805 and 1841 on a field which formed part of Railes Farm. It lies at the very end of the track to Rails Farm and can lay claim to be the westernmost house in the parish. It is also one of the most isolated houses in the parish, with only Rayles Cottage for company. A short path from the end of the track leads directly to the Ash Ranges.

We have covered the earlier history of the area in the Rails Farm section above. The name of Kiln Cottage may have originated from the nearby “Potshop” in the late 1700s where Pirbright Lodge now stands. Perhaps there was either a brick or pottery kiln near where Kiln Cottage now stands. As the prevailing wind comes from the west, we can perhaps understand why the local inhabitants wanted the kiln to be positioned as far west (ie as far from the village) as possible. Also there was a ready source of wood nearby. Today the cottage sits very close to the MOD Ash Ranges land.

We can’t be sure who lived in the cottage in its earliest years. But in 1841 it looks as though Henry and Ann Colyer (Collyer) lived there, as described in the Rails Farm section above.

In 1861 Samuel and Jemima Bonner were living in the cottage. They had previously lived in one of the poor houses (now Longhouses – refer section above). Samuel was born in Pirbright in 1816 and was an agricultural labourer. Jemima (nee Hampton) was born in 1816. Her family had lived in Longhouses (refer section above). The couple had 10 children. Jemima died in 1871, still living at the cottage, and after her death Samuel returned to Longhouses (No 2 - refer section above), where he died in 1883.

In 1871 William and Harriett Harding were also living at Kiln Cottage. William was born in 1833, one of 13 children of James and Hannah Harding. James had been a potter at East End in Chapel Lane, and we tell their story there. Harriett (nee Bonner in 1837) was the daughter of Samuel and Jemima. They married in 1863 and so William was still living with his in-laws 8 years later.... But William managed to escape, and in 1881 the Hardings were living in Brookwood with their 5 children. William was an agricultural labourer. Harriett died there in 1897. William moved back to Pirbright, living at Burrow Hill until he died at the Guildford Infirmary in 1910.

In 1875 the War Dept purchased 3,000 acres of Pirbright heathland, which ran right up to the western edge of the Kiln Cottage property. Then in 1885, Henry Halsey 4 tried (unsuccessfully) to sell the whole of the Rails area. This is described more fully under Rails Farm (above).

Meanwhile, like Rails Cottage above, Kiln Cottage began to be occupied on a short-term basis by a series of different occupants and their families as follows:

1881-1885: Alfred and Martha Steer(e). Alfred was a groom.
1891-1893: John and Ellen Edwards
1893-1894: James Barrett
1895: William Bonner, who was presumably related to Samuel Bonner (refer above), although we cannot trace him in the records.
1896-1897: Daniel Deedman
1898-1899: John Duke
1900-1902: HJ Blackmore
1902-1904: James Kemp
1905-1906: John and Eliza Tucker. They soon moved into Rayles Cottage (refer section above) and then Rails Farm (refer section above), and we tell their story there.
1907-1914: Frederick and Fanny Miller, having previously lived at No 2, Pirbright Gardens, where we tell their story, and then Rayles Cottage (above). In 1921 Frederick was charged with receiving 20 leather head stalls which had been stolen from the Animal Testing Station by a Leonard Boylett. The chairman commented on Mr Miller’s excellent character, and directed the jury to find him not guilty due to lack of evidence.

Few of these families stayed in Pirbright for long, and we assume that most were itinerant agricultural labourers, working on Rails Farm. In 1903 the bungalow was extended by John Faggetter, the Pirbright builder. We have shown an extract from the building plans below.

In the 1911 census the cottage was called Pinewood, but, other than a 1910 reference to “Pinewood Dairy”, this name does not reoccur in the records. In the 1914 Electoral Rolls, the cottage was called “The Bungalow, Upper Mill Lane”. After WW1, the cottage was known as “The Bungalow, Rails Farm”

In 1918 the cottage was occupied by John Henry and Maud Hill. John was born in 1885, the son of a labourer. Maud (nee Irelan) was born in Kensington in 1884, the daughter of George and Harriett Irelan. George was a builder, who in 1911 was living at Fairmead in Rowe Lane. Maud’s brother John Albert Irelan was killed early in WW1.

John and Maud married in Pirbright in 1910 and had their first child 5 months later. John was a private in the 3rd Grenadier Guards at the time.

The Hills soon moved to No 7 Council Cottages and then Hawthorne in Chapel Road. By 1939 they had moved to Caterham and John was working as a blacksmith. In the 1960s John returned to Pirbright (Maud had died in 1962) and lived with one of his sons (William Irelan-Hill) at No 16, Rapley’s Field.

By 1920, Herbert and Elizabeth Kite were living at The Bungalow, Rails Farm, having moved from No 6, Longhouses (refer section above for their early backgrounds). At various times, 2 of their children (Ronald and Enid Kite, the latter of whom never married) lived with them. Their eldest child, Herbert, died in a road accident in 1934 near the Royal Oak, Knaphill. Young Herbert (who was aged 25 and who lived in Bisley) had been cycling home from work and had collided with a London laundry van. He left a wife and a young child.

In 1939 Herbert was a Printer machine minder. Herbert died in 1960, and Elizabeth in 1964, still living at The Bungalow, Rails Farm.

Enid Kite, who had a morbid fear of adders, remained at the isolated bungalow for several years. In 1983 a woman was killed and a girl injured by stray bullets from the Ash Firing Ranges. Both incidents occurred in “safe” areas outside the limits of the ranges. One newspaper (see cutting right) reported that Kiln Cottage had also suffered (though there seems to be some journalistic hyperbole in the report).

Enid died in 2000, aged 88, thus recording 80 years of the Kite family living at The Bungalow. Between 1969 and 1974 a Walter Searle lived in The Bungalow with Enid. Walter was a gardener, born in 1894. A picture of him in his younger days is shown right. He had married Raynor Dunmore in 1920, and the family lived at The Bays on the Green. We tell their early story there. But Raynor had died in 1964 and Walter had fallen on hard times (he was on poor law receipts) and was given shelter by Enid. Walter died in 1975, aged 80.

Brian and Helen Robins purchased the bungalow c2001 and renamed it Kiln Cottage. Kiln Cottage was sold to the current owners in 2015.

A History of Pirbright Properties

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