Guildford Road - South

This section covers the properties on the Guildford Road south of the mini-roundabout (where the Aldershot forks off to the right) as far as (but not including) Rowe Lane. We will work north to south covering each house on the east side of the road first, and then cross to the west side of the road (where there are only 2 properties). To begin with, here is a table showing when each property was built.

East side - Swallow Pond roundabout to Whites Lane

Early days - 1841

On this section of road, Ford’s Farm has existed since the 1500s and probably for some years before then. The Rocque map of 1763 shows that Ford’s and Burners Farms were the only habitations at that time. It also shows Burner’s Heath (unnamed) as a patch of wasteland (which it still is). Other than that, the map doesn’t tell us much about this section.

The first proper understanding we have of who owned the property along the stretch of the Guildford Road from Newmans southwards as far as Rowe Lane is from the 1805 Halsey Survey. We have shown a section of the survey map below, colour-coded to show who owned what.

The green, red and blue areas are the only ones which border the Guildford road to any great extent, so we will consider these below. (The histories of orange and purple areas –Whites Farm and Bakersgate - are written elsewhere).

First, the red area (c21 acres). This, as was written on the map, belonged to Mr Tate. He was actually a nominee for his wife, Bridget Tate (nee Ford), whose family had farmed Ford’s Farm for at least 150 years. We have written about the history of Ford’s Farm in a section further down this page.
The green area (c30 acres) belonged to John Collins, who farmed Newmans Farm, whose history is written elsewhere on this site.
The blue area comprised Bullswater Farm, whose history is also written elsewhere.

It is easy to see on the map how both Ford’s (red) and Newman’s (green) farms had spread in previous years by acquiring fields away from their farmhouses. Both farms also owned fields even further afield in Pirbright (outside the range of the above map). A good example of this spreading is the largest red field (No 192). Its name (Whites Meadow) indicates that it was originally part of next-door Whites Farm, but at some stage in the past was acquired by Newmans.

By 1841 the Ford’s and Newmans farms had changed in only one detail: A strip of nearly 1 acre of land, lying north-west from Ford’s along the road had been transferred by Ford’s to Newmans. On this strip was built a new farm, soon to be known as Burner’s Farm. We can only think that the old Newmans Farmhouse was becoming unsuitable, possibly because of its age, and that a newer farmhouse was needed.

After the death of John Collins in 1825, Newmans (including the new Burner’s Farm) had been passed down to his son William Collins (refer Newmans section). Meanwhile after the deaths of George and Bridget Tate, Ford’s Farm was in the hands of The Rev Fitzmore-Halsey (refer Ford’s section below).

Other than the above, life seems to have been very much as it was before in this particular area of Pirbright.

1841 - Present

We have covered the detailed history of Newmans after 1841 in the Guildford Road North section so we will not repeat it here. The remainder of the area is covered house-by-house below, starting at the north end and working southwards.

The Swallows southward to Burners Heath Cottage

This is a short section on the first 4 houses, as they were all built around the same time by the same builder on one large plot of land.

The builder in question was James Ball, who lived at Ivory Cottage and then Elcombe in Malthouse Lane. He had built both houses. We tell his story in the Malthouse Lane section.

He managed to buy the (roughly) square plot (c3 acres) just south of Newmans which had been part of Newmans in the 1800s (shown in the plan, right). In 1932 he submitted plans to build 5 houses on the plot, which were approved, although in the end only 4 houses were built. They were (using today’s names):

The Swallows (1931)
High Beeches (1938)
Farthings (1934)
Burner’s Heath Cottage (1933)

The Swallows (prev Markham)

The first house we come to just south of Newmans is The Swallows. It was also the first of James Ball’s 4 houses to be built c1932. James seems to have taken some liberties with the dimensions. It looks as though he built the house in a different position and on a smaller plot than shown on his plans. This may have been an oversight on his part. But he may have been planning to sneak in a 5th house – plans for the later houses show 5 plots, rather than 4. But in the event, only 4 houses were built. Perhaps the council were alert to James’s scheme and had a quiet word with him.

Initially the house was named Markham. The reader may know that there is another house in Pirbright named Markham. It is in Malthouse Lane, and - surprise - it was built by James Ball. There is a Markham Road in Wroughton, where James grew up, and this road (or area) must have meant something special to him. He may have lived in the road, but unfortunately the Wroughton census records were not very precise when it came to road names, so we can’t be sure about this.

The first occupants (possibly as tenants) in 1933 were Sydney and Ethel Wonnacott. Sydney Wonnacott was born in 1902 in Devonport, near Plymouth. His father (aged 27) was a naval pensioner and an “Operator’s assistant, cinematograph”. Ethel (nee Howse) was born in Buckinghamshire in 1899, the daughter of a carriage cleaner for the Great Western Railway.

From 1916 to 1921 Sydney worked as a Yard Boy at Rosyth Naval Dockyard. This life was not for Sydney, and he returned south to England. He and Ethel married at Eton in 1925 and had 3 children. We don’t know what brought the Wonnacotts to Pirbright, but they only stayed here for a couple of years.

By 1939 the family were living in Slough. They stayed at Slough until 1956, when they sailed to Australia. Sydney (the man, not the city) was a labourer, and judging by the occupations of the other passengers, it was on a boat mainly comprising “Ten Pound Poms”. The Wonnacotts settled in a suburb of Perth and remained in Australia.

In 1936, Frank and Elsie Tubb moved into Markham, we think as owners. Frank was born in 1908 in Pirbright, the son of James and Agnes Tubb, who lived at No 6, Pirbright Cottages, where we tell their stories. Elsie (nee Tuddenham) was born locally in 1912, the daughter of a pipe layer.

They married in Pirbright in 1936. Elsie was living on Connaught Road, and Frank was a chauffeur at the time. So Markham was their first (and only) marital home. By 1939 Frank was working both as a chauffeur and a gardener. In 1944 Elsie was chosen as Pirbright’s first cubmaster (ie leader of the cubscout group). In 1959 Frank was also doing some dog-handling work.

Frank died in 1964 and Elsie in 1989. They had no children. Below we have shown a photo of Frank, and one of the Tuddenham family. Elsie is centre right, while her parents are on the extreme left and right of the picture.

The next owner was John R Smith, who may have previously been living at St John’s. He changed the name of the house to its present day The Swallows. Given the potential confusion with the other Markham (in Malthouse Lane), this is an understandable thing to do. However, the new name seems rather easy to confuse with nearby Swallowfield and Swallow House, but there you go.

By 1988 Craig and Jill Haxton had bought The Swallows. They had married in Kingston in 1978. In 1998 they sold the house to Graeme and Diane Jack, who sold the house to the current owners in 2009.

High Beeches (prev Homing)

The next house we come to, High Beeches, was actually the last of the 4 houses to be built (planning approval was given in 1938).

The property was not registered in the 1939 register, so presumably the house was not completed until during or after WW2. The first owner may have been a Mr George Harris from 1946 to 1955, who gave his address (rather unhelpfully) simply as “Burners”. From 1956, Percy and Beatrice Bell were living in the house. They named the house “Homing”. Perhaps one of the owners kept pigeons. The Bells only stayed a year or 2 before moving to Frimley c1957.

From 1957 Graeme and Dorothy Shearer owned the house. Graeme and Dorothy (nee Westwood) were both born in 1912, Graeme in Southampton and Dorothy on the Isle of Wight. Graeme’s father was a salesman for Spillers Grain Co Ltd. Spillers was originally a flour milling business, but branched out into pet foods, notably Winalot dog biscuits in 1927. In 1979 it was bought by Dalgety plc. Dorothy’s father was a van driver.

Graeme and Dorothy married at Southampton in 1939, at which time Graeme worked in the timber trade. They had 3 children. After WW2 they moved to Solihull, presumably for Graeme’s business, and then in 1957 to Homing – perhaps Graeme’s work required him to be close to the Pirbright Institute.

The Shearers stayed at Homing until c1975. The following year Kenneth and Hazel Bullock bought the house. They immediately renamed the house High Beeches, although there don’t appear to be many of those near the house. In the late 1980s, the Bullocks sold the property. The house was sold in 2006 and then in 2010. The property was sold again in 2021 to the current owners. An agent’s photo looking eastwards is shown below with thanks. The Law Meadows houses are prominent in the background. In the distance are the pines of Brookwood Cemetery.

Farthings (prev Holly Bank)

Farthings was the 3rd house to be built by James Ball (in 1934). It was originally named Holly Bank. The first owners were George and Harriett Irelan. The Irelans had moved to Pirbright from London c1906 and had lived at Fairmead in Rowe Lane, where we tell their story, before moving to No 1, East End Cottages in 1930. George was a builder by trade.

They were both in their early 70s when they moved to Farthings, and we suspect that they may have found East End Cottages a bit too isolated for their tastes, wanting somewhere closer to other people (not to mention a bus route). Especially as 4 of their 5 children had already predeceased them, one of them, John Irelan, during WW1. In 1929 Harriett had been knocked down by a car (see press cutting left), and this may have influenced their decision as well.

Harriett died at Pirbright in 1941. During WW1 George moved to Chichester, where he died in 1948.

By 1946 Francis and Edith Byrne were living at Holly Bank, having moved from Connaught Road, Brookwood. Francis (born 1893) was a Master Shoemaker. Edith was born in 1898. They were both New Zealand citizens, and they returned there soon after living in Pirbright.

By 1948 William and Beryl Sams were living at the house, which they immediately renamed Farthings (for reasons unknown, but an unusual name). William was born near Worthing in 1909, the son of a “Manure merchant”. This sounds a lovely job to have. It probably involved converting bones and other animal waste into fertiliser. We have not tried to find out more about the exact processes involved, nor do we want to. Beryl (nee Whitlam) was born in 1913 in Richmond, Surrey, the daughter of a Commission salesman.

William and Beryl married at Mortlake in 1936 and had 3 daughters. In 1939 they were living at Chichester. William was an Area manager for an Agricultural manufacturer (which sounds as though he may have been in the same industry as his father).

They stayed at Farthings until 1952, when they moved to a flat on Warren Road, Guildford (near the old St Luke’s Hospital). William died in 1977 and Beryl in 2007.

c1953 Wallace and Ruth Nicoll purchased Farthings. We don’t know for certain about their backgrounds. Unusually for that time, the telephone directory entry was in the name of “Mrs Wallace Nicoll”. They stayed until 1958, when Jean Hoare bought the house. Jean only stayed for 2 or 3 years.

By 1964 James Guthrie and Ethel Menzies were living at Farthings. James was born in Scotland, about 15 miles west of Stirling in 1893. We think that his father was the local schoolmaster. James joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915 and served in East Africa. Ethel (nee Vaughan) was born in 1896. They married at Thanet in 1928. In 1939 they lived at Broadstairs, where James was a Chartered Accountant. James died in 1980. Ethel soon moved out of Farthings but died in Bromley in 1981.

Unfortunately we can’t be sure who lived at Farthings between 1981 and 2002. But after that date there seemed to be a series of different occupants (maybe the house was rented out?). The house was sold to the current owners in 2021. An agent’s photo of Farthings is shown left (with thanks).

Burners Heath Cottage

Burners Heath Cottage was built in 1933 and was the second of the 4 houses which James Ball built in the immediate area. The first owners were Albert Henry and Margaret Martin. Albert was born in 1901 in Pirbright, the son of Henry (a farmer) and Sarah Martin, whose stories are told in the Millcroft section.

Margaret (nee Fulk) was born in Knaphill in 1903. Margaret was the niece of Charles Henry Fulk, who started Fulks Butchers in Star Hill Woking, which later became such a fixture of Pirbright and Brookwood. We have told more about this story in the section on Manor Farm House. Margaret’s father, George Fulk, probably worked with his brother Charles in the family business.

Albert and Margaret were married at St John’s in 1933. Margaret was living with her parents at Knaphill at the time, while Albert was a bank clerk, living at West Heath. We have shown a press cutting about their wedding, right. They moved into Burners Heath Cottage soon after their marriage and had 2 daughters. Margaret became Treasurer and later Hon Sec of the local Women’s Institute.

Margaret died in 1973, and Albert stayed on his own at the cottage. Albert died in 1991.

The next owners from c1991 were Mark Stevens and Karen Meacher. The house was sold to the current owners in 2006. A (rather blurred) agent’s photo of the cottage is shown below (with thanks).

BH Cottage - 1933 - Martin wedding cutting.jpg

Dashwood House

Dashwood House was built in 2004 on a c3-acre plot, which had been the site of a locally well-known nursery business. We have described the history of this nursery in the Lawfield section immediately below. The current owners bought the property c2004.

Lawfield

Lawfield was built in 1975 on a large plot which had been a nursery for several years. The owners of the site in 1975 were family of the current occupants of the property, so we will restrict this section to the history of the nursery site.

Charles Roots started a nursery (called “Burners Nursery”) on the site (covering, we think about 4 acres) in the late 1920s or early 1930s. We know that it was operating in 1933, as it was referenced in a newspaper article of that year. The nursery at that time specialised in conifer trees. Charles and his wife, Mabel, lived at Holmbury in Dawney Hill and we tell their story there.

In 1968 the family of the current occupants purchased the CR Roots nursery business. It developed as a specialist tree nursery, selling mainly to other nurseries (ie wholesale), rather than to members of the public. Lawfield was built in 1975, but the business struggled in the 1980s due to subsidised European imports. By the 1990s it operated as a retail-based garden centre, but had to close its doors in 1998. Much of the land was sold and now forms the Dashwood plot (refer section above). We have shown below a photo of the nursery in 1987.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Cumbria

Cumbria was built in 1964, and the first owners were William and Doreen Tyson. Doreen was born Doreen Anderson. William and Doreen had married in 1946 and initially lived in Reigate.

The Tysons left c1975. The next owners were Colonel Thomas and Mrs Spencer. By 1984 Mr & Mrs William Hughes were living at Cumbria. William was a builder, and the family had recently moved from St John’s (we think). By 1986 the current owners of Cumbria had bought the house.

Burners Heath Barn

Burners Heath Barn is a Grade II building, thought to have been built in the mid-16th century and extended in the 18th century. It was converted to residential use in 1994. By that time the barn had reached a very dilapidated state and was sold to the developers for only £20,000. We have shown (left) a photo of the barn from 1902. It was looking in pretty poor shape even then.

We are not sure who the first owners were in 1994, but the barn was sold in 2005 to the current owners.

The listing particulars for the Barn are as follows.

Barn. Mid C16 of 4 bays with added C18 bay. Timberframed, the ground floor partially clad in C18 red brick in stretcher bond but 3 bays open and the 1st floor clad in wide weatherboarding. Gabled renewed tiled roof. Front has 2 curved tension braces visible. North end in open west side is weatherboarded. The southernmost 4 bays of the barn are mid C16. The northernmost bay is C18. Original bays have large jowled posts and curved braces to collar beam. Roof has open posts, clasped purlins and rafters without a ridge piece. Some curved windbraces. The north-bay timbers are of smaller scantling with some rough timbers.

Burners Farm

Burners (also known as Bernards, Bernerdes or Berners) Farm probably owes its name originally to Ralph, Lord Berners, who was seized of the Manor of West Horsley in the late 1200s. By the late 1400s, one of Ralph’s descendants, John, Lord Berners, was Constable of Windsor Forest, and Keeper of Windsor Forest (of which Pirbright then formed part). We know (refer paragraph below) that the Berners name predated 1445. Therefore it seems likely that one of John’s predecessors in the role, gave his name to the farm in Pirbright. Perhaps the person in question used it as an overnight base during his travels in the forest.

The above is all rather speculative, but we soon stand on slightly firmer ground. Burners Farm is mentioned in the earliest surviving Court Rolls, from 1445-46. The record states that Stephen Remnam junior, who held a tenement called Bernerdes had died. He left the tenement (dwelling) and appurtenances (equipment) to Robert Remnam, who was presumably his eldest son. Stephen specifically allowed his sister, Margaret Remnam, to live in the tenement. The surname, a variety of the surname Remnant, comes from the Middle English word remenaunt, which means "remaining part survivor". It may have been used for someone who lost siblings in infancy.

The ground soon gets shaky again, as we have no records from 1445 until the 1574 Cowdray Survey, where John Symons is one of the tenants listed for the Lord’s Work, but not in the list of copy or freeholders. We think that he may have been a tenant farmer of Burners. There is another gap in the records until the Court Rolls in 1654. But from then on, we can walk a fairly steady path. We have summarised the Court Rolls from 1654 to 1900 below. We have then written about some of the characters mentioned in them.

1654: Thomas Symonds the elder (likely a descendant of John Symons, above) died. His son (Thomas Symonds the younger) surrendered the copyhold to William Smyth.
1664: William Smyth surrendered the copyhold to William Collins of “Goldmores”.
1681: William Collins died and his son Henry Collins took over the copyhold.
1688: Henry Collins died and the copyhold passed to John Collins 1 (Henry’s brother).
1714: John Collins died and bequeathed the property to his son, John Collins 2. As the new owner was a minor, his mother, Elizabeth, was appointed guardian.
1775: John Collins 2 died, and the copyhold was inherited by his son, John Collins 3.
1825: John Collins 3 died, and the property was inherited by his son William Collins.
1844: William Collins died. His executors sold the copyhold, at that time 32½ acres, to George Poulton.
1878: George Poulton died. His executors sold the copyhold to William and James Faulkner.
1900: William Faulkner sold his share of the property to James Faulkner, who this became the sole owner.

If we try to make sense of the trail above between 1445 and 1664 we can see that Berners was owned (copyhold) by members of the Remnam, Symonds, Smyth and Collins families at various times. We assume that this was due to inter-marriages between families, and the property sometimes being passed down the female line, resulting in a change of surname of the copyholder.

We can find one concrete example of this in 1600, when William Collins married Agnes Smyth, who (according to Mary Cawthorn) was a direct descendant of Stephen Remnam, in Pirbright, although we can find no evidence for this. But it does explain why William Collins (or more likely his grandson, William Collins – refer Collins family section) inherited the copyhold in 1664. We have also traced a marriage in Chertsey between the Simons and Smith families in 1641, which could be another example.

Burners Farm - 1664 Stanislaus Browne proc.jpg

In 1664, William Collins became the copyholder of Berners, and the property stayed within the Collins family for nearly 200 years until 1845. Shortly after acquiring Berners in 1664, the acting Lord of the Manor of Pirbright gave William a piece of the common abutting Berners. We have shown a copy of the original order left.

We have written more about William in the Collins family section). William died in 1681, leaving “my freehold meade in Pirbright adjoyneing to the land of John Baker” to his son Henry Collins. John Baker was the owner of Bakersgate at the time. Henry Collins died in 1687, so in 1688 the land passed to his brother, John Collins 1, aged only 15.

We know a little about the 3 John Collinses:

John Collins 1 (1673-1713) was born in 1673, possibly in Ash, son of William above. He married Elizabeth Woods (1681-1738) in Pirbright in 1702. Elizabeth was the brother of Thomas Woods 1, whose story is told in the Mill House section. John initially ran the mill at the Mill House, but he soon passed this role to Elizabeth’s brother, Thomas, and the Woods family ran the mill for the next 100 years or so. John and Elizabeth had 4 children (John, born 1702, Mercy, born 1704, William, born 1708, and Ann, born 1713). John died in 1713, aged only 38. Elizabeth died in 1738.
John Collins 2 (1702-1775) was born in Pirbright in 1702, the eldest son of John and Elizabeth above. He married Jane Head (?1709-1780) in Pirbright in 1727. Jane may have been born in East Clandon in 1709, but this is a bit of a guess. Between 1728 and 1750 they had 8 children. John died in 1775 and Jane in 1780.
John Collins 3 (1733-1824) was born in Pirbright in 1733 and married Ann Stevens (1746-1823) in 1766 when he was aged 38. Anne was born in Pirbright, the daughter of Edward and Sarah Stevens. Between 1767 and 1787 they had 8 children, 6 of whom were daughters. Anne died in 1823, aged 80, and John died in 1824, aged 90.

In 1807 the property comprised 61 acres. It was described as an amalgamation of 3 separate copyhold estates: Barnets (ie Burners), Newmans and Rapleys.

When John Collins 3 died in 1824, the property passed to his eldest son, William Collins 1 (1772-1841). In 1825, it seems that William’s son, William Collins 2 (1800-1844) purchased the Pirbright properties of Bernards (ie Burners, Newmans & Hatchlands) from his father for £120 (equivalent to just under £10,000 today). We have done a little more research on the Collins dynasty in the Collins family section.

In 1841 the farm had increased from 61 acres in 1807 to 91 acres in size, with fields now on all sides of Burners Heath and in various other locations in Pirbright.

Before leaving the Collins family, we should mention another curiosity: In the 1930s Mary Cawthorn noted the presence of 2 fine “Collins Pear” trees between Newmans and Burners Farm. We’re not sure exactly where they were, nor what happened to them, but they don’t seem to be there now. The Collins Pear was reported to have a fine flavour when stewed, and it is likely that the name came from one or other of the Collins family.

When William Collins 2 died in 1844, his properties were sold. Newmans and Hatchlands were sold, as described in the sections dealing with these properties.

Burners was sold to George Poulton. George Poulton was born in Frensham in c1796. In 1824 he married Mary Farguson at St Brides, Fleet Street. Mary had been born in 1796 in Herefordshire. They had 3 children. We can’t trace the Poulton family in the 1841 census, but, wherever they were, they decided to take a risk and buy the copyhold to Burners Farm. Mary Cawthorn wrote that George “...never did any farm work, but walked about in a frock coat and silk hat. He also owned Springfield Farm and walked over there every day”. [Sorry, Mary, but Henry Halsey appears to have owned Springfield Farm, having bought it from Ann Stevens. Maybe George Poulton leased the property from the Halseys?]

In 1867, George was appointed Guardian for the Guildford Union. This meant that he was one of several local representatives responsible for administering the Guildford Workhouse in accordance with the Poor Laws of that time. Mary died in 1869 and in 1871 George was living at Burners with his unmarried sister, Harriett Poulton (who was 9 years younger than George).

George died in 1878. He left “Poulton’s Charity”, a capital sum generating £5 per annum (equivalent to £500 a year today) for the purchase of warm clothing (3 yards of flannel cloth), which was distributed annually at Christmas time to men and women aged over 60. The sum, jointly administered with income from the 250-year-old Smith’s Charity, was usually distributed to between 15 and 25 deserving people, and was still operating until 1941. That was a very fine thing to do, George, and we all thank you for it. As far as we know the charity is still operating, but we don’t know any details.

In 1880 the farm was sold to William and James Faulkner. William and James were brothers, both born in Hersham in 1839 and 1843 respectively. Their father was a wire worker (someone who made cables from strands of wire). Their mother was born Caroline Poulton near Frensham and it seems very likely that she was related (eg cousin) to George Poulton, the previous owner (although they were not brother and sister). Indeed it may well have been Caroline who persuaded William and James to buy the copyhold to Berners.

William Faulkner had married Mary Lee from Hersham in 1875. Mary Lee’s brother was Frederick Lee, a builder, who was born at Guildford in 1839 and had married Mary Faulkner (born 1836, the sister of James and William) 3 years earlier in 1872. This all sounds rather complicated, so to simplify, it was a case of a brother and sister marrying a sister and brother. Both sisters were called Mary, which could have been a little confusing perhaps.

Frederick Lee later bought Springfield Farm, property 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).

James Faulkner didn’t join in the intermarriage game, instead marrying a Rosa Winchester (born 1855) in London in 1900. Both James and Rosa were in their 50s when they married.

Although the copyhold of Burners was held jointly by James and William, it seems that they both lived in Hersham for a while – the 1881 and 1891 censuses do not record anyone living at Burners Farm. As far as we can tell, William never lived in Pirbright. William and Mary had 1 daughter, Caroline (born 1880), who married an Arthur Burwood. William died between 1911 and 1921 and Mary died in 1929.

James’s marriage certificate in 1900, however, records him as living in Pirbright, and he continued living at Burners with his wife, Rosa. James was appointed as a parish overseer (who was responsible for collecting poor rates and administering poor relief to those who needed it). James and Rosa had no children. Over the next few years the farm was often referred to as “Faulkner’s Farm” (for pretty obvious reasons). A row broke out over a scheme for parish drainage, whereby James Faulkner agreed to sell some land to Guildford District Council for £4,000 in 1903, before any details of the scheme were worked out. An enquiry was held in May 1905, when, in spite of a threat of legal action by Faulkner, it was obvious that it was in the wrong place and would not do the job properly. An independent valuer estimated the land to be not worth more than £1,250.

Rosa died in 1918 as reported in the newspaper cutting right. James was still living at Burners Farm with a housekeeper in 1921 and up to his death in 1927.

The farm appears to have lain empty for a few years until 1935-1937 when Caroline Annie Burwood lived there. Caroline, who lived in Hersham, was none other than the daughter of William Faulkner (refer above), and she had inherited his 50% share of the property, and possibly James’s 50% share as well.

Burners Farm - 1918 cutting re Mrs Faulkner.jpg

Caroline first tried to sell 18 acres of “Good clean grass” in 1935. We don’t know if this was successful. The property market around this time was buoyant, and so perhaps Caroline had moved in to spruce up the farmhouse itself, ready for sale. She then tried to sell the farmhouse (see agent’s ad from January 1937 left).

But the state of the property after a few years of emptiness may have put buyers off, and she didn’t succeed in selling it. She died in 1938. The press cutting right from 1939 is an attempt by one of Caroline’s children to let the property a year later, which was probably more successful.

In 1946 Peter and Joyce Cox moved into Burners Farm, maybe as tenants. Peter was born in 1919, the son of a Cowman at Seale and was a lorry driver. Joyce was born Joyce Heywood. They were married in 1946 and soon produced a daughter. They stayed at Burners until 1955, when they moved to Frensham.

In 1950 Lionel and Alice Keywood bought Burners Farm, having previously lived at White Lane, Ash Green. Lionel was born in 1898 in Hanworth, Middlesex, the son of a labourer. Alice was born in Bramley in 1900, but her father died before she was born. Lionel and Alice married in Hambledon in 1920 and had 2 children. Lionel was a General labourer. In 1952 he had the misfortune to be caught stealing, as described in the cutting below. We suspect his “expression of regret” didn’t cut much ice with the magistrate.

By 1973 Philip and Beryl (“Tony”) Lill had bought Burners Farm. Philip was born in Chipping Norton in 1922, the son of a Timber Mill manager. In 1939, Philip was working as an engineer for The Post Office. Tony (nee Bushby) was born in India in 1926, the daughter of an engineer.

They were married in Windsor in 1955 and initially lived there before moving to Windlesham c1960 and thence to Pirbright c1970. They had one daughter Annalisa.

But c1976, Philip appears to have moved out of Burners Farm, leaving Tony and Annalisa living there alone. Tony sold off the barn, which was then converted. She died in 1998 and Philip in 2013.

After Tony died in 1998, the farm was purchased by the current owners.

Fords Farm

Trying to work out the early owners of Ford’s Farm is tricky. Back in medieval times, Ford was a fairly common name, the name signifying someone who originates from near a river crossing (or ford). Also, the junction between Rowe Lane and Whites Lane used to flood in winter, and this could have been the origin of the name. There are some early mentions of Pirbright people named Ford:

1332: Johannes ate Forde and Hugo ate Forde of Pirbright. Also Robertus ate Forde of Worplesdon. These 3 were mentioned in subsidies granted by King Edward III.
1572: Richard Ford, Forde or Foorde appears in the Surrey Musters as one of the “Pyrbrighte Billmen of ye best sorte”. He is also mentioned in 1583 as one of the “Purbrighte Pikemen selected”.

This latter person, Richard Ford, may well have been the person after whom Ford’s Farm is named (although it could have been one of those 14th century fellows, Johannes or Hugo ate Forde). Richard married an Ann Tile, daughter of Edward Tile, gentleman, who was buried at Worplesdon in 1580. Richard and Ann almost certainly lived at Ford’s Farm.

We then have to fast-forward to 1737 when an Edward Ford of Pirbright died (although he was buried in Worplesdon). Edward left his “messuage (ie dwelling) and land in Cowshot, Pirbright and part of land in Chobham” to Elizabeth Ford, probably his daughter. It seems that Edward was a direct descendant of Richard Ford, and that his estate included Ford’s Farm. In a memo of 1724, Edward stated that Richard Ford (above) had given his name to the farm, Hence Ford’s Farm.

By 1750 we are on firm ground and can trace the owners of Ford’s Farm with some certainty. Bridget Ford had inherited the property in 1750. She had been born in Chertsey in 1743, the daughter of Richard Ford, gentleman. We don’t think that she ever lived in Pirbright, and she may have visited the village only rarely. In 1761, she (still a minor) married a Blunden Moore (1734-1768) from Byfleet. They had 2 children, William and Richard Moore. When Blunden died in 1768, the property (and a bequest of £12,000, worth nearly £2 million today) passed to his elder son, William Moore.

Then, in March 1775, Bridget remarried to George Tate, a gentleman of Hanover Square. George Tate was a very wealthy man, owning property in London, Mitcham, Dibden (near Southampton), and Burleigh Hall (which was part of the family estate in Loughborough).

After marrying Bridget, George Tate purchased from William Moore all his estates in Pirbright, which included Ford’s Farm. George and Bridget had one daughter, Mary Tate (born December 1775).

When Bridget died in 1784, it was Mary who inherited Ford’s Farm, not her half-brothers, William or Richard Moore. Bridget’s will ran to over 50 - yes 50 - pages of unparagraphed, tightly-packed hard-to-read script. So no, we haven’t read it all. Some lawyers were paid according to the number of words they wrote. Well this lawyer would have done very well indeed out of Bridget. Maybe James Joyce got some ideas from this.

As Mary was aged only 9 when her mother died, the properties were held in the name of her father, George Tate. By 1807 George Tate was the owner (probably in trust for Mary) of 71 acres of land in Pirbright. These 71 acres comprised:

Ford’s Farm and nearby fields (10 acres)
9 acres of fields just south of Burner’s Heath, between Heath Oaks (refer section below) and Heatherwood today
14 acres of land on the west side of the Aldershot Road, near where Stanford House is today
6 acres of Hazel Acre together with the field immediately north of the Hazel Acre strips, called Little Hazel Acre (3 acres)
22 acres of pasture at Furze Hill, where Furzehill Place is today.
10 acres of various other fields across Pirbright.

We assume that these 71 acres of land had all formed part of Ford’s Farm in earlier days, as we can’t see any reason why George would have wanted to increase his holdings in Pirbright in such a patchy fashion, when he himself was living principally in Loughborough. If Bridget had only visited Pirbright rarely, we wonder whether George ever visited it at all.

George Tate died in 1822, leaving Mary (then aged 47 and single) free to do as she pleased with the land. She settled her Pirbright land on her half-brother, Richard Moore (1767-1839), who modestly gave his address on the Electoral Roll as Hampton Court Palace.

Although Mary Tate may not have visited Pirbright, we want to write about her a little, as she spent much of her life doing good works. Dr Pamela Fisher is writing a history of Loughborough, and has published some detailed information on the Tate family. We are very grateful for her work, and have used some of it in writing about Mary Tate below, including her photo of the Tate memorial in All Saints Church, Loughborough.

Mary Tate was a devout Anglican. She spent much of her time and money doing charitable works and setting up new churches in Loughborough, Dibden (near Southampton) and in Mitcham. In Loughborough, for example, she established 3 infant schools and built schools for boys and for girls. We’re not sure that Pirbright benefited from Mary’s generosity though.

Mary erected a memorial to the Tate family, which adorns the walls of All Saints Church, Loughborough. It mentions George Tate (but not Bridget) and is shown right.

Fords - Tate memorial in Loughborough.jpg

Back now to Ford’s Farm, Richard Moore rented the Farm and the associated land to Stephen Stonard, who we write about a little further down. When Richard died in 1839, he left the property to The Rev John Fitzmore-Halsey of Great Haddesden, Hertfordshire. This may seem a little odd, but in fact is simple to explain: The Rev John was Richard’s son – born in 1795 in Clifton, Bristol. He was born John Fitzmore. “Fitz” was sometimes used to denote an illegitimate birth in earlier times, but Richard had married John’s mother, Charlotte Trimmer, in 1792, so that was not the reason. Unless maybe Richard wasn’t the father. Or possibly it was just good old-fashioned snobbery! We’ll probably never know. We have shown John’s birth as entered into the parish register left.

John Fitzmore married Sarah Halsey (1786-1869) of Great Gaddesden in 1821 and changed his surname to Fitzmore-Halsey as a sign of respect to his wife’s family. Was Sarah related to Henry Halsey 1, who became Lord of the Manor of Pirbright in 1784? Possibly. 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 probably not (we think).

Stephen and Hannah Stonard rented Ford’s Farm from 1825, when Richard Moore took ownership of the property. Stephen was born in 1782 in Pirbright, son of James and Hannah Stonard. We think that James Stonard (born in Farnham in 1733) was the first Stonard to arrive in Pirbright c1762, when he and Hannah (nee Rose) married at St Michael’s. They went on to have 10 children (including Stephen), which goes some way to explaining why there so many Stonards in Pirbright in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Stephen married Hannah Searle in 1806 at St Mary’s Worplesdon. Stephen and Hannah only managed to have 9 Stonard children. By 1841 Stephen and Hannah were recorded at Ford’s Farm with 6 of their children. The Tithe listing shows the farm to be 72 acres. But by 1851, Stephen was living on Upper Green as an “Out of business farmer”. Whether that means he had retired or been kicked off Ford’s Farm, we’re not sure. Charged, in November 1856, with damaging Henry Halsey’s holly trees, he said, when let off, “I am 76 years of age, and I do not suppose I shall live to cut holly again”. But he may have. Hannah died in 1860, and in 1861 Stephen was living at No 2, Almshouses. Stephen died in 1864.

We have covered the Stonard history in more detail in the Stonard family section.

In 1851 Thomas and Anne Sherwood were renting the farm, which was now 70 acres, ie the same as it was in 1807 and 1841 (give or take an acre).

Thomas Sherwood was born in April 1795 in Pirbright, but there is some mystery surrounding his birth. The register (shown right, surprisingly legible for the time) records Sarah Sherratt as the mother and, by implication, William Russell as the father.

Sarah Bullen was born at Pirbright in 1754 and married William Sherrard (all sorts of spellings) at Woking in 1781. They had no children, and their marriage must have been short-lived. We know this, because between 1788 and 1795, Sarah gave birth to no less than 4 sons with one William Russell. The register does not actually name the father of the first child (William) in 1788, but the forename chosen gives us a strong clue.

William Russell was 20 years older than Sarah and from a family of stone-getters, who delved Pirbright Common for stone for building (such as the then-new church tower). William and Sarah lived at Stone Cottage. William died in 1796, leaving his estate to trustees of the eldest son, 8-year-old William Russell Shirrett.

Sarah had a fifth child (Robert) in 1800. There had been a change in curate at Pirbright that year, and the new curate merely wrote the names of the child and the mother with the rather disdainful comment “Illegitimate”. On the register, Sarah’s surname had become “Sherwood”.

Back now to Thomas and Anne Sherwood. Mary Cawthorn tells us that Thomas had been “brought up to brewing and so he brewed for the neighbourhood. The farmers all went there for the Harvest and Christmas Ale.” But within a few years of moving into Ford’s Farm, in 1853, Thomas died, aged 58. The burial register gives his name as “Thomas Sherwood alias Sherrat”.

The farm was taken over by John Sherwood, Thomas and Anne’s eldest son, who had been born in Pirbright in 1822. In 1850, John married Emma Selly, who had been born in Albury in 1830.

One of John’s first jobs, in 1854, was to defend himself against his uncle, William Sherwood (born in 1788 – refer above)), who sued him for £4 wages owed by his late brother, Thomas Sherwood. The court heard that there had been some “family disagreements”. In the end John had to pay his uncle 10 shillings (one eighth of what he had claimed).

John and Emma had 14 children between 1849 and 1876. It seemed to happen like clockwork – just about every alternate year during this period, Emma would give birth. We have seen correspondence indicating that John Sherwood was not always prompt at paying rent to his landlord.

In 1869, The Rev John Fitzmore-Halsey died, and his heirs, unsurprisingly, decided to sell Ford’s Farm. After all, what use was a farm in Pirbright to a family who lived in Hertfordshire, especially if the tenant didn’t always pay his rent on time?

We are fortunate to have a copy of the sale map, which we have shown below (complete except for a piece of land further north at Furze Hill). We have also shown a copy of an ad for the sale, which helpfully allows us to work out the contents of each lot. Lot 7 (Law Field between Burners and Newmans) was withdrawn from the sale, as it already been purchased).

We have also shown a close up of the immediate Ford’s Farm area, as it shows more detail, including the names of neighbouring landowners.

Fords Farm was purchased by John Cherryman the elder, who owned Cowshot Farm, where we tell his story. John died in 1878, just 8 years after purchasing Ford’s Farm. He bequeathed the farm to his son, John Cherryman the younger, who also had been bequeathed Causeway Farm, where we tell his story.

For the next 45 years John Cherryman let out Ford’s to various people. A separate cottage had existed since 1851, so the farm had capacity for 2 families. We have written about these various tenants below.

1851 - 1860

In 1851, William Faggetter and Jane Faggetter, servants, lived there, along with a James Bird. William Faggetter was the son of William (also a bricklayer) and Mary Faggetter, who lived at Upper Green. Jane Faggetter was a cousin of William, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Faggetter. She married Jesse Cranstone, a Pirbright labourer in 1859. They later lived at The Potteries in Chapel Lane.

1861 - 1870

In 1861 Esther Collyer and John Chandler were living there as servants. Esther was the daughter of Edward and Sarah Collyer, who lived on The Green. She married John Marshall of Puttenham in 1874. John married Ellen Howard in 1870 and they lived at Hodds Farm.

1871 - 1880

In 1871 there were 2 discrete families at Fords Farm. Firstly, Samuel and Ann Philp. Samuel was a rural policeman (ie the “local bobby” for Pirbright). He was born in Veryan, a small Cornish village south-east of Truro in 1834, the son of an agricultural labourer. Ann (nee Pocock) was born in Hailsham, near Eastbourne in 1828, the daughter of an agricultural labourer (and 1 of 15 children). They married in St Mary le Strand in 1852. Samuel by then was on “Officer in The City Police”, and so could justifiably call himself a bobby (or a peeler). Meanwhile the couple’s fathers had both become farmers.

The Philps had arrived in Pirbright by 1864 (the year of the press cutting, right). Its interest lies more in the Chairman’s (justifiable) admonition of Samuel, than the crime itself.

The Philps’ stay in Pirbright was a short one, as by 1881 they had moved to Heston, Middlesex. The last references to the Philps in Pirbright are tragic. Their only daughter, Margaret Anne Hephzibah Philp, was married in 1874 at St Michael’s to Ephraim Lowdon Wilkinson. But just 15 months later, aged only 21, Margaret died while giving birth to their daughter, Maggie Wilkinson. Ephraim was one of the local schoolmasters and he owned land on Dawney Hill. Ephraim soon moved to London and remarried, although he kept his Pirbright land for several years.

The other family living at Fords in 1871 was Eleazer and Mary Dabinett. Eleazer, a railway signalman, was born in 1846 a few miles south of Bristol, the son of a shoemaker. Mary (nee Wellman or White) was born in 1843. They were married in Chard in 1864. Eleazer had a brush with the law in 1872, as described in the cutting left.

The Dabinetts didn’t stay long in Pirbright. They sailed to Australia in 1874 with their 8 year-old son. But in 1875 Eleazer again ran into a spot of trouble, as recorded in the New South Wales Police Gazette (see cutting right). We don’t know what happened about this incident, but we think that the family (unsurprisingly) split up soon afterwards. Although Eleazer was described as quiet and inoffensive, he seemed rather adept in getting himself into awkward situations.

By 1880 Eleazer was a station master in South Australia, and had become a freemason. In 1886 he was living on his own in Broken Hill, NSW (a mining environment). He ended up as a sheep farmer in South Australia and died in Adelaide in 1918 of an enlarged prostate.

1881 - 1890

In 1881 again, 2 families lived at Fords Farm. The first family was Alfred and Jane Stevens. Alfred was a carpenter, born in 1835 in Pirbright, the son of Benjamin Stevens (1801-1870), a schoolmaster, who became the Parish Clerk. Benjamin and his family lived at Terry’s House at West Heath, and then Gale Moor, near Cowshot. We have written more about the Stevens family in the Stevens family section.

Jane (nee Johnson) was born in Worplesdon in 1839, the daughter of a farm labourer. Her family lived first on Goose Rye, then at Perry Hill and then Bonnishott in Worplesdon. Alfred and Jane were married in Guildford in late 1859, and their first child arrived 3 months later. After they were married, Alfred and Jane lived at The Row (later Blatchford’s Row, now Chapel Lane) and went on to produce 11 children.

By 1891, the family had moved to Asylum Road, Knaphill, where Alfred continued to ply his trade, and then Rose Cottage, Knaphill. Alfred died there in 1917 and Jane in 1920.

The second family at Fords Farm in 1881 was Edwin and Ann Cranstone. It was actually a bit of a family affair, as Edwin was the niece of Jane Stevens’s mother, Harriett Cranstone (1802-1870).

Edwin Cranstone was born in 1851, the son of Jesse and Jane Cranstone, who lived at Lawfords Farm. We tell their story in The Fairway and Storrs Lane section. Ann (nee Rose) was born c1853 in Ash, the daughter of an agricultural labourer.

Edwin was a bricklayer by trade. He and Ann were married in 1877 in Worplesdon (where they were both living) and their first child was born 4 months later. They proceeded to have 6 further children. c1887 the Cranstones moved from Pirbright to Willey Green at Normandy. The Cranstones were an unusually long-lived family. Edwin died in 1947, aged 95 and Ann in 1942, just 9 days before her 90th birthday. 4 of their 7 children lived until their 80s and one, Grace, lived until she was 93.

From c1882 Henry and Agnes Stevens lived at Fords Farm. Henry (a painter) was born in Pirbright in 1852, the son of Henry Stevens and his wife, Elizabeth, who had lived at Nursery Cottage, now Track End, where we tell their story).

One obvious question is: Was Henry related to Alfred Stevens, who lived at Fords Farm in 1881? The answer is yes – they were cousins. Henry’s father was Henry Stevens (1815-1897), an agricultural labourer who had lived at Stanford Farm and Nursery Cottage (now Track End). Both Alfred and Henry had a common grandfather, Edward Stevens (1768-1849), an agricultural labourer who lived his whole life in Pirbright. We have written more about the Stevens family in the Stevens family section.

Another question is: Did Alfred and his family live at Fords Farm at the same time as his cousin, Henry and his family? The answer is that we don’t know for sure, as the records are contradictory. If they did overlap, it would have been for a few years in the 1880s.

But we do know that Henry, Agnes and their 8 children lived at Fords until c1898, when the family moved to No 1, Pirbright Cottages, where we continue their story.

1891 - 1898

In 1891, Henry and Agnes Stevens were still living in one of the cottages. The other was occupied by Edward and Maria Mason. Edward was the son of Edward Mason and his wife, Maria. No, that is not a misprint. The senior Edward and Maria Mason had lived at Pullens Farm (now part of the Pirbright Institute and then Bullswater Farm, where their stories are told. Their son, Edward junior, was born in 1861 in Pirbright. Maria (nee Boylett) was born in 1855, the daughter of James and Mary Boylett, who lived in the Lawfords area, possibly in the house on the site of today’s Primrose House.

Edward and Maria junior married at St Michael’s in 1884. Their eldest child had been born the previous year, and they proceeded to have a further 6 children. Edward was a farmer, who farmed both at Cobbet’s Hill as well as Pirbright. They had lived initially at Blatchford’s Cottages in Chapel Lane. While there, he was fined £1 (£110 today) as explained in the cutting right. Tut tut, Edward.

By 1891 they had moved to Fords Farm, but tragedy struck when Edward died in 1893, aged only 32. Maria was left with 6 children (aged 2 to 20), with a 7th on the way, which must have been a dreadful situation for her. Maria stayed at Fords Farm until 1897, when she moved to Fountain House on The Green and then, 2 years later, to No 4, Pirbright Gardens. She stayed there until WW1, and then moved to Rambler Cottage on Burrow Hill, where we pick up her story.

1898 to date

Henry Stevens and his family left Fords Farm in 1898. The new occupants (for a short while) were a pair of brothers and their families:

In one cottage lived James and Emma Wakefield. James, a bricklayer, was born near Newbury in 1856, the son of a labourer. Emma (nee Stenning) was born in Dunsfold in 1857. They married in Guildford in 1884 and had 2 children while they were living in Wonersh. Emma died in 1913, but James remarried and had 3 more children.

In the other cottage lived Frederick and Rosanna Wakefield. Frederick (1867-1915) was James’s younger brother and a captain in the Salvation Army. The censuses over the years record that Frederick and Rosanna, were sent around the country to spread the word and carry out his good work – Exeter and Nuneaton, for example. And during 1898-99 this included Pirbright, which perhaps was seen as needing some spiritual assistance. They had 2 children (born in Shamley Green and Wolverhampton), both of whom, like their cousins, were schooled in Pirbright.

In 1899 Frederick and Rosanna were posted to Portsmouth, while James and Emma moved to Frimley.

The new occupants in one of the cottages were Eli and Louisa Lawes. Eli was born near Salisbury in 1861, the son of a sawyer. Louisa was born in the same area in 1865. The pair were married in Hampshire in 1887 and had 4 children. They moved to Knaphill c1895 and had 2 more children. After moving to Fords Farm in 1899, they had 2 more. At this time, Eli was a carman (ie a delivery driver, using a horse and cart). Eli, Louisa and their family left Fords in 1906. In 1911 Eli’s brother, Mark Lawes moved into Burners Cottage (refer Heath Oaks section below) on the other side of the road.

The other cottage was occupied by John and Elizabeth Clark. John was born in Eashing in 1864, the son of a gardener. Elizabeth (nee Turner) was born in 1869 in West End, Chobham, the daughter of a labourer. They were married in Farncombe in 1889, when John was a gardener. The Clarks appear in the 1901 census, and two of their children were admitted to Pirbright School in 1900 and 1902 respectively. But the Clarks do not appear on the Electoral Register, nor in the Rates index, so we think that their stay in Pirbright was a short one. The cottage appears to have been kept empty after the Clarks left (c 1903).

In 1902, John Cherryman pulled down the older part of the house at the south end, rebuilding and enlarging it. He also pulled down many of the old outbuildings. When the Lawes family left Fords in 1906, John Cherryman (the owner of the property) took the opportunity of it being empty to extend the farmhouse further by building an extra 2-storey wing on the west side. He was presumably looking for wealthier tenants (and of course, higher rents). It looks as though this also marked the time when the 2 cottages were combined into a single house. There is a tinge of sadness when Mary Cawthorn tells us how John Cherryman was responsible for pulling down most of the old part of the farm. Below are 3 photos of Fords taken by Mary Cawthorn prior to John Cherryman’s restorations.

The next tenant from 1906 to 1909 was a Robert Groome. This may have been Rear-Admiral Robert Groome RN, although we don’t have any written evidence to support this. Rear-Admiral Robert Groome (born 1848, never married) retired from active service in 1906, to take up a London desk job at the Admiralty, and was described as “a peaceful person, who smokes cigarettes on the quarter deck or bridge all day, and plays bridge all the evening.” This certainly sounds like a suitable qualification for living in Pirbright, and the dates fit with a move to Pirbright, but that is all.

The next occupants of Fords Farm were Capt William and Marjorie Venables. William was born in 1872 in New York, but of English parents. His father, the Right Reverend Addington Robert Peel Venables, had somehow become the Bishop of Nassau in the Bahamas, and William was born on a visit from Nassau to the US. The Right Reverend died when William was only 4 years old, and the family returned to England. William was educated at Charterhouse School and Magdalen College, Oxford.

After he graduated William joined the army. He served in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and fought in the 2nd Matabele War in 1896-97. Intriguingly, a key player for the British Army in this war was one Frederick Selous. At the time, Selous probably knew the local terrain better than any westerner, and this gave the British Army a considerable advantage. At the time, Frederick Selous lived in Pirbright – at Alpine Lodge, Fox Corner – and we have told his story in the Fox Corner section. If you don’t know much about Frederick Selous, it’s worth reading – he was an amazing person. But this raises some interesting questions. Did the 24 year-old William Venables and 45 year-old Frederick meet during the war? Did they strike up a conversation? Could this be the reason why William moved to Pirbright some 14 years later (Selous was still alive and living in Pirbright)? We’ll probably never know.

William also fought as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Boer War in 1900, but was injured. In 1901, aged 28, he was a farmer in Turner’s Puddle (which is near Briantspuddle, Affpuddle and Tolpuddle – no kidding - all of which are near Dorchester). We wonder if his spell as a farmer was some form of post-injury recuperation, for the following year in 1902 he had become an employee at the War Office in London, and he kept this job for the next several years.

In 1902 he also married Marjorie Mure, who was born in 1876 in London, the daughter of Arthur Mure. Arthur was a director of the family brewing business, Mure & Co. In 1926, Mure & Co was acquired by The Hampstead Brewery (see poster below). The Hampstead Brewery operated in Hampstead High Street, where its gateway can still be seen today (see photo below – note the ornately carved bunches of hops).

William and Marjorie had 3 children, and lived in Chelsea, close to Albert Bridge. In 1903 WIlliam became a freemason (The Charterhouse Deo Dante Dedi Lodge, whatever that means).

The family took out a 14-year lease of Fords Farm in 1909. The lease included a clause that John Cherryman should carry out a small further enlargement (which he fulfilled). The 1911 census recorded that the Venables family were living with 4 servants in the house. So we can assume that John Cherryman’s improvements in 1906 had achieved the desired result of enticing wealthier tenants.

William’s only surviving sibling, Major Charles Venables, was killed in action in Gallipoli in 1915, aged 55. His story is told in detail in the War Memorial section of the main Pirbright History site. William died in 1920, still living at Fords Farm. When in 1923 the lease ran out, a deal was struck whereby John Cherryman sold Fords to The Trustees of AH Mure (AH Mure being Arthur Mure, Marjorie’s father, then aged 76). This transaction was probably a way of Arthur using some cash (£2,600 actually, worth £133,000 today) to secure his daughter’s future in a tax-efficient way.

Marjorie continued to live at Fords for 2 more years, but then moved the family to a house in Blackheath (near Chilworth), living next door to her brother, James Mure, and his family. Marjorie died there in 1945, leaving £38,000 (worth £1.3 million today) as well as the house in Blackheath.

Marjorie sold Fords Farm in 1923 to Basil Hastings and Cecily Ynys Bennett. They immediately moved into the house, thus becoming its first owner-occupant for 170 years.

Basil was born in Ealing in 1894. His father, Herbert Bennett, was an estate agent / auctioneer, then a Director of various public companies. These included Harrods Stores Ltd, The Piccadilly Hotel Ltd and The Hyde Park Hotel Ltd (which he owned and which is now called Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park). During Herbert’s time at Harrods, not only was England’s first escalator installed (in 1898), but also the famous facade built (in 1905). Herbert also joined a syndicate to develop the area immediately surrounding Harrods. It won’t come as a surprise to learn that he became a rather wealthy man. He died in 1918, leaving £145,000 (worth £7 million today), plus his property. Herbert’s wife, Florence (nee Withers in 1856) died in 1936.

Cecily (nee Howell) was born in 1898 in Kingston, the daughter of Reginald Howell and Mary (nee Kennedy in 1866). Reginald (born 1857) was a founder in 1882 of the firm Stevenson & Howell, which manufactured fragrances and essences. The company was based in Southwark, but had agencies in the colonies (from where, presumably, they derived most of their essences). The poster (left, from 1929) gives a good idea of what they produced.

Reginald died in 1912, leaving £151,000 (worth £14 million today) plus property, so he was also a wealthy man. He and Mary (who died in 1928) were buried in Brookwood Cemetery, marked by an impressive monument (pictured right).

Cicely’s brother, Miles Howell, was a Surrey county cricketer, who lived in Heath House Road from 1930 until his death in 1976.

In 1921 Basil was a Lloyds Insurance broker, living in a flat in Queen Anne’s Mansions (which was in Westminster, and also owned by Herbert when he was alive, but demolished in 1971).

It seems likely that Basil and Cecily received healthy legacies when their fathers died, and they decided to buy - and to develop - Fords Farm.

During their tenure, the Bennetts made several alterations to the house, nearly doubling its size. They added several necessities, such as a billiard room and a servants’ hall to the house. In 1930 the Bennetts had 3 servants living in the house, so a servants’ hall shouldn’t perhaps surprise us too much.

The Bennetts also added a swimming pool, squash court and tennis court. We have shown an excerpt from the plans for one of the house extensions (in 1930) right.

Cecily was elected President and Producer of the Pirbright Amateur Dramatic Society in 1928. But in 1936 the Bennetts moved to Ewhurst, and Fords was sold to Walter and Maribelle Cooke. Walter was born near Cambridge in 1891, the son of a stockbroker. Maribelle (nee Haynes) was also born in 1891. Her father, Thomas Haynes, however, was anything but a stockbroker. He described himself as an explorer, who spent much of his life looking for pearl shell off the north-west coast of Australia, near Broome. His children said later that he spent all his working life in Australia, and that they only knew him through letters, as he hardly ever came home. He died in Sussex, but a note was attached to his will saying “I want my ashes interred with Edward Chippindall in Broome”. Edward was his exploration partner, who had died at sea 43 years earlier.

Returning to the real world of Surrey, Walter and Maribelle married in 1918 in Wimbledon. They lived initially in Ewell, before moving to Pirbright in 1936. The Cookes only stayed at Fords Farm for a year or 2, but they left their mark on Pirbright by converting the squash court into 2 cottages in 1936. We can deduce that the Cookes probably didn’t play squash. The occupants of these cottages are discussed in the sections below.

The Cookes moved to West Clandon in 1938, when the house was sold to Harold and Dorothy (“Poppy”) Rickett. Harold was born in 1909, the son of a stockbroker. He followed his father into the stockbroking business, but he is much better known as a big name in British rowing circles, having been president of the Amateur Rowing Association, as well as rowing in the 1928 Olympic Games. He was awarded the CBE for services to British rowing.

Dorothy was born Dorothy Barry in Cheam in 1908. Her father (Edward Ogston Barry) was Managing Director of a large mining company, Mason & Barry Ltd, which had been one of the 50 largest UK companies (by market capitalisation) in the 1880’s (7 places ahead of Hong Kong and Shanghai Corp, today known as HSBC). Her mother was Lydia (nee Morley) Barry, who lived with Poppy and Harold at Fords Farm until her death in 1964, aged 97.

The Ricketts were prominent members of Pirbright society. Harold, who had a side interest in the rather niche area of delphinium breeding, died in 1969, aged only 60. His obituary is shown below, together with a photo of him, maybe at Henley, looking every inch the rowing sort. We have also added a couple of stories about Harold which made us smile.

Poppy sold Fords Farm in 1973 and moved to Wydgerys (now Greenways) on the Ash Road, until her death in 2009, aged 100.

The purchasers in 1973 were John and Diana Poland. John was born in 1925 in Hambledon, just south of Godalming, the son of a Lloyds underwriter. His mother was part of the family of Lord Stafford, and could trace her ancestry back to Edward III.

Diana (nee O’Connor) was born in 1931, daughter of an Australian couple called Leo Forbes and Daphne O’Connor. In 1952 she was living near Gloucester Road in Kensington.

John and Diana married at Kensington in 1952. John was captain of Guildford Rugby Club at the time. He played in the pack, principally as a lineout jumper. He was also described as a keen cricketer and yachtsman. One of the groomsmen was Lord Stafford, while 2 of the bridesmaids had title of “The Honorable”. The Polands had 5 children and lived in Haslemere.

John’s father had died in 1971, leaving an estate of £177,000 (worth £3.4 million today). It seems likely that John was left a good-sized legacy after his father’s death, which he used to buy Fords Farm in 1973. Diana did not live with the family, and we think that the couple may have separated.

John left Fords Farm in the early 1980s and moved to West Wittering, and then Chichester, where he died in 2018, aged 92. Diana lived in London (Fulham) and Cape Town.

By 1992 the current owners had purchased Fords Farm. We have shown right a photo of Fords in 1987 (courtesy of Stan Dabbs).

Fords Farm Cottages

As we mentioned in the Fords Farm section (above), the 2 semi-detached Fords Farm Cottages were built on the site of a previous squash court at Fords Farm in 1936 during the tenure of Walter and Maribelle Cooke. Many of the occupants of the cottages have stayed for short periods, suggesting that the cottages were rented out in the early years by the owners of Fords Farm, rather than sold, but we do not know this for sure.

Slightly irritatingly, the Electoral Register in 1937 records 2 families claiming to live at No 1, Fords Farm Cottages in 1937 (and none living at No 2). We have no way of knowing which of the 2 families actually lived at No 2, and so we arbitrarily allocated them in alphabetical order – the Durhams in No 1 and the Saviles in No2 . We offer our apologies in advance in case this is ever shown to be wrong.

As mentioned above, we have guessed that Wilfred and Ethel Durham were the first occupants in 1937 of No 1 – probably as tenants. This may have been Wilfred (born Ashtead in 1899) and Ethel (nee Winter in Ashtead in 1905) Durham. Wilfred was a merchant seaman (which meant that he spent a lot of time at sea) and then a gardener. Their story is told rather beautifully in the 1982 press cutting (left).

The Durhams only stayed at the cottage for a year or 2 before moving to Sussex. They were replaced c1939 by William and Florence Gilbert. We don’t know if they were owners or tenants, although we suspect the latter. William was born in Ascot in 1901, the son of a farm labourer. Florence (nee Perkins) was born in 1898 in South Mimms, the daughter of a coachman. William, a gardener, joined the Royal Marine Artillery in 1918, and then transferred to the RAF in 1919, where he served until 1931. During this period, he and Florence married (in 1923 at Windsor) and had 3 daughters. c1928 they had lived in Rose Cottage in Berry Lane, where we tell their story in more detail.

One of their daughters, Barbara, married Stan Boylett in 1946. In 1955 they moved to No 13, Pirbright Cottages. Another daughter, Joan, married John Feather in 1951 and they lived at Fairlawn on Dawneys Hill. We have written about the 3rd daughter, Betty, a few paragraphs further down. We have shown a photo of William and Florence, right.

William died in 1965. He is remembered for founding the Pirbright Social Club’s annual Horticultural Show (well done, William – it’s still going strong some 60 years later). Florence soon moved in with her daughter Barbara and her family in No 13, Pirbright Cottages. She died in 1979.

After the Gilberts moved out of No 1, there appears to have been quite a procession of short-stay occupants (who we assume were tenants): James Trafford, Ian Wood-Smith, Margaret Hobday, Collette Sinclair, Damian Hall, Lorraine Walsh, and Beverley Piper.

2, Fords Farm Cottages

The first occupants of No 2 (though it could have been No 1 – see above) were Ernest and Lilian (Lily) Saville. Ernest was born in Walthamstow in 1902, the son of a Farm stockman. Lily was born in 1903 in Farncombe, the daughter of a House decorator.

In 1921 Ernest was an under-gardener at Stoughton Grange, while Lily was still living at home in Farncombe. They married in 1927 at Farncombe. Ernest was a gardener living on the Ewell Road in Cheam at the time. They moved to Pirbright, presumably for Ernest’s work, but they only stayed here a year or 2 before moving to West Clandon (again, presumably for Ernest’s work).

The next occupants of No 2 were Sydney and Edith Faggetter. Sydney was the son of Frank Faggetter, a bricklayer. We have written about the Faggetters on the Faggetter family page. Edith was born Edith Collyer in Brookwood in 1886, the eldest daughter of William and Ellen Collyer. William was a labourer at Brookwood Cemetery, and the family lived at Cemetery Cottage, Brookwood.

Edith and Sydney Collyer were married in 1919 at St Michael’s. At the time Sydney was a soldier, living at Church Cottage. But Sydney soon left the army, working as a general labourer and they moved to Leonard’s Cottage. In 1939 they moved to No 2. Edith died in 1943.

In 1945 Sydney married Elizabeth Boylett and the moved to Elm Cottage, where we continue their story. The next occupants of No 2 were John and Betty Russell. They had married in Pirbright in 1941 when John, the son of parents in Belfast and a Corporal in the Irish Guards, was stationed at Fonthill Giffard Camp in Wiltshire. Betty was none other than Betty Gilbert, eldest daughter of William and Florence Gilbert, who lived at No 1 (refer a few paragraphs above). John had been born c1911, son of a cabinet maker. The Russells lived in No 2, next to Betty’s parents, for 4 years until c1947 and then moved out of the area.

The next occupants from c1947 were Alfred and Ethel Smith. Alfred was born in Pirbright in 1908, the son of William and Mary Smith, who lived at Blatchford’s Row (now part of Chapel Lane). William was a labourer at Brookwood Cemetery. Ethel (nee Hawkins) was born in 1912, the daughter of William and Eliza Hawkins, who also lived at Blatchford’s Row. So we have no problem working out how Alfred and Ethel met. However, they left it fairly late to get married – 1947. The Smiths lived at No 2 until c1973. We think that Ethel died in 1998, living at No 12, Collens Field.

The next occupants from c1974 were John and Deborah Fleming. Deborah was born Deborah Elizabeth Carpenter, we think in 1949. The Flemings had married in Ashford, Kent in 1973, and previously lived in Knaphill. John was a gardener. The Flemings had 5 children during their stay at No 2. After leaving Pirbright, we think that the Flemings lived in Dover.

The current owners moved into No 2 in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

West side

This short section, dealing with part of the west side of the Guildford Road, covers just 3 items:

Burners Heath (ie the triangular piece of heathland)
2 properties: Heath Oaks – built in 1861 - and Rowe Lane Farm – built c1970.

We cover each of these in the sections below. The 1805 map below shows the position at that time. Unsurprisingly, Burners Heath was heathland at that time, as it is today. The area where Heath Oaks and Rowe Lane Farm now stand comprised fields belonging to Newmans (coloured green), plus one field coloured red (No 283), which was part of Fords Farm (refer above).

Burners Heath

On the earliest map we know of (1793), Burners Heath is shown as waste. It still is. In the 1880s it was part of the land acquired by the War Dept. Goodness knows why they wanted it.

Burners Heath today is a rather odd triangular-shaped piece of fallow wasteland. The vegetation is mainly birch and holly, with of course the ubiquitous bramble. There is the odd small pond, and in winter the area can be very damp underfoot. Paths are few and some are indistinct. At the southern end near the Aldershot Road one can find a padlocked gate. A few years ago it presumably lay across a track from the Aldershot Road, but there is no sign of the track today. It’s just a gate sitting on its own in the undergrowth.

In 1929 a fierce fire burnt almost the entire common (see press cutting left). In 1933 another fire swept across the heath, crossing the road at one point.

South of Burners Heath between the Guildford and Aldershot Roads lie 2 properties (Heath Oaks and Rowe Lane Farm), which we cover in the sections below. We have first shown an extract of the current OS map of the area (with thanks), with our understanding of the 2 properties. Rowe Lane Farm is shaded red and Heath Oaks blue.

Heath Oaks (prev Burners Cottage, then Oak Cottage)

Immediately south of Burners Heath, midway between the Guildford and Aldershot Roads is Heath Oaks. Given that the access to the house is from the Guildford Road, we have included it in this section. And given the size of the house sign, it’s difficult to miss the access drive to it.

There has been a building on the site we think since at least 1861, but the current Heath Oaks stands about 30 metres east of the site of the original building. We have shown below the 1938 OS map to illustrate this (it’s easiest to look at the house positions relative to the pond). The property is around 5½ acres in size.

We cannot find any definitive evidence telling us what this original building was. We know that it stood on land belonging the Burners Farm (refer section above). But it may have been either some sort of outbuilding (eg a cowshed) or a dwelling.

Additionally, we are unsure where a particular dwelling called “Burners Cottage” stood. We have therefore assumed that the unidentified building on the map was in fact Burners Cottage until some more persuasive evidence emerges.

Judging by the census returns, the original Burners Cottage was built sometime between 1851 and 1861. We think that the owner of Burners Farm (George Poulton at this time) owned the cottage.

It’s quite tricky to work out who lived in the various properties in the area after 1900 in the immediate area, but we have given our best estimate below.

In 1861 Henry and Sarah Boylett were living there. Henry was a farm labourer, born in 1822 in Worplesdon. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Boylett, who lived at Lawfords. We have told their story there.

Sarah (nee Simmonds in Pirbright in 1834) was the daughter of Allen and Rhoda Simmonds. They married at St Peter’s, Woking in 1853 (when Sarah was 6 months’ pregnant). In 1864 Henry and Sarah moved to Duchies Cottage with Sarah’s parents, where we tell their story. As we tell below, they moved back into Burners Cottage in the 1870s.

By 1871 James Sherwood lived alone in the cottage. James was an agricultural labourer, born in Pirbright in 1828. He was the son of Thomas and Anne Sherwood, who had farmed at Fords Farm (refer section above). James soon moved to the Stanford area. By 1901 he was a pauper at the Guildford Union Workhouse. He never married and died there in 1902.

Sometime during the 1870s, Henry and Sarah Boylett moved back into the cottage, having lived there some 10 years earlier (refer above). By this time they had had 10 children (one of whom had died at birth). Henry died in 1884, aged 62 and in 1890 Sarah moved to a house on The Green. We continue her story there.

By 1891, James and Mary Boylett were living in the cottage. James, born in 1825, was the younger brother of Henry Boylett, who had been living in the cottage until then, but who had died in 1884. James had married Mary (nee Stevens) in 1850 at St Peter’s Woking.

Mary was born in 1831, the daughter of Richard and Hannah Stevens, who both had the misfortune to be paupers. In 1830 they were the subjects of a removal order from Horsell to the Poor house at Pirbright. In 1832 they were the subjects of a second removal order from Pirbright to the poorhouse at Chobham, Surrey. Life must have been very tough for young Mary.

James was a general labourer. The couple had previously lived in the Lawfords area and had 9 children. In the late 1890s they moved to Henry Cottages on The Green, and died there in 1900 (James) and 1906 (Mary).

c1899 James and Sarah Lathey were living at the cottage. James had been born in Guernsey in 1854, possibly the son of a soldier. By 1861 the family had moved to Aldershot, and in 1881 young James was a bugler at the Chatham Army Barracks. He soon moved to Aldershot and became a freemason in 1884. We know nothing about Sarah.

By the time the Latheys arrived in Pirbright in the 1890s, James had retired from the army. They didn’t stay long in Pirbright, moving in 1904 to 1, Laburnum Cottages in Connaught Road, then returning to Aldershot. James died in Aldershot in 1922.

In 1911 Mark and Sarah Laws (Lawes) moved into the cottage. Prior to this they had lived for short periods in several houses in the area – Ostend, Blanket Mill Farm, No 7, Pirbright Cottages and No 7, Stanford Cottages. Mark was born in a small village south of Salisbury in 1862, the son of a sawyer. In 1896 he married Sarah Diana Broad at St John’s. Sarah had been born in Wiltshire in 1863, the daughter of an agricultural labourer. They had 3 children. Mark’s brother, Eli, had lived at Fords Farm (refer section above) a few years earlier.

Mark was an agricultural labourer, and his frequent movements around Pirbright suggest that he regularly moved from farm to farm, seeking work. Sarah died in Pirbright in September 1916, aged 53, and Mark died 3 months later, aged 52.

From 1916 Charles and Jane Stonard lived at the cottage. Charles was born in Ash in 1882, one of the 12 children of William and Alice Stonard, who lived at one of the Newmans cottages. Jane (nee French) was born near Lewes in 1878, the daughter of a labourer in a chalk pit.

Charles and Jane married in Pirbright in 1906 and had 4 children. Charles was a platelayer with the London and SW Railway. The Stonards stayed at the cottage until c1937, when they moved to No 5, Cooks Green.

Right is a photo of Charles and Jane (the lady on the right) and 3 of their children (the lady in the middle was Grandma Stonard, and the taller girl on the left was probably a cousin).

In 1937, Walter and Primrose Allison moved into the cottage (now named Oak Cottage). They had married at Brentford in 1935. In 1939 they moved into Heatherwood Cottage, where we tell their story.

From 1939 onwards we think that William Frank and Dora Adams lived at the cottage. William was born near Cirencester in 1874, the son of a general labourer. Dora (nee King) was born in 1878 in Wandsworth, the daughter of a labourer.

William joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in South Africa during the Boer War and also served during WW1. He and Dora married at Aldershot Barracks in 1904. They had 4 children. In 1921 they were living in Windlesham, where William worked as a handyman. They then moved to St John’s and William became a gardener.

They spent a year at Greengates on Pirbright Green before settling in Oak Cottage. William died in June 1950, aged 76. Dora died 6 months later, aged 72. Left is a photo of William and Dora (with one of their grandchildren), possibly at Oak Cottage c1939.

After Dora died, Harold and Mary Wright moved into Oak Cottage, having previously been living in a caravan nearby on the site of what is now Rowe Lane Farm (see section below). Harold died there in 1976 and by 1978 Mary was receiving Poor Law benefits. She continued living at Oak Cottage until at least 1981.

In 1992 David and Mona Simpson were living at Oak Cottage. We think that they later moved to Wetherby. The house was purchased in 1995 by the current owners and renamed Heath Oaks. We think that the old cottage was demolished, and a new house built around this time a few yards away.

As a postscript to this section, we have noted below some other people who may have lived at Burners Cottage (or Oak Cottage) around this time, perhaps as lodgers.

Frederick and Elsie Watts lived at Oak Cottage between 1932 and 1935. In 1932 Frederick was fined 19s 6d (£60 in today’s money) for having no reflecting mirror on his car, which he was driving in Weybridge. In 1935 he was a witness to a fatal accident in St John’s. Frederick was a poultryman for Major Heyland, who lived at Millcroft in Mill Lane. Details of the accident are provided in that section.
Frank Ernest and Alice Thomas lived at Burners Cottage between 1938 and 1939. Frank (born 1891) was a heavy labourer. Alice was born Alice Beckingham in 1890. They were married near Southampton in 1916.

Rowe Lane Farm

We think that the first person to live where Rowe Lane Farm is today was a Harold Wright. He was born in 1904, and from 1939 he seems to have been living in a hut of some sort (his Electoral Register address was “The Hut, Burners Heath”). The 1939 Register records him as being a smallholder of 5 acres, living next to Oak Cottage (now Heath Oaks (refer section above) and single.

In 1942 Harold was fined £3 for lighting a bonfire against blackout regulations. In 1943 he married Mary Freer. By 1944 they were living in a 2-berth caravan on the site. That year Harold put the caravan up for sale (for £250 or near offer). We think that the Wrights left the site c1950 and moved a few yards away to Oak Cottage (now Heath Oaks (refer section above).

By 1952 Charles and Joan Keywood lived in a “Caravan opposite Megna”. A Keywood family was living at Burners Farm at the time (refer section above), but we can’t trace Charles and Joan, and don’t know whether these 2 Keywood families were related. By 1981 the caravan had morphed into Rowe Lane Farm, and the Keywoods were still living there. At this stage the living accommodation comprised a “bungalow and mobile home”.

c1984 Bruce and Maureen Englefield moved into Rowe Lane Farm. The same year they were granted permission to build a 3-bedroom detached bungalow to replace the previous dwelling.

Bruce made a name for himself in the world of Sheepdog trials. Apparently he was the first Surrey man to make the England team (according to a newspaper report in 1989). Right is an admittedly poor photo of Bruce.

The current owners purchased the farm in 1994. We understand from planning documents that agricultural activities ceased in 1996 and that, since then, the buildings have been used for storage of carts, wagons and building materials.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.