Maplehurst, Church Road
Built after the War (WWII) by Albert & Nellie Simpson. (Source: Mag Dec 1989).
Marlbank, Blunts Green
Mawden
In the Barrells Estate Sale of 1919 the land on which Mawden is built was part of Lot 16 and consisted of a garden in the occupation of Mr Tatnall, who lived at the shop and house opposite (now The Old Stores), and a small paddock in the occupation of Mr. Friend, who farmed at Crowleys Farm.
Meadow Rise (1-6)
In 1818 Robert Knight of Barrells made an agreement with Henry Taylor, a carpenter of Freemans Green in Ullenhall, that Henry would erect a cottage on land opposite the Catherlough Arms (now The Spur). Henry was given £20 for workmanship and allowed to use materials from old buildings that had been pulled down on Crowley’s Farm. He was then granted the lease of the cottage. Also, in return for another £15, Henry agreed to pull down his dwelling at Freemans Green and yield possession of his garden and site. [DR225/44] Freemans Green is marked on the ordnance survey first series of 1831. It consisted of a group of buildings and was located in what are now just fields, almost opposite Tracey Farm. On the 1851 census the only reference to the area is “one House uninhabited Freemans Green”, and indeed by 1855 (Barrells Sale Map) it looks as though most of the settlement had disappeared.
On the 1843 tithe schedule the cottage that Henry Taylor built was referred to as House, garden and pound; Henry still being the occupier. The pound was where number 5 Meadow Rise is now located; the cottage was where number 6 is now located. The cottage and garden was sold at the auction of the Barrels Estate in 1856 (part of Lot 14) to Rev. H.C. Knight. In 1882 he sold it to T.H.G. Newton, so the cottage became part of his Barrells Estate. Consequently it was part of the sale of the Barrells Estate in 1924 (Lot 21). It is not known who purchased it at the auction.
In 1934 the cottage was bought by Mr Morgan and he started his business, Sunnyside Electrics. The main business was battery charging. It also had two petrol pumps.
In 1950 Jim Lewis, in partnership with his brother-in-law Selwyn Harris, bought Sunnyside Garage. The adjoining cottage was occupied by Selwyn. This was demolished and they converted the small commercial business into a well-equipped garage, complete with showroom, with only one wall of the old premises remaining. When Mr Lewis retired in 1970 the garage was sold to Brooklyn Garage of Redditch.
As early as 1984 Derek Mathers Garage Ltd submitted a planning application for the erection of six two-bedroomed houses on the garage site. However it was not until 1987 that the garage closed. A new application was submitted by local builder Peter Holmes in 1988. Work began on the construction of the houses in the Autumn of 1994. This new development of houses was named Meadow Rise, although the Parish Council did suggest Lewis Court in recognition of the family who built up the garage business.
Meadowside
An inter-war house.
Merrimans Hill Farm, Tanworth Lane
Grade II Listed. Probably late 15th Century with reconstruction and additions of late 16th/early 17th Century (including massive stack), with 19th Century additions. Restored 1987-8. Includes late 17th/early 18th Century Threshing Barn and cowsheds.(source: www.imagesofengland.org.uk)
In 1851 George Houghton, a farmer, lived there with his wife, Mary, and father, Joseph. His wife’s sister, and a lodger also lived with them. The Houghtons were still living at the farm when in 1862 it was put up for auction.
“COMPACT FREEHOLD ESTATE, ABOUT FORTY ACRES, In the Hamlet of ULLENHALL, Parish of Wootton Wawen, TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION . . . , at THE WHITE SWAN, HENLEY-IN-ARDEN . . . All that desirable FREEHOLD FARM, called “MERRYMAN’S HILL”, situated on the south side of and bounded on one side of the road leading from Botley Bridge to Tanworth, now in the occupation of Messrs. Joseph and George Houghton, as Yearly Tenants from Lady Day.
The Property consists of a most comfortable FARM HOUSE, in good repair, with Barn, Sheds, &c., Yard, Garden, and about Forty Acres, conveniently divided into Eight Closes of very valuable MEADOW and PASTURE LAND, and Two Acres, or thereabouts, of WOOD LAND adjoining the Farm, being part of Hobditch Coppice, and now in hand. . . . The Tenants will, on application, show the Property . . .” [Leamington Spa Courier 4/10/1862].
The family remained at the property as George and Mary were still living there in 1871 [census]; but by 1881 William Hodgkinson had taken over. The property changed tenants several times – Frasier Barnstable [1892 Kelly’s]; William Beaufoy [1896]; William Baseley [1900]; William Voce [1908]; George Sanders [1912, 1916, 1921]; Thomas Burman [1924]; Ernest Albert Lane [1932; 1936]; Florence Dorothy Lane [1940].
Merryman’s Hill Farm was included in the auction sale of ‘The outlying portions of the Umberslade Estate’, which took place on 7th September 1916: “Lot2 – A FREEHOLD DAIRY FARM, known as ‘MERRYMAN’S HILL FARM’, with Part of the Sporting Woodland called HOBDITCH COPPICE”. [Birmingham Daily Post 22/07/1916]. It included around 51 acres of meadow and pasture land, and sold for £1,360 [Birmingham Daily Post 08/09/1916].
Moat House Farm, Moat Farm Lane
It is likely that there has been a building on this site for a considerable time. Mention is made in 1657 of the birth of ‘Thomas Lea sonne of William Lea of the Moatt House, Ullenhall’ in the Parish Registers (Cooper W., Wootton Wawen 1935 pg 115) and it is probable that this is referring to a building on this site.
There is a suggestion that this is a moated site although there is little evidence for this on the ground. (Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record)
In around 1764, Robert Knight, Earl of Catherlough, met Miss Jane Davies of the Moat Farm. “An account of his first meeting with Jane Davies appears in a contemporary magazine of 1771 (The Town and Country Mag., vol. iii, p121). It says that her father, a farmer, and tenant of the Moat Farm, was in arrears with his rent, and the Earl, thinking his steward was too lenient, called himself to tell the farmer he must either pay up his arrears or turn out of his farm. The sight of her beauty of face and form is said to have disarmed his wrath, and he forgave her father all the rent. He also persuaded her to take up residence with him in Golden Square, London, where . . . she soon became an accomplished woman. She is stated to have been faithful to him and a good mother to their children, but he could not, of course, marry her as his second wife was still living”. (Cooper W., Wootton Wawen Its History & Records, 1936 p65).
Presumably the Moat Farm ceased to be part of the Knight’s Estate at some point as in 1811 it was bought by Robert Knight (son and heir of the Earl of Catherlough and Jane Davies) from John Moore “Moat House Estate in the occupation of John Moore and George Harrison containing in the whole 108a 2r 14p and divided into sixteen Enclosures. Purchased by Robert Knight of the said John Moore 25 March 1811” (DR225/91)
George and John Harrison were still the tenants in 1843 (tithe schedule). John Harrison died in 1849, aged 60. He is buried at the Old Chapel, his grave states ‘late of the Moat House Farm’. By 1851 (census) Mr William Lines was tenant. Most of the farms on the Barrells Estate were let to tenants on a yearly basis: “FARM TO BE LET, To be let from lady-day next, THE MOAT HOUSE FARM, at Ullenhall, in the parish of Wootton Wawen, in the county of Warwick, now in the occupation of William Lines, containing two hundred and forty-seven acres, about eighty-three of which are Arable, and the remainder Meadow and Pasture Land. For further Particulars, apply to Mr. E. Cooper, Land Agent, Henley-in-Arden”. (The Royal Leamington Spa Courier and Warwickshire Standard – Nov 8th 1851).
Documents from 1855 show that William Lines was still the tenant (Barrels Estate Report 1855 [DR886/10] & Particulars of the freehold property known as The Barrels Estate 1855), but the Particulars of the 1856 auction [DR57/23] show that it was then in the occupation of Mr. Samuel Bott. The sales particulars indicate that in order to improve the property the farm buildings needed to be put in order and the lands drained.
In the sale of 1856 it was bought by the Rev. H. C. Knight who let it to tenants. The tenancy changed hands several times :- John Carpenter (1861 census); James Baker (1871 census); Thomas Pigg (1881); Thomas Wilks (1891 & 1901); Joseph Spencer (1911).
A book ‘Making them real – finding a Queensland past’ written by sisters Pam Garfoot and Elizabeth Conway covers a period in the lives of two of their ancestors at Moat House farm in Ullenhall, Thomas Pigg and his son, also Thomas, who were tenants at the farm during the 1880s. They only have a little detail of their lives in Ullenhall, but regard the farm and the village as significant to the heritage of their family. The book describes their origins in Northumberland, their move to Ullenhall, and the life of the younger Thomas who left the farm and eventually settled in pioneering Queensland.
In July 1919 parts of H.C. Knight’s Ullenhall Estate were put up for sale, including Moat House Farm. It sold for £3,300.
In 1919 the property was let to Mr Edwin Hanson and it is likely that he purchased it at this time. In 1936 he retired due to ill-health and the farm was sold by auction – “A Freehold Dairy and Feeding Farm, 117a, 2r, 35p.” It was probably purchased at this auction by Leonard Cox.
Herbert Leonard Cox had been born at nearby Hall End Farm where his father farmed. He married Mary when he was 25 and they moved to Moat House Farm, where they lived for 42 years [Ullenhall Parish Magazine May 1987].
The farmhouse was demolished in the 1970s and replaced with the current building.
Mockley Close, Gentlemans Lane see Arden Manor
Mockley Manor, Forde Hall Lane
In 1800 John Snape surveyed the ‘Estates in the Manors of Mockley and Aspley in the parish of Wootton Wawen belonging to the Provost and Scholars of King’s College Cambridge’. [WCRO Z190/7]. (The manor of Mockley had been granted to the Provost and Scholars of Kings College, Cambridge by Henry VI on 12 Dec 1443). Joseph Court was the tenant of fourteen of the pieces of land surveyed amounting to 78a 2r 7p. These fourteen fields included the field where ‘Mockley Manor’ now is although there was no house or farmhouse at that time; there was a ‘barn, yard and pinfold &c’ near the junction of Gentleman’s Lane and Forde Hall Lane.
Mockley Manor may have been built in the 1830s; on the Ordnance Survey first series map of 1831 no building can be seen on this site. We have not seen the tithe map for this area but piecing together evidence from various sources including the tithe schedule of 1843 it would appear that by that time there was a House, buildings, yard garden &c in the occupation of Francis and John Salt. The schedule also shows that the property was still owned by Kings College Cambridge.
The property has been known as Mockley Manor, Mockley Manor Farm, or College Farm, which makes researching this property difficult as it can be confused with Mockley Manor Farm, Ramshill Lane, and College Farm, Blunts Green. In Whites Directory of Warwickshire 1850, Thomas F. Salt is listed as being a farmer at ‘Mockley Manor Farm’ and R. Edwards as farmer at ‘Mockley’.
On the 1851 census Thomas Salt was living at ‘Mockley Manor Farm’. He was a 24 year old farmer of 160 acres, and lived there with his father and mother Francis & Elizabeth. Also living with them were Thomas’s sisters Felicia, Ann and Alice, and brother James who was employed upon the farm. Felicia and Ann were also employed at home. Two other people lived at the farm Robert Bishop, who was 85 and a farm servant, and William Munslow, a 23? year old farm waggoner. A few years later James Salt became landlord of ‘The Spur’ public house, and when he died his sister Felicia and her husband took over.
On the 1871 census the farm is identified as ‘College Farm’. At that time Edwin Hill was living there with his family; wife Sarah, son and daughter Charles and Sarah, and two brothers Robert and Rowland. Also in their household were servants, Emily Douglas a nurse maid, Sophia Papwell a housemaid and Frederick Edgington a stable boy. Edwin Hill was a farmer of 250 acres and employed 7 men and 4 boys.
By 1874 Samuel Gale was at the farm, referred to as ‘Mockley Manor Farm’ in the 1874 Kellys Directory. In 1875 a valuation and condition survey of ‘Mockley Manor Farm’ was necessary as it was being taken on by Mr Smith [WCRO CR2433/31/174].
On the 1887 OS county series map the house and farm buildings are labelled ‘College Farm’.
By 1896 (Kelly’s Directory) Thomas Badger had taken over the farm. He was 59 in 1901 and lived there with his wife and daughter, Emma and Annie, and servant Charles Batsford who was an agricultural labourer. By this time the farm was being known as ‘College Farm’; both on the census and in Kelly’s Directories (1896 – 1916).
Thomas Badger was still the tenant in 1920 when the farm was included in the sale of the Henley-in-Arden Estate by order of the Bursar of Kings College, Cambridge. In this sale it was referred to as “Freehold farm known as ‘The College Farm’ or ‘Mockley Manor’”.
A newspaper article from 1933 shows that John Fowler Bradbury was living at Mockley Manor Farm “Solicitor’s Extravagance – Spent £2,823 in a year – When the public examination of John Fowler Bradbury, of Mockley Manor Farm, Ullenhall, a Birmingham solicitor, was resumed at Birmingham, Bradbury stated that during the past year his household and personal expenses amounted to £2, 823.
This, he agreed, was great extravagance. His wife’s allowance was £885, while he had handed to a woman £481.
Adjourning the examination, the registrar said the case had aroused a great deal of interest. The legal profession had been disturbed, and the general public somewhat alarmed.
He added that Bradbury “has not spared the trust funds of his clients, the honour of his partners, or the savings of his own clerk””. [The Citizen 7/11/1933].
By the 1930s therefore the farm was once again being called ‘Mockley Manor Farm’, and indeed it is ‘Mockley Manor Farm’ which is offered for sale in 1949 and again in 1961.
In 1986 a planning application was approved for the conversion of the farm and buildings into a “Convalescent and Nursing Home for the Elderly”.
Mockley Manor Farm, Ramshill Lane
Researching the history of this house is difficult as it can be confused with Mockley Manor, Forde Hall Lane, which also at times was known as Mockley Manor Farm. It would appear that Mockley Manor Farm, Ramshill Lane, has been known by other names in the past – ‘Mockley’, ‘Mockley Farm’, ‘Mockley Hill’, and ‘Little Mockley’.
In 1800 John Snape surveyed the ‘Estates in the Manors of Mockley and Aspley in the parish of Wootton Wawen belonging to the Provost and Scholars of King’s College Cambridge’. [WCRO Z190/7]. (The manor of Mockley had been granted to the Provost and Scholars of Kings College, Cambridge by Henry VI on 12 Dec 1443). George Harrison was the tenant of twelve of the pieces of land surveyed amounting to 61a 0r 25p. These twelve fields included a field called Oldborrow Hill which is where ‘Mockley Manor’ now stands, although there was no house or farmhouse at that time. In the first half on the nineteenth century the name George Harrison can be linked to Moat House Farm, so it is likely that he was farming adjoining land.
An early reference to the property is the tithe map of 1843. We have not seen the tithe map for this area but piecing together evidence from various sources including the tithe schedule of 1843 it would appear that by this time there was a property described as ‘House, Garden, Yards, Building and Orchard’. This property was owned by Kings College Cambridge and the occupier was Mary Parkes. The 1841 census shows that Mary Parkes was 58 years old and lived with Elizabeth and Mary Parkes, aged 24 and 22, who were presumably her daughters. Mary leased several of the fields in the area which belonged to Kings College Cambridge.
In Whites Directory of Warwickshire 1850 R. Edwards was listed as a farmer at ‘Mockley’, presumably this property. However in 1850 his lease expired and his stock, implements and furniture were put up for auction:
“WARWICKSHIRE, MOCKLEY FARM, NEAR ULLENHALL. TO FARMERS, DAIRYMEN, DEALERS, AND OTHERS. SALE OF STOCK, IMPLEMENTS, KEEPING, HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c. TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION. By W. Endall, on Wednesday next, the 27th day of November, at Mockley Farm, occupied by Mr. Richard Edwards, three miles from Henley-in-Arden, and one from Tanworth, (in consequence of the expiration of the Lease) – all the LIVE STOCK; comprising six useful early-calving Cows, one pure-bred fawn and white Alderney Heifer and Calf, team of four stout Waggon Horses and their Gears, Hackneys, Pigs, Poultry; an assortment of AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, Chaff Engine, by Warden, Carts, Waggons, Gig, Market Trap, Winnowing Machine, five dozen of Hurdles, Twenty Bags of BEANS, &c.; capital GRASS and SEED KEEPING until Michaelmas 1851; and also 120 lots of neat and appropriate HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, Bedding, Linen, &c.” [Birmingham Journal 23/11/1850].
The 1871 census shows that Alfred Lydon was farming 73 acres of land at ‘Little Mockley’. By 1874 [Kellys Directory] William Taylor had taken on ‘Mockley Farm’ and remained there for around 20 years. The 1891 census shows that he lived at ‘Mockley Hill Farm’ with his wife, Jane, and four of their children Joseph (14), George (11), John (8), and Charles (6).
The 1896 Kellys Directory lists John Wimbush as a farmer at ‘Little Mockley’, but by 1898 he had decided to stop farming:
“R.E.COOPER & SON Are favoured with instructions from Mr. J. Wimbush (who is declining farming), TO SELL BY AUCTION, on the Premises as above, on MONDAY NEXT, JUNE 27th, without reserve, The whole of the VALUABLE LIVE and DEAD FARMING STOCK, comprising:-
14 Head of well-bred SHORTHORN CATTLE, 53 SHROPSHIRE and CROSS-BRED SHEEP and LAMBS, 43 PIGS, Active Brown MARE, quiet and good worker, 72 Acres of Good GRASS KEEPING, which will be Let to be Grazed to September 28th ,1898; and a very useful Assortment of AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS and DAIRY UTENSILS. Three Couples of Young DUCKS, and Two COLLIE DOGS. Sale at 12 for 1 o’clock to a minute”. [Leamington Courier & Warwickshire Standard, June 25 1898].
By 1901 Ernest Hemming was living at Mockley, referred to as ‘Little Mockley’ in the Kellys Directories of 1900 and 1908. Ernest was a 33 year old farmer; his mother Harriet lived with him [1901 census].
At some point the property had been purchased by J E Muntz, as the finance act c1910 shows that he owned the farm and Ernest Hemming occupied it. The farm was included in the sale of the ‘Outlying Portions of the Umberslade Estate’ in 1916: “Lot 1 – A freehold sporting and farming property called ‘Mockley Manor Farm’ and ‘Ramshill Coppice’ 72a 1r 11p” [Birmingham Daily Post 29/7/1916]. It sold for £1,040 [Birmingham Daily Post 8/9/1916]. It might have been purchased at this time by Ernest Hemming, who had married in 1913 and had a young son, Gordon.
At one point Ernest had been the organist at St. Mary’s, and his wife, Winifred, sang in the church choir. Ernest had an organ installed in the house and Gordon recalled the hours spent in the cellar pumping. [Parish magazine Dec 1995].
In 1941 Gordon married May Taylor, granddaughter of William Taylor who had lived at the farm in the 1870s and 1880s. Gordon and May Hemming lived at the farm and their family continue to live there.
Mockley Wood Farm, Gentlemans Lane
In 1980 planning permission was given for the retention of polytunnels on this site. In 1981 permission was given for the erection of a farmhouse on the land. Formerly called Old Spinney Farm.
Morton Dell
Mount Pleasant Farm
It is likely that a much earlier building stood near the site of Mount Pleasant farm as there is evidence of a moat, the date of which is unknown. (Warwickshire Sites & Monuments Record)
A survey of the Manor of Barrells in 1681 includes ‘The Hill Farme’ which William Cooper (Henley-in-Arden 1946: p183) states is probably Mount Pleasant Farm.
A document [DR225/22] relating to the estate of Robert Knight, dated 1808, lists Hill Farm, Mount Pleasant, and Ullenhall with the tenant James Monro paying £80 per annum for just over 98 acres.
The tithe map and schedule of 1843 shows that the property was still owned by Robert Knight, the occupier being Joseph Yeomans. It looks as though Joseph Yeomans lived at Crowleys Farm and rented a large amount of land and property from the Barrells Estate, sub-letting to others. The 1841 census shows a Henry Coxege(?) living at Mount Pleasant. He was a gamekeeper. Living with him were Elizabeth (14), Scot (10) and John Coxege (7), probably his children; and Harriet Green, who was a trap maker.
The 1851 census shows that William Yeomans, Joseph’s son, was now living at Mount Pleasant and farming the property. His father and mother lived with him, along with brothers John and George who were working on the farm.
In 1856 Mount Pleasant Farm was included in the Barrells Estate sale, the tenant still being William Yeomans. The sale details suggest that the buildings needed to be put in repair [DR57/23]. It was purchased by William Newton and became part of his Barrells Estate.
By 1861 Francis Allen was farming the 200 acres of Mount Pleasant, employing three men and one boy. William Hands was living at the property and farming there in 1871. In 1891 Thomas Wilkins, a shepherd, lived at Mount Pleasant Farm with his wife, Jane, and eight children.
Mount Pleasant Farm was included in the Barrells Estate sale of June 26th 1919. The tenant at this time was Francis Bomber. He was living at the property in 1901, so had been there for a considerable time. He was still farming the property in 1921 (Kelly’s Directory), but the 1924 directory shows that Herbert Hancock had taken over. When his son, Leslie, was seventeen Herbert let him manage the farm by himself and so by 1932 (Kelly’s Directory) Leslie Hancock was running the farm [Ullenhall Parish Magazine Oct 1981].
Mount Pleasant House/Mount Pleasant Cottages/Hole House
Mount Pleasant House was formerly known as Mount Pleasant Cottages, and before that as Hole House.
Hole House is named and shown on the first series ordnance survey map of 1831 where it looks to be a house along with other buildings.
In an early document [DR886/13] it is referred to as The Hole House Farm. It was owned by Edward Hobday (the tenant being Thomas Harrison), who sold it to Robert Knight.
On the 1843 Tithe Map this house is described as “House, Yard &c (Holehouse)” with Joseph Yeomans being the tenant of Robert Knight. Joseph Yeomans rented a large extent of property from Robert Knight including Mount Pleasant Farm. In the 1856 Barrells Estate Sale, Hole House was included in Lot 7 Mount Pleasant Farm, and so for many years Hole House was linked with Mount Pleasant Farm, most probably farm workers cottages. The 1887 ordnance survey map shows two cottages.
Hole house can be identified on the 1861 Census when Edmund Wheeler, a blacksmith, lived in one part, with his wife and two sons who were both agricultural labourers. In the other lived William Palmer, also an agricultural labourer. He lived there with his wife, Mary, and son Charles. In 1891 David and Ann Dyer lived in one of the cottages. David was a 78 year old agricultural labourer; two of their sons also lived with them. In the other cottage lived Alfred Harris, also an agricultural labourer. He was 30 years old and lived there with his wife and four young sons. Ten years later Thomas and Alice Hemming were living in one of the cottages with their four children. Thomas was a roadman for the rural district council. In the other cottage lived Frederick Tomlin, a 73 year old farm labourer, along with his wife and three grown up sons, all farm labourers.
The property (two brick and tile cottages) was included in the Barrells Estate sale, June 26th 1919 as part of Mount Pleasant Farm.
This account, from Mrs. C. Willis of Acock’s Green, appeared in the Sunday Mercury, reprinted in the Ullenhall News, April 1988 –
“I was living with my aunt and uncle in Billesley, Birmingham, in 1940, when a bomb made a direct hit on a shelter nearby and the family inside were all killed. My uncle decided to leave and said he did not want my two young cousins to see what he had seen during his army service in 1914-18.
We found a cottage in Ullenhall, near Henley-in-Arden. The place was dirty and full of cobwebs and had not been occupied for three years. My aunt tried to light the fire but the chimney was blocked and smoke poured into the room. I found a ladder and got on to the roof with a heavy weight tied on to a piece of rope and dropped it down the chimney. But when it hit the blockage, nothing happened. After three more attempts it did the trick and my aunt, who was waiting for it to come through, was covered with soot and old birds’ nests. She looked like one of the Black and White Minstrels, but how the fire roared up the chimney after that. We enjoyed our stay there for many years until we moved back to Birmingham”.
The magazine goes on to explain that “there were, in fact, two cottages – Mount Pleasant Cottages belonging to Mount Pleasant Farm. One of these was later unoccupied for several years until the farm was divided and sold. Mr and Mrs Martin Sheridan rebuilt and modernised the old cottages, converting them into one house”.
Mount Pleasant Cottages see Mount Pleasant House
Mulberry House
Built on the site of The Vicarage in the early 1970s. The Vicarage was designed by architect John Pollard Seddon and built in 1875. It was designed in the Gothic Revival style and had an octagonal central hall. It was sold by the church diocese in February 1973 and subsequently demolished. The two houses, Mulberry House & Field’s Edge were later built on the site.
New Lathrup
Named after Lathrup Village in the USA. It was given this name by Ken and Olga Hemmings who had lived in Lathrup Village before buying the house in Ullenhall; they took their inspiration from New York, New Hampshire and New England etc.
The house was built on an orchard belonging to Meadowside, the developer had tried to get permission for 4-6 houses in a cul-de-sac. (Information provided by Ken Hemmings).
Ken and Olga live here for many years, until it was sold in 2016. The house was remodeled and renamed ‘Henley House’.
Nutlands Farm, Redditch Road
On the 1843 Tithe map it is described as a House Yard Garden &c.
Oak Tree Cottage
In the Barrells Estate Sale of 1919 the land on which Oak Tree Cottage is built was part of Lot 16 and consisted of a garden in the occupation of Mr Tatnall, who lived at the shop and house opposite (now The Old Stores), and a small paddock in the occupation of Mr. Friend, who farmed at Crowleys Farm.
Oakdene Cottage, Grimshaw Hill
Built between 1925 and 1938 it was included with Oldberrow Court when the Grimshaw Hill Estate was sold in 1957 when it is described as an excellent detached modern cottage. At this point it was called “The Cottage”.
Extended c1978.
Old Chapel Cottage
Grade II Listed. Early/mid 18th Century with possibly earlier origins, in 3 stages of build, and with later additions and alterations. (source: www.imagesofengland.org.uk)
Old Chapel Cottage was once four cottages which were converted in to one circa 1980. The property is grade II listed; the listing suggests that it is in three stages of build so originally it may have only been one or two cottages.
On the 1841 census the cottages known as ‘Chappel Yard’ were home to Ann Bidle & Mary Dolphin; Thomas Franklin; William Hunscott; and Sarah Kent along with their families and lodgers. William Hunscott was a bricklayer who lived there with his wife, Sarah, and three children Mary, Samuel and Eliza. There is more about the life and death of Samuel in the ‘Misc’ section of this website.
At this time the cottages were church owned but they were transferred to St. Mark’s Charity in 1865. A report for the charity dated 1865 stated “The four cottages at the Old Chapel are let to Thomas Franklin Jnr., Thomas Franklin Snr., Abraham Kelsey and Henry Brown at a rental of £2 12 0 each. These cottages require whitewashing and a trifling repair to the tiling. The nuisance at the pigsty removed, and if possible a supply of water.” [WCRO-CR2044]
The Charity was managed by Trustees who decided who to let the property to, what repairs to authorise, and what to do if a tenant was in arrears. One of the tenants of the Old Chapel cottages was Abraham Kelsey; he had been living at the cottage since at least 1861. At their annual meeting in April 1880 the Trustees resolved “that A. Kelsey be not ejected from his cottage tho’ greatly in arrears with his rent”. [WCRO-CR2044]. The following year it was reported that he was not ejected and died penniless. According to the Parish Magazine, Abraham Kelsey was buried on May 17th 1880. He was reportedly 95 (although census records would put him around 85 to 90), the oldest inhabitant of the parish, and “cut off to a great extent, by extreme deafness, from communicating his thoughts to those around him”.
This transfer of ownership to St. Mark’s Charity looks to have caused some concern to one of the occupants – Thomas Franklin (it is not clear whether it was Thomas Franklin Snr or Thomas Franklin Jnr). In 1865 two notices were sent to Thomas Franklin on behalf of the Trustees of Saint Mark’s Charity. A descendent of Thomas Franklin, Miss Flo Morgan, had these notices and they were reproduced in the Ullenhall Parish Magazine, October 1983:
“The first notice ‘dated this 23rd day of September 1865’ read:
“We the undersigned Trustees of a certain charity called Saint Mark’s Charity do hereby give you Notice to Quit and deliver up to us at Lady day next ensuing the date hereof the possession of all that cottage with the gardens and appurtenances which you now rent or hold of or under us situate in the hamlet of Ullenhall in the County of Warwick and now in your possession”.
This notice was signed by three trustees, including the vicar – the Rev. Richard Thursfield, on behalf of the other trustees. The second notice ‘dated this first day of November 1865’ and signed by three other trustees said:
“Take Notice. That whereas the Board of Charity Commissioners for England and Wales having in writing under their Seal bearing date the 28th day of April 1865 appointed the undermentioned persons (the names included the Rev. Henry Knight, one of the well-known Ullenhall family; Squire T.H.G. Newton of Barrells; and a gentleman with the unusual first name of Raincock) Trustees of the Chapel Lands otherwise Saint Mark’s Charity in the Hamlet of Ullenhall in the County of Warwick for the administration and management of the above named Charity. Now we being three of the Said Trustees do hereby give you Notice not to pay to any person or persons except to the Said Trustees, of the person appointed by them to receive the same, any Rent now due or may hereafter become due from you in respect of the Said Charity Estate, otherwise legal proceedings will be taken for the recovery thereof”.
. . .
What caused the friction in1865 must be a matter of conjecture. But as reference is made to the legal appointment of trustees for St Mark’s Charity, it reads as though there was some doubt about the administrative authority in Thomas’ mind and that he was passing rent in good faith to the wrong person. This would account for the notice to quit quickly followed by a severe warning that if he was allowed to stay he must deal with the accredited authority about whom he could no longer have any misgivings in view of the Charity Commissioners recent endorsement of their standing”.
It must have been resolved as both Thomas Franklin Snr and Thomas Franklin Jnr continued to live in the cottages. The Franklin family had a long connection with the cottages; after Thomas Franklin Snr died in 1878 his daughter Ann continued to live in the cottage. By 1861 Thomas Franklin Jnr, lived in one of the cottages with his wife Hannah and their five children (they had at least 8 children in total). Thomas Jnr lived there until his death in 1909. The 1911 census shows that two of the cottages were occupied by members of the Franklin family – Ellen Franklin aged 60, the daughter of Thomas Jnr lived in one with her boarder, Joseph Pardington; and Ben Franklin (aged 41) and his sister, Emma (aged 51) lived in another with their boarder Arthur William Ashfield. Ben and Emma Franklin were also the children of Thomas Jnr. Ben Franklin was the Parish Clerk, a role which his father and grandfather had also held (there is a piece and a poem about Thomas Franklin Snr in the 1878 parish magazine). The family connection with the cottages continued; in 1951 one of the tenants was J. Tasker; he had married Cis Morgan who was a great grand-daughter of Thomas Franklin Jnr.
By 1901 one of the cottages was occupied by the Scragg family. In 1911 29 year old Samuel, his widowed mother Mary Ann, and her two sons Reginald (19) and Walter Harold (18) lived there. They paid a rent of £2 12s 0d for their three roomed cottage. In 1907 they had been warned about overcrowding in the cottage; St Mark’s Charity minutes recorded that “The Secretary called attention to cases of overcrowding in the Cottages occupied respectively by Albert Cooper and Mary Ann Scragg, and on the motion of Mr Friend seconded by Mr Bomber it was resolved “That the Secretary be requested to write to the two Tenants in question, pointing out that the nuisance must be abated.” [WCRO – CR2044]
In 1951 the tenants were Barclay; W. Harris; J. Tasker and C. Hartwright. Mention is made of stabling adjoining C. Hartwright’s. [WCRO – CR2044]. This was a brick built building attached to the end of the four cottages, the end nearest to the Old Chapel.
In 1979 the trustees of St. Mark’s Charity decided to sell the cottages. They were in quite a dilapidated state and only one had been let. The four cottages and stable were converted into one house.
Old Oak
Old Pastures
Old Spinney Farm, Gentlemans Lane see Mockley Wood Farm
Old Turf Cottage
It is not known when this cottage was built but on the 1843 tithe schedule it is shown to be owned by Robert Knight. In a report on the Barrels Estate of 1855 [DR886/10] the tenant of this Cottage and garden was stated to be Mr. William Pugh. William Pugh was a cordwainer. The 1841 census shows him living with his wife, Frances, and his four sons, James, Samuel, Joseph and George (They are all probably their sons but the 1841 census does not show relationships).
The property was included in the Barrells Estate sale of 1856 [DR57/23] as part of Lot 15 along with three other cottages. The cottage was purchased by Rev. H.C. Knight who in 1882 sold it to T.H.G. Newton.
It was included in the Barrells Estate sale, October 23rd 1924 in which there is reference to a “piece of Old Turf Land at the back”, which explains the name.
Probably re-fronted at some stage. Late twentieth century extensions.
Orchard Cottage
It is not known when this cottage was built but on the 1843 tithe schedule it is shown to be owned by Robert Knight. In a report on the Barrels Estate of 1855 [DR886/10] the tenant of this Cottage and garden was stated to be Mr. John Gee. The area of land covered was 1 perch (approximately 25 square metres). It was included in the Barrells Estate sale of 1856 [DR57/23] as part of Lot 15 along with three other cottages. The cottage was purchased by Rev. H.C. Knight who in 1882 sold it to T.H.G. Newton.
It was included in the Barrells Estate sale, October 23rd 1924.
Probably re-fronted at some stage. Late twentieth century extensions.
Orchard House
The house was built on an orchard belonging to Meadowside, the developer had tried to get permission for 4-6 houses in a cul-de-sac. (Information provided by Ken Hemmings).
Oulton
One of four bungalows built in the mid 1960s. The first owners (1966), named it Oulton as they spent many happy times racing at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
Paddock Cottage, Grimshaw Hill
Built between 1925 and 1938 it was included with Grimshaw Hill when the Grimshaw Hill Estate was sold by auction in 1957 when it was described as a ‘well built modern Cottage known as “Paddox Cottage”’.
Extended c1988.
Pantiles
Built c1960 by Mrs Edith Wedgebury who bought the land from Kenneth Barrington Biddle.
Papillon Hall
Crowley’s Oak was built in the 1930s by Mrs Grant-Ferris, mother of Robert Grant-Ferris, Conservative MP of 31 years and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, later Lord Harvington (source: Parish Magazine March 1981).
The house was once used for a scene in the BBC television Drama series Dangerfield.
In 1995 a fire badly damaged the property. In 2005 Papillon Hall was built as a replacement dwelling for Crowley’s Oak.
It was built by Steve Dodd of Dodd Homes and was based on the butterfly footprint created by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Papillon Hall in Leicestershire. (Sunday Times 26.6.05)
Park Barn
Grade II Listed. 17th Century, converted to house c1950-70 including outshut to front. (source: www.imagesofengland.org.uk)
The piece of land that both Park Barn and Park Farm stand on is identified on the Tithe Map (1843) as “Street meadow” in the ownership of Rev. Poyntz Stewart Ward perpetual Curate of Bearley. It was purchased from William and Mary James in 1780 for the perpetual augmentation of the Curacy of Bearley. Rent from this land would have supplemented the living of the Curate. In 1863 the then perpetual Curate of Bearley, the Rev. Thomas Jones, clerk, sold the land to the Newtons for £246 10s 6d.
Included in Barrells Estate sale, October 23rd 1924 as part of Park Farm. Listed as “…with the FARM BUILDINGS, consisting of large brick and tile and half-timbered Barn…”.
Park Farm
The piece of land that both Park Barn and Park Farm stand on is identified on the Tithe Map (1843) as “Street meadow” in the ownership of Rev. Poyntz Stewart Ward perpetual Curate of Bearley.
The land , referred to as ‘Street Piece’ was purchased from William and Mary James in 1780 for the perpetual augmentation of the Curacy of Bearley. Rent from this land would have supplemented the living of the Curate. In 1863 the then perpetual Curate of Bearley, the Rev. Thomas Jones, clerk, sold the land to the Newtons for £246 10s 6d. [DR229]
Park Farm was originally known as Park Barn.
In January 1880 THG Newton promised to give a cottage for six months to be used as a ‘Village Institute’. The cottage given was Park Barn.
“The Village Club at Park Barn was opened on Thursday, January 22nd. Coffee, cocoa, and biscuits are supplied to the members at reasonable prices. The games are bagatelle, chess, draughts, dominoes, etc. Several newspapers are taken and others kindly lent. The room is well attended” [Parish Magazine March 1880].
Presumably the cottage was used as the Village Institute until the Coffee House was opened in 1883:
“At the quarterly meeting of the committee of the Ullenhall Village Club, held at the room on October 11th, at 7.30, the subscription for the next three months was fixed at 1s. 6d. George Pardington was appointed fire lighter, coffee maker, etc., at one shilling per week. Votes of thanks were passed to . . . and to T.H.G. Newton, Esq., for the use of the club house”. [Ullenhall Parish Magazine Nov 1882].
In 1911 Joseph Yeomans, farmer, was living there with his wife Mary and their two children Mabel and Joseph.
The property was included in the Barrells Estate sale of October 23rd 1924. It was known as Park Barn Farm and sold for £2,600.
By 1967 the house had been extended and painted white.
Park Gate
Park House
Park House is situated adjacent to the site where Yew Tree Farm used to stand. In 2007 planning permission was obtained to demolish Yew Tree Farm and replace it with a new house; this new house has been named ‘Park House’.
Yew Tree Farm was shown on the tithe map and schedule of 1843. The owner at that time was John Tarlton and it was occupied by Henry Tarlton. John Tarlton also owned six of the adjacent fields – known as Long Close, Barn Close, Home Close, Little Close and Grove Close – totalling approximately 23 acres; Henry Tarlton occupied these.
In 1852 a property was advertised as part of an auction sale; it is likely that this property was Yew Tree Farm:
“Lot 2 – A compact FARM, comprising a Dwelling House in good repair, large Garden, and necessary Farm Buildings, and six pieces of Meadow, Pasture, and Arable LAND adjoining, containing twenty-three Acres or thereabouts, . . ., and lately occupied by Mr. Spencer. . . . To view the property apply to Mssrs . John or Henry Tarlton, at Ullenhall . . . .” [Aris’s Birmingham Gazette 23/8/1852].
The property may have been withdrawn as it was advertised again in 1853, when Mr. Tallis then occupied it. It is not known whether it sold or who it was sold to.
By 1881 John Ardern, a farmer, was living there along with his wife, Ann and 12 year old servant Jane Lee. On the 1881 census the property is listed as Yew Tree Cottage. Presumably the Ardern family purchased the property at some point as the Finance Act map and schedule of circa 1910 lists Mrs Arden as the owner. At that time it was occupied by WH Pearsall.
Farmer Ernest Hurley was living at Yew Tree Farm in 1911, along with Florence his wife, and their daughter Gwendoline; as well as Nellie and Alice Hemming, aged 14 and 13 who were domestic servants. The house had eight rooms. [1911 census].
In 1936 Jack and Maggie Wilkinson came to Yew Tree Farm with their family . They had a milk business. Jack had been gassed during WW1 which affected his health so eventually he had to give up farming. [Parish Magazine April 1981].
Pear Tree House
Built in 1961, along with the adjoining house Braeside, by Leonard and Violet Beard. They chose to live at Pear Tree House (source: Parish Magazine December 1989).
Pentewan, Ramshill Lane
Perry Mill, Perry Mill Lane
Perry Mill Cottages (1-3)
The cottages were built in 1885 and formed part of the Barrels Estate owned at that time by Mr T H G Newton. They were included with other properties owned by the Barrels Estate put up to be sold at auction at the Grand Hotel, Birmingham on June 26th 1919 at 4pm. They were shown on a map that showed a Plan of Portions of THE “BARRELLS” ESTATE and identified as Lot 11. Other properties sold as part of this particular auction were Barrels Park mansion house and lands, (Lot 1), Mount Pleasant Dairy Farm, (Lot 4), a small freehold country property known as Brook House, (Lot 9), and Crowley’s Farm, (Lot 14).
The description of Lot 11 was as follows:-
“Three Capital Modern cottages built of brick and tile, and known as “PERRY MILL COTTAGES” near the Village of Ullenhall. The two outer Cottages contain kitchen and living room combined, scullery, two bedrooms, and outoffices, and the centre Cottage has similar accommodation on the ground floor, but with an additional bedroom. Each house has a productive garden attached to it, and there are also two pigstyes and other erections, the whole containing an area of about 3 roods 13 perches.”
The annual combined rental at that time was £17 comprising Nos.1 and 3, £5 each per annum, and No.2, £7 per annum. Other remarks:” These Cottages are most excellently built, and two of them have unusually large gardens, with a road frontage of about 150 yards”.
The plot that the cottages stood on was purchased by Mr Edwin Hanson, (Farmer), of Moat House Farm, Ullenhall. The Conveyance dated September 1st 1919 between Edwin Hanson and Hugh Goodwin Newton and Mark Goodwin Newton (Commander Royal Navy) formalised the sale. At that time the tenants in occupation were Alfred Morgan, K Richmond and Henry Neal. In November 1919 Edwin Hanson then sold the cottages off as individual lots. No.1 Perry Mill Cottage was sold to a Mr John Allcott (Baker) for £190, No.2 was sold to Mr William Henry Richmond (County Council Roadman) for £200 and I assume that No.3 was sold to Mr Alfred Morgan.
[We are grateful to Geoff Smith for providing the above information]
The three cottages that were built in 1885 replaced a house that was on the site, described in 1843 [tithe schedule] as a ‘house, buildings and land’. This property was owned by Robert Knight Esq, part of his Barrels Estate.
In 1843 the occupier was Thomas Ward. He was an agricultural labourer, who was 60 years old in 1841 [census]. Also living with him was Elizabeth Steedman (35) and her 2 year old daughter, Emma.
In 1856 the house, outbuildings and garden which stood on this site was included in the Barrells Estate sale as part of Lot 7 (Mount Pleasant Farm) [DR57/23]. Lot 7 was purchased by Mr William Newton who had also purchased Barrells Hall.
Thomas Ward was still living at the house in 1861 at the age of 79, with Elizabeth Steadman (housekeeper). By 1871 Thomas had died but Elizabeth, now Ward (a widow), with her daughter Emma Knight (a widow), and grandsons Wilkes Steadman, aged 7, and one year old Walter Knight were still living there. (From the census it is difficult to identify exactly where they were living; they could have been living in the cottages opposite, now known as Perry Mill, but they were probably still at the house). The banns of marriage between Thomas Ward (widower) and Elizabeth Steedman (spinster) were read at Ullenhall in 1838 but we cannot trace a record of the marriage taking place then or at a later date.
In 1877 Emma Knight married Henry Neal. It can be seen from the subsequent censuses that when the three new cottages were built in 1885 Henry and Emma Neal lived in one of these cottages.
According to the finance act map and schedule c1910, Charles Franklin lived at number 1; Charles Palmer lived at number 2; and Henry Neal at number 3.
The 1891 and 1901 census show that these families were living in the cottages at that time too. In 1901 Charles Franklin was a 48 year old agricultural labourer who lived with his wife Amy and their four children. Charles Palmer was a carpenter; he was 65 and lived with his wife Mary, and daughter Sarah. Henry Neale was a 48 year old bricklayer who lived with his wife Emma, and their son John Henry who was also a bricklayer. [1901 census].
The 1911 census showed that Henry and Emma Neal were still living at one of the cottages. William and Mary Richmond lived in another, along with three of their children Leonard (23), Thomas (18) and Leslie (9). Thomas Richmond was killed in the First World War and his name is on the village war memorial. In the other cottage lived Alfred Morgan with his wife Jane (daughter of Charles Franklin who had moved across the road to live at Perry Mill), and their 5 month old daughter, Florence.
As has been mentioned the properties were owned by the Newton family and were included in the Barrells Estate sale of June 26th 1919 (Lot11). The tenants at this time were Mr. Alfred Morgan, Mr. K. Richmond and Mr. Henry Neal. Lot 11 was purchased by Mr Hanson, who farmed at Moat House Farm. In August 1919 Alfred Morgan paid Mr Hanson £200 for a cottage. Alfred’s daughter, Flo Morgan, lived at number 3 until she died in 1989.
John Allcott, who purchased number 1, was the village baker. He ran his business and lived at what is now ‘The Old Bakery’. Presumably he purchased number 1 to let it out to tenants.
Edith and Leslie Richmond (daughter and son of William and Mary Richmond) lived together in number 2 until 1982 when Edie moved to Four Acres Home for the Elderly. Les Richmond died in January 1983. “He had been a devoted churchwarden for many years, attending Sunday service and cycling to church in all weathers. Parishioners will remember the tall figure standing in the porch, shaking hands and passing the time of day with everyone as they left. … He was Tower Keeper . . . and every Sunday he continued to climb the vertical ladder to wind the church clock long after the arthritis from which he suffered would have stopped a lesser person” [Parish Magazine March 1983]. Their garden was “a typical country garden with plentiful vegetables and fruit, as well as poultry, and, like Les, Edie was a keen gardener” [Parish Magazine July 1986].
In the 1990s number 3 was extended and number 2 featured in a scene from the BBC television drama Dalziel & Pascoe.
Pump House, White Pump Lane
Railway Cottage, Blunts Green
Railway Cottage is a Grade II Listed building. It dates from the 17th Century with 19th Century additions to left and rear, and later alterations [source: www.imagesofengland.org.uk].
The tithe map and schedule of 1843 lists Joseph Knight as both the landowner and occupier of the property, one of the few cottages in the hamlet where the person who lived in the cottage also owned it. Joseph Knight was a brickmaker who was 60 years old and lived with George and Mary Knight, probably his son and daughter [1841 census].
The Finance Act map and schedule (circa 1910) showed that the cottage was owned and occupied by the Misses Fawcetts . Sisters Sarah Ann and Mary Jane Fawcett, aged 70 and 66 respectively were both single; Sarah was a milliner, Mary a dressmaker [1911 census]. In 1901 they were living there with their brother, William Fawcett, an army pensioner but he died later that year.
Both Sarah and Mary would have seen the North Warwickshire railway line being built outside their home; the line opened in 1908. This must have been quite a change for them, before this the lane passed in front of their cottage; the railway line was built and the lane was redirected.
For many years Frank Cross lived at Railway Cottage; after his father died he lived there alone for sixty years. “Educated at Tanworth-in-Arden School, he had worked at Botley Hill Farm and everyone in Dean’s Green knew him and was his friend – even train drivers signalled him as they passed. He was indeed a delightful character with constant visitors. Frank was a dedicated gardener with his large garden and greenhouses full of flowers and vegetables. He also kept poultry . . .” [Ullenhall Parish Magazine Oct 1995].
Frank Cross died in 1995. In 1996 a planning application was submitted for alterations to Railway Cottage, along with an extension and a new garage [planning application ref 96/00044/FUL]. The work was carried out in the early 2000s.
Red Roofs
So named because its roof tiles were once a noticeable red colour.
In the Barrells Estate Sale of 1919 the land on which Red Roofs is built was part of Lot 16 and consisted of a garden in the occupation of Mr Tatnall, who lived at the shop and house opposite (now The Old Stores), and a small paddock in the occupation of Mr. Friend, who farmed at Crowleys Farm.
Ridgeway
Built in the early 21st Century.
Rivermead, Tanworth Lane
Rosa see Rosedale
Rose Cottage Farm
On the Tithe Map (1843) it is described as “Barn Close and Barn”.
The date on the front of the building states 1862 but it is possible that it incorporates an older building.
It was included in Barrells Estate sale June 26th 1919.
Rosedale
Rosemary Villa, Tanworth Lane