Windmill Hill Farm, Great Linford
Unlike some of the other farms that have existed within the parish of Great Linford, we can be almost certain as to the ancient origins of the name Windmill Hill Farm, as there was once a medieval post mill in the parish. However, it should be noted that though we cannot say when exactly the name Windmill Hill Farm came into common usage, we can with some confidence extrapolate a plausible chain of ownership between the land upon which the windmill stood, and the farm that subsequently bore its name.
It is thought that the windmill (which was excavated in 1977) was built circa 1285, but had likely been dismantled by the mid 1500s. However, the hill upon which it was constructed still existed in 1641, as it is plainly marked on the estate map (Buckinghamshire Archives, MaR/26) produced that year, as well as two fields named "Furlong between Windmill Hades" and "Furlong on upper side Windmill Hades." The word Hades was local dialect for an unploughed strip left between the ploughed parts of a field. The initials S.R.N on the map refer to the Lord of the Manor, Sir Richard Napier, and signify his ownership of the land. The notation in each field utilising sequences of three numbers refers to the size of the field in acres, roods and perches, the latter two words being old units of measure.
1641 Estate map of Great Linford, showing WIndmill Hill and the High Street at the bottom of the image (MaR/26.) From the collection of Buckinghamshire Archives and reproduced with permission.
Assuming the map maker made some attempt to scale the buildings depicted, there is a larger than average looking house occupying the approximate location of the future farmstead of Windmill Hill Farm. The name of the owner/occupier is somewhat unclear, but it is very likely to be George Peirson, who appears in a document, Exchange of Shenley Hospital lands with Sir Richard Napier, following inclosure of Great Linford, 1617-1659 (Buckinghamsire Archives, D-U/1/52.) The document makes reference to "75 acres land, meadow, furze, leys, hades, slades, ways, baulks, furrows and sward ground lying in the common fields, meadows and commonable places of Great Linford, and all common of pasture, furze, lot of furze, all which premises were formerly in the occupation of George Peirson, James Worrall and Richard Worrall and now of Thomas Stafford, with all commons of pasture and herbage, which Thomas Stafford has in Great Linford."
The connection with George Peirson seems to add up. Not only does the date range of the document fall within the timeframe of the 1641 estate map, but his house and land, plus another nearby field in his occupation (though only amounting to a little over nine acres on the estate map) are in broadly the same area as the modern day Windmill Hill Farm. Additionally, a lease for 1000 years (Buckinghamshire Archives D-BAS/22/350/2) dated 1659 make reference to a parcel of land measuring 88 acres, exactly the same figure that would be cited in a sale for the farm conducted in 1877. We might put that down to coincidence, but corresponding references to Thomas Stafford and "hospital land" provide for an incontrovertible link across the centuries, with what must surely be this same agreement cited in a sales brochure for Windmill Hill Farm in 1898.
Turning to a tithe map of the village drawn up in 1840 (Buckinghamshire Archives, Tithe/255), it is clear that the farmland that we can equate with Windmill Hill Farm included the site of the old windmill, and that there were still two fields that hark back to the older names on the 1641 estate map, #119 (Little Windmill Hill) visible in the extract below. and #120 (Great Windmill Hill.) The farmstead is labelled as #101, located toward the bottom right hand side of the map. The farmstead occupied land to the rear of what is now the converted barn on the High Street called the Cowshed, the modern housing on Deerfern Close, and some land now taken up by the cricket pitch.
The connection with George Peirson seems to add up. Not only does the date range of the document fall within the timeframe of the 1641 estate map, but his house and land, plus another nearby field in his occupation (though only amounting to a little over nine acres on the estate map) are in broadly the same area as the modern day Windmill Hill Farm. Additionally, a lease for 1000 years (Buckinghamshire Archives D-BAS/22/350/2) dated 1659 make reference to a parcel of land measuring 88 acres, exactly the same figure that would be cited in a sale for the farm conducted in 1877. We might put that down to coincidence, but corresponding references to Thomas Stafford and "hospital land" provide for an incontrovertible link across the centuries, with what must surely be this same agreement cited in a sales brochure for Windmill Hill Farm in 1898.
Turning to a tithe map of the village drawn up in 1840 (Buckinghamshire Archives, Tithe/255), it is clear that the farmland that we can equate with Windmill Hill Farm included the site of the old windmill, and that there were still two fields that hark back to the older names on the 1641 estate map, #119 (Little Windmill Hill) visible in the extract below. and #120 (Great Windmill Hill.) The farmstead is labelled as #101, located toward the bottom right hand side of the map. The farmstead occupied land to the rear of what is now the converted barn on the High Street called the Cowshed, the modern housing on Deerfern Close, and some land now taken up by the cricket pitch.
1840 Tithe map of Great Linford, orientated to match the 1641 estate map and showing the farmstead of Windmill Hill Farm (#101) and several of the fields included in the tenancy (Tithe/255.) From the collection of Buckinghamshire Archives and reproduced with permission.
Above, modern map with approximate location of the farmstead of Windmill Hill Farm.
Illustrating how oddly distributed land could be between different tenants, the tithe map of 1840 illustrates that the farmstead was at this time cut off from the bulk of its land, with the fields numbered 115 (Rick Shepherds) and 86 (Back Close) in the occupation of James Hawley, a farmer who lived further along the High Street at a property called The Cottage (numbered 85.) The field numbered 109 was occupied by a Thomas Hewitt along with an adjacent house on the High Street. All together, a rather inconvenient seeming arrangement for the tenant of Windmill Hill Farm. The land extended toward the east of the High Street and was bisected by the Grand Junction Canal, though a bridge had been provided by the canal company so that farmers could cross over, reflected no doubt in the fact that the field on the opposite bank was called First Bridge Close.
The bridge built to allow farmers to reach land cut off by the Grand Junction Canal. The bridge crosses from modern-day Great Linford into Giffard Park.
William Thomas Tomkins and Harriet Knapp
The tithe map of 1840 tells us that the tenant was William Thomas Tomkins, but rather unusually given the iron grip that the Uthwatts otherwise held over the agricultural tenancy of the parish, they did not own Windmill Hill Farm. Instead, the ownership is ascribed to Harriet Knapp, the daughter of Matthew and Catherine Knapp of Little Linford Manor. The reason behind Harriot's ownership becomes clearer when we consider that her mother was the daughter of Thomas and Catherine Uthwatt of Great Linford Manor, so given such a strong family connection, it hardly seems surprising that she had acquired land and property in the village.
The 1837 electoral poll book entry for the village describes William Tomkins as the occupier of land called “Windmill Hill”, though his place of abode is recorded as nearby Stantonbury, reflecting the fact that the voting rules at the time allowed a person to vote in more than one place, based on the value of land they occupied. The following year’s poll book provides much the same information, excepting that William’s abode is now named as Filgrove. This however appears to be an error, as the correct spelling is Filgrave, a tiny hamlet about three miles north of Great Linford. The 1841 census places William and his family at Filgrave, so it may be that he was really running Windmill Hill Farm somewhat at arm’s length, and someone as yet unidentified was living in the farmhouse and seeing to the day to day running of the business.
Several trade directories were published in the 1840s, but William does not seem to feature in any of them, though the suspicion must be that he had severed his connection with Windmill Hill Farm by the mid-1840s. However, a number of newspaper references can be found that associate him with the farm in this decade, though none later than 1845. At this time, the Newport Pagnell Agricultural Association was in the habit of issuing awards to recognise the achievements of farm workers. A John Mapley, a shepherd in the employ of William Tomkins of Great Linford was lauded several times, once for rearing 80 lambs from 61 ewes (reported in the Northampton Mercury of October 9th, 1841) and then again reported in the same newspaper of October 1st, 1842, for overseeing the birth of 90 lambs from 70 ewes. The association provided a cash prize, £1 in the first instance, and 10 shillings in the latter.
A subsequent announcement carried in the Northampton Mercury of March 15th, 1845, gives notice that an auction was to be held on the afternoon of the 18th, for upwards of 20 tons of fine old upland hay, then standing in a field called Windmill Hills, and the property of Mr Tomkins. Notably, only the field is named, not the farm.
William certainly seems to have got around, as by the time of the 1851 census, he is living at Market Square in Stony Stratford, where he was now making a living as a brewer and maltster, as it seems he once did in Sherrington. Given that he once lived so close to The Nags Head, it does raise the intriguing thought that William might also have been brewing in Great Linford. He passed away at the age of 55 at Stony Stratford.
Harriet Knapp, who never married, passed away in London on January 7th, 1841, shortly after the tithe map was completed. What precisely might have happened to the title of the property immediately after her passing is unclear, though a mortgage document held at Buckinghamshire Archives (D-X 1457/50) dated December 30th, 1892, places Windmill Hill Farm in the continued ownership of the Knapp family.
The 1837 electoral poll book entry for the village describes William Tomkins as the occupier of land called “Windmill Hill”, though his place of abode is recorded as nearby Stantonbury, reflecting the fact that the voting rules at the time allowed a person to vote in more than one place, based on the value of land they occupied. The following year’s poll book provides much the same information, excepting that William’s abode is now named as Filgrove. This however appears to be an error, as the correct spelling is Filgrave, a tiny hamlet about three miles north of Great Linford. The 1841 census places William and his family at Filgrave, so it may be that he was really running Windmill Hill Farm somewhat at arm’s length, and someone as yet unidentified was living in the farmhouse and seeing to the day to day running of the business.
Several trade directories were published in the 1840s, but William does not seem to feature in any of them, though the suspicion must be that he had severed his connection with Windmill Hill Farm by the mid-1840s. However, a number of newspaper references can be found that associate him with the farm in this decade, though none later than 1845. At this time, the Newport Pagnell Agricultural Association was in the habit of issuing awards to recognise the achievements of farm workers. A John Mapley, a shepherd in the employ of William Tomkins of Great Linford was lauded several times, once for rearing 80 lambs from 61 ewes (reported in the Northampton Mercury of October 9th, 1841) and then again reported in the same newspaper of October 1st, 1842, for overseeing the birth of 90 lambs from 70 ewes. The association provided a cash prize, £1 in the first instance, and 10 shillings in the latter.
A subsequent announcement carried in the Northampton Mercury of March 15th, 1845, gives notice that an auction was to be held on the afternoon of the 18th, for upwards of 20 tons of fine old upland hay, then standing in a field called Windmill Hills, and the property of Mr Tomkins. Notably, only the field is named, not the farm.
William certainly seems to have got around, as by the time of the 1851 census, he is living at Market Square in Stony Stratford, where he was now making a living as a brewer and maltster, as it seems he once did in Sherrington. Given that he once lived so close to The Nags Head, it does raise the intriguing thought that William might also have been brewing in Great Linford. He passed away at the age of 55 at Stony Stratford.
Harriet Knapp, who never married, passed away in London on January 7th, 1841, shortly after the tithe map was completed. What precisely might have happened to the title of the property immediately after her passing is unclear, though a mortgage document held at Buckinghamshire Archives (D-X 1457/50) dated December 30th, 1892, places Windmill Hill Farm in the continued ownership of the Knapp family.
Richard Barratt
The Post Office directory for 1847 names seven farmers in the parish, some of whom we can equate with other farms, though none can be positively identified as then occupying Windmill Hill Farm. The aforementioned poll books of 1837 and 1838 made reference to a “Windmill Hill” as a placename in Great Linford, but the earliest explicit reference found so far to a “Windmill Hill Farm” appears in the Bucks Herald of April 8th, 1876, which carried a notice of an impending sale of trees. Included in the sale were 37 large elms, 14 very fine oaks and three capital ash timber trees, all then standing, blazed and numbered on Mr Barrett’s farm; the word “blazed” refers to the practice of cutting the bark of a tree with an identifying mark.
We can identify with reasonable confidence the “Mr Barratt” in this advertisement as Richard Barratt, who is named as a farmer in successive trade directories for the village, the earliest instance of which appears in the Musson & Craven’s directory of 1853. Frustratingly the directories consistently fail to name his place of residence, but we can reasonably presume it to have been Windmill Hill Farm.
A Richard Barrett does appear on the last page of the 1841 census for Great Linford, though curiously his address is given as the neighbouring parish of Stantonbury. This can be explained because the old parish of Stantonbury directly adjoined the parish of Great Linford and seemed so small that it was essentially tacked onto the Great Linford enumerators route. Richard’s profession is provided as a merchant, and we can see that his wife Mary was some ten years his junior, having been born circa 1812. When and where they married is unclear, though a Richard Barrett married a Mary Goodey at Newport Pagnell on February 6th, 1834.
Richard does not appear in the earlier 1847 post-office directory, but he is listed on the 1851 census as living on the High Street. Again, the farm is unnamed, but the census provides the detail that he is a grazier of 80 acres employing two labourers. Corroboratively, the figure of 80 acres is as close as makes no difference to the figure of 81 acres provided for the 1840 tithe map. We also learn that he has been widowed and is living alongside him is a 15-year-old daughter Mary, and two sons, Richard aged 12 and Alfred, ten. Also in the household is Catherine Hewitt, a housekeeper. The precise year of his wife's death is a matter of conjecture; there are two candidates recorded in the Newport Pagnell registration district, one in 1842, the other in 1848, but the name Barratt does not appear in the parish burial records. This implies she was buried somewhere other than Great Linford.
The 1851 census tells us that Richard snr was born in North Crawley in 1802, though the only plausible record of a baptism in North Crawley for a person of that name is dated December 15th, 1799, with the date of birth provided as December 12th. Given the vagaries of record keeping at the time, this could very well be the same person.
We can continue to trace the tenure of the family through trade directories and census records. Richard, Mary and their son Alfred appear on the 1861 census, with Richard described as a farmer of 81 acres employing two men. Also in the household are two servants, 70-year-old housekeeper Barbara Bates, and 21-year-old shepherd and milk man, George Collyer. Richard, Mary and Alfred are still together on the 1871 census, joined by only one servant, 17-year-old Ambrose Farer. The farm is again described as 81 acres, employing two men. Throughout this period Richard is also named as a farmer in editions of the Kelly’s trade directory for the years 1854, 1864, 1869 and 1877, though as is usual, this publication omits to name the farm.
Despite having resided at the farm for over a quarter of a century, little else has been found concerning the Barratts, though we do know that Richard was appointed an overseer to the poor on a number of occasions, between 1859 and 1867 and that he was taken to court in March 1860 over the matter of six shillings owed for surveying work.
The last reference thus far discovered is in connection to his departure from the farm. The brief advertisement carried in Croydon’s Weekly Standard of March 3rd, 1877, states the farm’s size as 88 acres, one rood and 11 perches (a slight increase on the previous figure), and also states it was all grass, indicating it was a dairy farm. Possession was to become available at the following Lady’s Day, the traditional day for the Feast of the Annunciation which was held each year on March 25th. The date was later adopted as the official start of the fiscal and tax year, hence its inclusion in the advertisement.
We can identify with reasonable confidence the “Mr Barratt” in this advertisement as Richard Barratt, who is named as a farmer in successive trade directories for the village, the earliest instance of which appears in the Musson & Craven’s directory of 1853. Frustratingly the directories consistently fail to name his place of residence, but we can reasonably presume it to have been Windmill Hill Farm.
A Richard Barrett does appear on the last page of the 1841 census for Great Linford, though curiously his address is given as the neighbouring parish of Stantonbury. This can be explained because the old parish of Stantonbury directly adjoined the parish of Great Linford and seemed so small that it was essentially tacked onto the Great Linford enumerators route. Richard’s profession is provided as a merchant, and we can see that his wife Mary was some ten years his junior, having been born circa 1812. When and where they married is unclear, though a Richard Barrett married a Mary Goodey at Newport Pagnell on February 6th, 1834.
Richard does not appear in the earlier 1847 post-office directory, but he is listed on the 1851 census as living on the High Street. Again, the farm is unnamed, but the census provides the detail that he is a grazier of 80 acres employing two labourers. Corroboratively, the figure of 80 acres is as close as makes no difference to the figure of 81 acres provided for the 1840 tithe map. We also learn that he has been widowed and is living alongside him is a 15-year-old daughter Mary, and two sons, Richard aged 12 and Alfred, ten. Also in the household is Catherine Hewitt, a housekeeper. The precise year of his wife's death is a matter of conjecture; there are two candidates recorded in the Newport Pagnell registration district, one in 1842, the other in 1848, but the name Barratt does not appear in the parish burial records. This implies she was buried somewhere other than Great Linford.
The 1851 census tells us that Richard snr was born in North Crawley in 1802, though the only plausible record of a baptism in North Crawley for a person of that name is dated December 15th, 1799, with the date of birth provided as December 12th. Given the vagaries of record keeping at the time, this could very well be the same person.
We can continue to trace the tenure of the family through trade directories and census records. Richard, Mary and their son Alfred appear on the 1861 census, with Richard described as a farmer of 81 acres employing two men. Also in the household are two servants, 70-year-old housekeeper Barbara Bates, and 21-year-old shepherd and milk man, George Collyer. Richard, Mary and Alfred are still together on the 1871 census, joined by only one servant, 17-year-old Ambrose Farer. The farm is again described as 81 acres, employing two men. Throughout this period Richard is also named as a farmer in editions of the Kelly’s trade directory for the years 1854, 1864, 1869 and 1877, though as is usual, this publication omits to name the farm.
Despite having resided at the farm for over a quarter of a century, little else has been found concerning the Barratts, though we do know that Richard was appointed an overseer to the poor on a number of occasions, between 1859 and 1867 and that he was taken to court in March 1860 over the matter of six shillings owed for surveying work.
The last reference thus far discovered is in connection to his departure from the farm. The brief advertisement carried in Croydon’s Weekly Standard of March 3rd, 1877, states the farm’s size as 88 acres, one rood and 11 perches (a slight increase on the previous figure), and also states it was all grass, indicating it was a dairy farm. Possession was to become available at the following Lady’s Day, the traditional day for the Feast of the Annunciation which was held each year on March 25th. The date was later adopted as the official start of the fiscal and tax year, hence its inclusion in the advertisement.
Henry Bird
It seems likely that the farm was next occupied by a Henry Bird. Henry was born at Great Linford on March 23rd, 1823, the son of James Bird and Catherine Smith. The Bird family once lived at a terraced house on the High Street now known as Forge End Row. James was a carpenter and Henry appears to have followed in his footsteps, variously described as a carpenter and builder on the ten yearly census returns, until that is 1881, when he is described as a farmer of 99 acres employing one man and a boy; notably the acreage of the farm seems to have increased again. It seems likely though that the switch in profession had come earlier than this, as we find Henry described as a dairyman as early as October 1874, when he was reported (Northampton Mercury, October 24th) to have been appointed to a Grand Jury. Henry had married Elizabeth Avis Causton at Great Linford on September 28th, 1856, and they had two daughters. Eda, born 1869, sadly passed away the following year, but a second daughter Marian born in 1873, survived into adulthood.
Politically, farmers seemed by inclination to be conservative, and Henry was certainly of this persuasion, as we learn from a story published in the Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press of September 25th, 1886. In his capacity as a local member of the village Conservative Association, Henry provided a Union Jack bedecked cart to accommodate visiting children who had arrived with their parents at Great Linford train station. They were then transported to Linford Wood, where hundreds of participants drawn from other Conservative Association groups engaged in collecting nuts and dancing to music from the Newport Pagnell Brass Band.
The 1887 Kelly’s directory lists Henry Bird as a grazier, as also do the census records of 1891 and 1901, though by the time of the 1911 census he was described as a farmer. The specialist semantics at play in this case between farmer and grazier is somewhat opaque. A grazier can be thought of as someone who owns livestock but has an arrangement to graze them on someone else’s land, but quite clearly, Henry was resident at Windmill Hill Farm; indeed, the 1891 census explicitly places the Bird family at the farmstead.
Henry was visiting his brother in Northampton at the time of the 1901 census and by this time he had been widowed, his wife Elizabeth having passed away in 1892 at the age of 62. A substantial account of her passing and funeral was published in Croydon's Weekly Standard of May 21st, revealing that she had been unwell for some time.
Henry appears in the 1903 Kelly’s trade directory for the village (described as a farmer), but throughout 1904 and 1905, a number of sales were announced in local newspapers, as he began the process of disposing of his farm animals and equipment in anticipation of him quitting the farm at Michaelmas of 1905, which would have been at the end of September. One sale in particular, announced for October 13th, 1904, provides an extremely comprehensive list of livestock, including 50 well-bred Shorthorn cattle and 60 young "Hampshire down ewes."
On relinquishing the farm, Henry had moved to Bradwell, but passed away on August 24th, 1911, in Margate in Kent at the residence of his daughter. His passing was of sufficient interest that an obituary and account of his funeral at Great Linford appeared in Croydon's Weekly Standard of September 2nd.
Politically, farmers seemed by inclination to be conservative, and Henry was certainly of this persuasion, as we learn from a story published in the Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press of September 25th, 1886. In his capacity as a local member of the village Conservative Association, Henry provided a Union Jack bedecked cart to accommodate visiting children who had arrived with their parents at Great Linford train station. They were then transported to Linford Wood, where hundreds of participants drawn from other Conservative Association groups engaged in collecting nuts and dancing to music from the Newport Pagnell Brass Band.
The 1887 Kelly’s directory lists Henry Bird as a grazier, as also do the census records of 1891 and 1901, though by the time of the 1911 census he was described as a farmer. The specialist semantics at play in this case between farmer and grazier is somewhat opaque. A grazier can be thought of as someone who owns livestock but has an arrangement to graze them on someone else’s land, but quite clearly, Henry was resident at Windmill Hill Farm; indeed, the 1891 census explicitly places the Bird family at the farmstead.
Henry was visiting his brother in Northampton at the time of the 1901 census and by this time he had been widowed, his wife Elizabeth having passed away in 1892 at the age of 62. A substantial account of her passing and funeral was published in Croydon's Weekly Standard of May 21st, revealing that she had been unwell for some time.
Henry appears in the 1903 Kelly’s trade directory for the village (described as a farmer), but throughout 1904 and 1905, a number of sales were announced in local newspapers, as he began the process of disposing of his farm animals and equipment in anticipation of him quitting the farm at Michaelmas of 1905, which would have been at the end of September. One sale in particular, announced for October 13th, 1904, provides an extremely comprehensive list of livestock, including 50 well-bred Shorthorn cattle and 60 young "Hampshire down ewes."
On relinquishing the farm, Henry had moved to Bradwell, but passed away on August 24th, 1911, in Margate in Kent at the residence of his daughter. His passing was of sufficient interest that an obituary and account of his funeral at Great Linford appeared in Croydon's Weekly Standard of September 2nd.
FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR HENRY BIRD. The funeral of the late Mr. Henry Bird, a well-known agriculturalist, and for many years a highly respected inhabitant of Great Linford, took place om Tuesday morning, August 29, amid every sign of sympathy and esteem on the part of the villagers among whom he lived so long, and of agriculturalists and others in the district. As recorded in our last issue the deceased gentleman passed way at the residence of his daughter in Margate on the previous Thursday at the age of 88. The remains were brought from the Kentish seaside resort by train as far as Wolverton on Monday, the remainder of the journey to Great Linford being taken by road. The cortege was met at the entrance to the parish churchyard by the Rev. J. Turnbull (Rector), who read the opening sentences of the Burial Service. The coffin rested in the church during the night awaiting the internment the following morning. The service on Tuesday was impressively read by the Rector, there being a large congregation present to join in the obsequies. Mr. E. Whitaker (organist and choirmaster) played “O Rest in the Lord” prior to the service, and as the coffin was being taken from the church for interment he played with much feeling Beethoven’s “Funeral March” from the Grand Sonata. The deceased was laid to rest in the brick grave in which also his wife was buried some years ago. The coffin of polished English oak with heavy brass mountings, bore the following inscription on the name plate:
HENRY BIRD
Born March 31st, 1812
Died August 24th, 1911.
Though he had died at Margate, the Birds clearly remained a prominent family in the village, and as such Henry’s passing is also commemorated by a brass plaque in St. Andrew’s church. There are also a number of gravestones in the churchyard, including a family plot, and as previously noted, a separate grave for Henry and his wife Elizabeth.
The farm for sale and the Uthwatts acquire the land
Meanwhile, in 1898 something important had happened; the farm itself had been put up for sale. The Bucks Herald of June 11th was one of several newspapers that carried the sale notice, stating that the farm was offered on a long leasehold. The advertisement also includes the particulars of a Lawn Farm and White House Farm in Shenley, and indeed a mortgage document held at Buckinghamshire Archives (D-X 1457/50) confirms that all three farms were owned by Harriet Knapp.
A further document held by Buckinghamshire Archives (SC/19) provides more detail on the sale. The brochure prepared by the auctioneers Durham, Gotto and Samuel tells us that the sale was to take place on Wednesday July 18th at the Swan Hotel in Newport Pagnell, and Windmill Hill Farm was lot number one.
The brochure carried the following description of the farm (including the farmhouse), along with a map, and reveals some intriguing information about the history of the land and the complex web of financial obligations that a new owner would have to navigate.
A further document held by Buckinghamshire Archives (SC/19) provides more detail on the sale. The brochure prepared by the auctioneers Durham, Gotto and Samuel tells us that the sale was to take place on Wednesday July 18th at the Swan Hotel in Newport Pagnell, and Windmill Hill Farm was lot number one.
The brochure carried the following description of the farm (including the farmhouse), along with a map, and reveals some intriguing information about the history of the land and the complex web of financial obligations that a new owner would have to navigate.
A SUPERIOR ACCOMMODATION FARM
KNOWN AS
"WINDMILL HILL FARM"
Conveniently and pleasantly situated in the pretty village and parish of Great Linford, half-a-mile from the station of that name, on the London and North-Western Railway, and 2 miles from the Market Town of Newport Pagnell, in the occupation of Mr. Henry Bird, as yearly Tenant,
At the Annual Rent of £170.
It Comprises 82a. 2r. 0p of first-rate Grass Land,
In excellent condition, and in shapely enclosures, as more particularly described in the Schedule below, with
A COMFORTABLE STONE-BUILT AND THATCHED HOUSE,
Containing 3 Bedrooms, 2 Sitting-Rooms, Kitchen and Cellar, with detached Dairy, Wash-house, and good Garden in front. There is also
A Labourer's Three-roomed Cottage and Garden
AND
SUITABLE FARM BUILDINGS
Partly Slated and partly Thatched, comprising Cow Houses for 27 Cows, Cake House, Chaff House, Calf House, Stable, Gig House, Waggon Hovel and 4 Piggeries, with 2 outlying boarded and thatched Cow Houses, the whole being in good order and repair.
There is a Pump and Well of good Water on the premises.
The property is partly freehold and partly long leasehold for the residue of a term of one thousand years from 1659, subject to the annual rent of £35. This rent is now paid to the Staffords Almshouses at Shenley, near Stony Stratford. About 15 acres more or less is freehold, and 68 acres more or less is long leasehold.
The property is also subject to an apportioned tithe-rent charge of £22 8s 0d, the amount payable for the current year being £15 8s 0d and to a present land tax of £8 10s 0d. The leasehold part of the property is, or formerly was, subject to a quit rent of 7s 4d payable to the Manor or Manors of Linford.
The convenient situation of this farm as regards the Railway Station, and its circumstances generally, admirably adapt it for carrying on a lucrative milk trade.
The sales brochure also provides a detailed and rather lovely map.
Map produced for the sale of Windmill Hill Farm in 1898 (SC/19.) From the collections of Buckinghamshire Archives and reproduced with permission.
The reference to Stafford’s almshouses we have already encountered earlier in this history, with further corroboration for this arrangement to be found in a document located at Buckinghamshire Archives (D-BAS/22/361/23) dated 1627. This is a deed, which established by the will of Thomas Stafford a number of almshouses in Shenley, but also granted two houses and land in Great Linford to the poor people of Stafford’s Hospital in Shenley for ever. For more information on the deed, visit the Milton Keynes in 50 historic documents website.
Subsequently, Croydon's Weekly Standard newspaper of July 16th provided confirmation that Windmill Hill Farm had been purchased for £2,100 by William Francis Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt, the other two farms at Shenley having been withdrawn from sale. Perhaps the idea of an area of land in the heart of the village outside his control had vexed William Uthwatt; as the above map makes clear, Windmill Hill Farm was somewhat of an island in a sea of land owned by the Uthwatts.
Subsequently, Croydon's Weekly Standard newspaper of July 16th provided confirmation that Windmill Hill Farm had been purchased for £2,100 by William Francis Edolph Andrewes Uthwatt, the other two farms at Shenley having been withdrawn from sale. Perhaps the idea of an area of land in the heart of the village outside his control had vexed William Uthwatt; as the above map makes clear, Windmill Hill Farm was somewhat of an island in a sea of land owned by the Uthwatts.
Messrs Grimes and Fowler
The valuation office survey map for the village drawn up in 1910 (Buckinghamshire Archives DVD/2/X/5) confirms that the ownership was still in the hands of William Uthwatt, but that the farm had new occupiers, the business partnership of Messrs Grimes and Fowler. We can place Grimes and Fowler at the farm at least as early as 1906, as it was reported in Croydon's Weekly Standard of March 16th, 1907, that they had been supplying milk to the Newport Pagnell Workhouse for the previous 12 months.Valuation Office Survey map
Valuation Office Survey map 1910 (DVD/2/X/5) showing Windmill Hill Farm. From the collection of Buckinghamshire Archives and reproduced with permission.
The Grimes and Fowler partnership was a family affair, as is revealed in an illuminating obituary for Joseph Grimes published in the Bedfordshire Mercury of December 3rd, 1909.
THE LATE MR GRIMES. Many friends and acquaintances regret the death of Mr Joseph Grimes, at Windmill Hill Farm, Great Linford, after a long illness, aged 62. He was born at Cranfield, the youngest son of the late Mr Thomas Grimes, of Bourne End. He was educated at the Friends’ School, Ackworth, Pontefract, and on leaving there, he was apprenticed to a grocery business in Upper-road, Holloway, but his health and inclination brought him back to farming, He assisted his father until the latter’s death, and then took over the management of the farm for his mother, until she relinquished agriculture and went to reside in London. Thirty five years back, he married the widow of Mr Joseph Fowler, of Bourne End. Afterwards for many years Mr Grimes acted as farm manager to Messrs Whiting Bros., Moulsoe. Later on, he started as a farmer and dairyman at Caldecote Mill, Newport Pagnell. The business developing largely, he took into partnership with his stepson, Mr Sidney Fowler, carrying on the concern under the name of Grimes and Fowler; and recently, he removed to Windmill Hill. He was of a jovial and cheerful nature, charitable and generous, well-known and highly respected. His funeral tool place last Friday afternoon, and his remains were laid to rest in the Friends’ Burial-ground at Woburn Sands.
The 1911 census records that Joseph Grimes’ widow Emily and her son from her previous marriage, Sydney William Fowler, were occupying the farm, and indeed they would do for many years to come. Emily and her son continued to run the business as Grimes and Fowler; a wanted ad in the Northampton Mercury of February 7th, 1913, names the business as such, and seeks a respectable young man, preferably an abstainer from drink, to help work a milk round. This provides an interesting insight into nature of dairy farming at this time, a “milk round” implying the farm was delivering to local customers, which is entirely likely, but we also know that milk from Great Linford was going to London via train.
Emily died on October 8th, 1925, aged 78, with the farm now passing to her son Sidney, who continued to work the farm under the name Grimes and Fowler. The Wolverton Express of December 13th, 1929, reported for instance that “Grimes and Fowler” of Great Linford had secured second place at the Newport Pagnell Fat Stock Show in the category of Champion Beast.
One of the most unusual stories pertaining to farming occurred at Windmill Hill Farm over the new year period of 1931/32. An enormous nest of rats was discovered, resulting in a two-day cull, reported upon in the Bucks Herald of January 8th, 1932, and reproduced in full below.
Emily died on October 8th, 1925, aged 78, with the farm now passing to her son Sidney, who continued to work the farm under the name Grimes and Fowler. The Wolverton Express of December 13th, 1929, reported for instance that “Grimes and Fowler” of Great Linford had secured second place at the Newport Pagnell Fat Stock Show in the category of Champion Beast.
One of the most unusual stories pertaining to farming occurred at Windmill Hill Farm over the new year period of 1931/32. An enormous nest of rats was discovered, resulting in a two-day cull, reported upon in the Bucks Herald of January 8th, 1932, and reproduced in full below.
RATS! Considerable excitement was caused during threshing operations on Mr. Fowler’s farm at Great Linford, on Thursday and Friday last week. The work of threshing out a bean crop which had been stored in the barn since the 1929 harvest had not been far advanced when it became apparent that the stack harboured a huge colony of rats. Hundreds of them bolted from the corn and were chased by fox terrier dogs and by farm hands and children armed with sticks. On the Thursday no less than 640 of the vermin were killed, and quite another 200 got away, some seeking refuge in a nearby pond, where they were drowned, whilst others bolted for the hedgerows or sought refuge in neighbouring buildings. On Friday more than 100 rats were slaughtered. The 700 odd dead rats presented a gruesome spectacle laid out in rows in the, field adjoining the barn. This is the biggest slaughter of rats on one farm that has been known in North Bucks for many years.
Sidney passed away on November 24th, 1937, aged 69, triggering a sale of farm livestock and equipment that was promoted in the Mercury and Herald newspaper of December 17th. Prominent amongst the lots on offer were 31 head of cattle, 105 sheep, 17 pigs and two horses, as well as an array of farm equipment and even the household furniture, including brass and iron bedsteads, a mahogany sideboard, a writing desk and a barometer. Sidney appears to have never married and left a little under £1200 in his will.
Francis William Lever
The Kelly’s directory of 1939 names the farms occupant as a Francis William Lever. He also appears on the document known as the 1939 register, a form of census compiled on the eve of the second world war, his date of birth given as September 12th, 1896. Francis was as then unmarried and living with a brother and sister, Edward and Kathleen, but it seems likely that he married in 1942 to a Mary Ingram. We can also identify that Francis was born at Wooburn in Buckinghamshire, and that he and Mary appear to have had five children between 1945 and 1954; Patrick (1945), Gillian (1946), Robert (1949), Rita (1949) and Richard (1954.)
A situations vacant ad from Francis appears in the Bedfordshire Times and Independent of September 17th, 1948, seeking a general farmhand, noting that a cottage is available.
The Lever family were resident at Windmill Hill Farm thoughout the 1960s and at least until the very early 1970s, as a variety of newspaper stories attest. A car crash involving a Patrick Lever, “a farmer’s son of Windmill Farm, Great Linford” appears in the Daily Mirror of November 25th, 1963, and in 1969, Francis is mentioned in connection to a cricket match held in the village in July that year. He captained a team that played a friendly against a combined visiting opposition from the villages of Willen, Woolstone and Woughton.
A situations vacant ad from Francis appears in the Bedfordshire Times and Independent of September 17th, 1948, seeking a general farmhand, noting that a cottage is available.
The Lever family were resident at Windmill Hill Farm thoughout the 1960s and at least until the very early 1970s, as a variety of newspaper stories attest. A car crash involving a Patrick Lever, “a farmer’s son of Windmill Farm, Great Linford” appears in the Daily Mirror of November 25th, 1963, and in 1969, Francis is mentioned in connection to a cricket match held in the village in July that year. He captained a team that played a friendly against a combined visiting opposition from the villages of Willen, Woolstone and Woughton.
On September 27th, 1969, Jill Lever, the daughter of Francis and Mary Lever was married at St. Andrew's church. The groom was Robert Alibone of Weston Favell. The notice of the marriage makes explicit reference to the Levers of Windmill Hill Farm.
The Bucks Standard of February 27th, 1970 reported that Robert Forbes Lever of Windmill Hill Farm had pled guilty to motoring offences committed on December 8th, and was fined £10. there is a passing reference to a Mrs Lever winning the mothers race at the school sports day in July 1971 and in October that same year, the annual school jumble sale was held, with "Misses R. and E. Lever assisting on the day. This represents the last reference we have to the family at Great Linford. The farm is still visible on the 1972 Ordnance Survey Map, but we do not as yet know if the Levers were the last to farm at Windmill Hill. Francis died in Milton Keynes in 1985 and Mary in 1989. The farmhouse that was home to so many families and industrious effort has long since been demolished to make way for the modern Great Linford estate.
Echoes on the High Street
Though the farmstead and its house are now long gone, echoes of its existence remain on the High Street to this day, including the outbuilding converted into a dwelling called Windmill Farm Barn and the house named Windmill Farm House, as well as a small thatched barn on the edge of the cricket pitch.
The thatched barn, formally of Windmill Hill Farm, awaiting restoration in 2023.
Interior of the barn formally associated with Windmill Hill Farm. A fire some years ago destroyed the roof, but the walls that remain are considerably older.
The 1840 tithe map tells us that the dwelling now known as Windmill Hill Farm House was then owned by Henry Andrewes Uthwatt and occupied by a 40-year-old agricultural labourer called Thomas Pollard, his wife Mary and 15 year old son Samuel. The book, A Guide to the Historic Buildings of Milton Keynes (1986, Paul Woodfield, Milton Keynes Development Corporation) gives an age to this building of circa 17th/18th century, and further states it is not the original farmhouse, which as we have already established, was to the rear of the Cow Shed on the High Street. It is also clear that the cottage was originally only one story high and would have been thatched. It was probably always intended as accommodation for farm workers, and it seems reasonable to suppose that Thomas was employed at Windmill Hill Farm given the proximity.
|
|
