Farms

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Chewton Mendip used to have many farms but very few operate as agricultural businesses. Previously even a small farm would include at last one cottage for the labourer to living in and larger farms would have several.

Farms should not be seen like homes with very large gardens where the house was in the centre and all of the fields were grouped around the house. The medieval system was for all of the houses to be in the centre of the village or tithing and strips of land were held in various parts of the common fields. Chewton Mendip had enclosed land from the earliest recorded history and there was ‘waste land’ or unfenced grazing that was shared on the top of the hills. This land was known as the Mendip Forest.

There would have been a number of small holdings where people who made their living in some form of trade would have a large garden/small farm to grow their own food. The name of farms or holdings may reflect geographical features but most reflect the names of families who once lived there or were proprietors of land.

This adds several layers of confusion because one person may have been responsible for paying taxes and tithes for land in several parts of the village. The churchwarden accounts and poor book records from the 18th century list a number of ‘estates’ which may have only been a collections of fields. The modern convention is to use the term ‘holding’ but sometimes it is only possible to identify if the land belonged to one of the estates owned by one of the three main landowners in the area.

Furthermore, the people specified may have held it under a variety of legal arrangements. Some land may have been held for a number of ‘lives’ so two or three generations of people may have lived  in the same place and their names may still be used to describe properties today.

There are some local variations but they do not help identify where the field was. The words ‘field’ or ‘meadow’ are rarely used and ‘ground’, ‘close’ or ‘mead’ are used instead. Paddock is frequently used and suggests it was used for grazing. Other names suggest what the field was used for, such as maltmead and pig furlong.

Some names of fields are fairly generic, such as long mead, so they are little value in identifying where the field was. Some generic names such as home ground, the field next to a farm house, or well close suggest that there was a farm there at one time.

Field names tended to change quite often as new fields were created or merged back together or they acquired new occupants. Some names of fields are more distinctive and appear to have been used fairly consistently so they are listed here.

The 1794 map does not give many names and the Kingsmills land dominated the centre of the village at that time whilst the Hippisley and Waldegrave families owned most of the farm land.

A

Adams	The Adams family have left it their name in Adams Grove and Adams Corner . There was also a Adams Lane.  The Yorks were the main tenants in the 18th century. It is possible that it was later known as Blackmans or West End farm
Alfords.	Alfords was in the part of Chewton Mendip next to Priddy.
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B

Barrow House	Barrow Farm is now a group of houses but it was a working farm until recently. Its name can be traced back to Tudor times because of its proximity to the Bronze Age barrow that gave the farm its name. It is between Chew Hill and Kingshill.
Batch Cottage	Batch Cottage.may have been a farm and it is one possibility for a Parsonage Farm.
Bathway Farm	Bathway Farm is between Bathway and Nedge crossroads.
Bechamps	There are references to a holding called Bechamps in the 18th century but this has not yet been identified on the 1794 map.
Bell House	Bell Farm was also a pub but is now a private house. It can be seen on the map of Burges’s Coombe.
Bendall’s	The modern Bendall’s Farm is on the road between Green Ore and Red Quarr/Priddy but a ‘Bendles estate’ appears in the 18th century in West End. The location of modern Bendall’s Grove  close to  Eakers Hill  and Grove farm is the believed to be the location of the 18th century estate that was also known as Hazel Farm.
Beaumont	The Beaumont’s were prominent family in Ston Easton but also held land in Chewton Mendip. Their farm in Ston Easton was in Upper Hay Street. Mr Beaumont’s Chewton Mendip estate was not valued in the Chewton Mendip Vestry records of farms taking apprentices but was described as Inmeads and Lyers.
Blackmans	There is a Blackmans field in West End but the poor law records state that the Blackmans farm was in the Town tithing. The 1840 tithe map suggests it was on the site of the modern Waldegrave House
Beaumont	The Beaumont’s were prominent family in Ston Easton but also held land in Chewton Mendip. Their farm in Ston Easton was in Upper Hay Street. Mr Beaumont’s Chewton Mendip estate was not valued in the Chewton Mendip Vestry records of farms taking apprentices but was described as Inmeads and Lyes.
Blannings/Blandons	The Blannings were farming in the Town tithing in 18th century and they may have been occupying Sages in the 17th.
Browns	Browns Farm was in Honeywell Lane, near to Franklyns Farm.
Burges	Burges’ was a separate farm in th 18th century but it had been absorbed into Rookery farm by 1840. The coombe and the farm probably take their name from the Burges family.
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C

Chewton Field	A Farm between Chewton Mendip and Ston Easton. It is one of the few working farms in the parish
Clarks	The barn off Paradise lane is the best prospect for the 18th century Clarks Farm
Clouds	Clouds was the name of the small holding on the site of what is now called the White House. This is shown in the page about Burges’s Coombe.
Coles	What was once Coles Farm is now a private house. It may have been part of a larger holding called Clouds & Coles. The Coles family probably gave their name to this farm and the lane in the east of the village. It is shown in a separate page.
Culliford	The Culliford family were once reasonably prosperous farmers and John Culliford was the vicar of Chewton Mendip in the 18th century. It has not yet been possible to identify where their farm was.
Curtis	There were several branches of the Curtis family who were proprietors of several farms in Chewton Mendip and the surrounding villages. The Curtis name has not stuck on any farms or buildings but at least on wood in Widcombe bears the Curtis name.
Cutlers Green	This is the name of a group of buildings as well as a farm. The 1794 map shows Cutlers Green farm was one of the farms owned by the Kingsmill family. The area was once the home of Chewton Mendip’s motor industry. It may have been the site of a blacksmiths specialising in edged tools but a family called Cutler appear in the records of Chewton Mendip.
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D

Dalimore	Dalimore’s estate is refered to in the 18th century records which included Nobels and Reeves. The Reeves part may have been what is now called Eakers hill.
Double House	The origin of the name of this building is obvious when you see the twin roofs. The 1794 map shows it was one of the farms owned by the Kingsmill family so the site of Double Farm is blank in the 1794 map. This is now a private house.
Dowlings	There were probably two or three farms called Dowling’s in the 18th century.
Drials	There was probably a farm near to Drial’s Lane in the 17th and 18th centuries
Dudwell	Dudwell Farm has retained its name since the 18th century at least.
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E

Eakers Hill	Now a romantic ruin, Eakers Hill was once the site of a ghostly army and was probably called Reeves in the 18th century. One possibility is this was the site of the Bendles farm listed in the 18th century records. The 1794 map shows several buildings in the area which were probably farm labourers or miners cottages which is one possibility for Blackmans.
East End	There were several farms in the East End tithing and the name  East End farm  may have applied to two or three different farms.
Edgell	There are references to variations of Edgells Farm in Ston Easton and Emborough
Eldons Stump	Eldons Stump may have been the name of a separate farm but it was probably the name of a medieval common field.
Emborough Road 1	The 1794 map shows two sets of building that look like farms on the Emborough road. The set of building closest to Chewton Mendip have been completely demolished but its former location can be seen in the 1794 map extract for Red Hill. This may have been Greens Farm.
Emborough Road 2	Some of building nearest to Emborough shown in the 1794 map extract for Red Hill can still be seen but it is now a redundant cow shed. This may have been Clarks Farm.
Everards	Everards farm is on Nedge Lane and is now a private house.
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F

Ford	The hamlet of Ford straddles the parish boundaries of Litton and Chewton Mendip on the Litton Road and there were two or three farms in the hamlet, some in Litton, some in Chewton Mendip. There are no operational farms in the hamlet now and some of the barns have been converted to private houses to add to the confusion.
Ford House	Ford House is now a private house but may have been a farm
Ford House Farm	Ford House Farm is also a private house but was definitely a farm for most of its history. It is not to be confused with Old Ford Farm or Ford Farmhouse which is in Litton.
Franklyns	Franklyn’s Farm is on the Bathway/Emborough road and is one of the remaining working farms.
Frapell	Frapells farm was in East End in the 18th century when it was owned by the York family.
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G

Georges	Georges Farm was on Lower Street
Greens	The Greens were farming family so it is not clear if the references to ‘Greens estate’ in the 18th century refers to a specific farm or a collection of fields. There are references to Green’s in East End which was probably near White Stile and Dudwell. They were also farming in West End.
Grove	Grove farm is used as the main picture for the Farming topic in for the featured in the article about haymaking. It is in West End but some of th land may have been in the Middlesex tithing.
Guys	Guys estate was referred to in 1784 when it had already been split up.
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H

Hazel Farm	There is no record of members of the Hazel family living in Chewton Mendip but it was a relatively common name in several nearby villages. Hazel Farm is believed to have been another name for Bendall’s Grove farm but it could also apply to Hazel Manor.
Hippisley Farm	The modern Hippisley Farm in East End may have been only one of three or four farms owned by the Hippisley family.
Honeywell Cottage	Honeywell cottage still stands Honeywell Lane in East End and may have been a farm.
Honeywell Farm	Only part of a barn remains of the property that can be seen on the 1794 map at the end of Honeywell Lane in East End but this may have been a farm which has been given the name Honeywell Farm .
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I

Inmead	Inmead was part of name for Chewton Plain or Chewton Field.
Ivy Cottage	Ivy Cottage was probably once a farm.
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J

Jenks Lane	Jenks Lane joined East End with Shooters Bottom and the Jenkins family owned land in that area so Jenks or Jenkins farm could be an alternative for shooters Bottom.
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K

King’s	This farm consisted of ‘one 10 acre field called Downclose, Cabell’s paddock of three acres, one dole of meadow in Whitnellfield [Whitemead or Whitnel in Emborough?]and four dols on the’ mount of mendip’ according to a historical record. This was probably somewhere in the Middlesex tithing. The King family appears in the 18th century records of Chewton Mendip and were paying rates in Town, including one of the pubs.
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L

Litton Road	Various buildings linked to agriculture were situated in the short piece of road between Chewton Mendip and Litton.
Lower East End	This farm in  East End was converted into a row of cottages and back into a single house. Lower East End is no longer a working farm.
Loxtons	The Chewton Mendip Loxtons had been prosperous farmers in the medieval period but Loxton’s had been divided between several other farms by the 18th century
Lyes	Lyes was part of name for Chewton Plain or Chewton Field.
Lynch Farm	Several properties fit the description of a field on a hill but the name Lynch Farm has been given to what is shown as the ‘Hart‘ in 1794.
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M

Maltmead	Maltmead was pobably a common field which was divided into several fields in the 18the century. It is back to what may have been its oigional size.
Manning’s	Mannings lane is a reminder that there was a farm called Manning’s somewhere in the East End.
Manor (Chewton Mendip)	There is no firm evidence either way but Manor Farm was probably the site of the medieval Manor House. The current building dates from around 1700 or the time of Queen Anne.
Manor (Emborough)	Manor Farm in Emborough features in the history of Chewton Mendip through its physical proximity and the connection of several families who lived there. Its approximate location can be seen on the map extract for Red Hill.
Mendip	This is shown on the modern maps close to Shooters Bottom farm. It may be name introduced in the modern era.
Moggs	This estate was valued in th 18th century list of apprentices but the records may refer to land held by the Mogg family of Farrington Gurney rather than a farm in Chewton Mendip.
Moores	The estate of William Moore as listed in the 18th century Chewton Mendip Vestry Records
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N

Neat Place	A Neat Place is refered to several times in the 18th century records and suggests that the property was in good order. Dudwell and White stile were both described as a Neat Place..
Nedge	Nedge is a contraction of ‘The Edge’ or ‘Edge Hill’ and is derived from the relative steep hill above Nedge Lane. Nedge Farm is now a private house.
Nedge Lane 1	There appears to have been a farm off Nedge Lane in a field marked 255 on the 1794 map.  It may have been linked to the nearby Adam’s Grove.
Nobels	Nobel’s Farm was based in the Middlesex tithing.
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O

Old Ford Farm	Old Ford Farm is the thatched cottage in Ford near Litton.
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P

Parkland	Parkland was both ornamental and had practical uses.
Parson’s	A Mr Parson holding is mentioned in the 18th century records. This should not be confused with the Parsonage or Parsonage Farm.
Parsonage	It is sometime referred to as the Vicarage or the Rectory and all three terms could be used to describe the house where the clergyman lived or the glebe lands that he farmed to support his family. There are records from the 18th and 19th century for ‘Parsonage’ farm and it is assumed it occupied the site now filled by the school, The Old Vicarage, Homedene and Tudor cottage. Butter Villa or variations on that theme is another possibility for one of the names for the former glebe farm.
Payne’s	The Paynes are known to have lived in Greendown which may have been the source of the name Payne’s Pond but there is evidence that there was a relatively significant property there in the 18th century. Some records refer to Payne’s estate including Nobles & Reeves, this is explained in the page about Grove farm .
Phelp’s	Phelps’ Parks was above Chew Hill and Kingshill on the turnpike cross roads but there may have been other fields called Phelps in the East End.
Picked Field	Two or more fields bore this name but they appear to have been in the same place in East End.
Pig Furlong	Pig Furlong was, as the name suggests, used  keep pigs.
Priory	This may be another name for Sage’s Farm but there may have been two farms in that vicinity in earlier times. This is not to be confused with Chewton Priory or the site of a priory. It is possible there were ecclesiastical building in the area in the past but the current house incorporates features from Chewton Priory.
Purnell’s	There are references to Purnells in the 18th century records wich may refer to a separate farm or one or more fields held by the Purnell family.
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Q

Quarrs	Quarrs Farm is now a private house. Quarr could be derived from quarry or choir. It is now a private house.
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R

Red Hill	Red Hill is part of Emborough but a number of farms with strong links to Chewton Mendip were situated there
Reeves	There may have been based at Reeves Lane near Eaker’s Hill and/or Redhill
Red Quarr	This is clearly named after the red stone in the vicinity. Red Quarr is a private house or small holding
Redsheard	The relatively modern house called Redsheard may have been built near the original Red Sheard.
Rookery (Green Ore)	There are two Rookery Farms in Chewton Mendip parish. This refers to Rookery Farm in Green Ore
Rookery (West End)	Rookery Farm in West End of Chewton Mendip near Burges’s Coombe is still a working farm.
Rowdens	See Honeywell Farm.
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S

Sacrafield	Several holdings were described as being a Sacrafiield propety which was some obscure tax with religious background.
Shooters Bottom	Shooters Bottom was a Kingsmill property in 1794 so it is not shown in the map of that date
Sages Farm	Sage’s Farm is described in a separate page and may be an alternative name for Priory Farm in some records.
Sperring Green	Sperring Green farm is one of the few remaining working farms but the Sperring family have stronger ties to the Harptrees than Chewton Mendip.
Swallow Pitts Farm	Swallow Pitts Farm is in Emborough but it can be seen in the map for Red Hill.
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T

Taswells’	See White Stile Cottage.
Tucker’s	The Tucker’s farm was recorded in the 18th century records.
Tutton’s	The Tuttons or Tull Horn or possibly Tor Hole farm was recorded in the 18th century records
Tyning	Several fields include Tyning in their names.
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U

Under Chew Down	Several fields were described as being under Chew down
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V

Veal	A girls school operated in part of what was once Veal’s farm. The school room was later used as a ballroom. Veals farm was one of the farms owned by the Kingsmill family and is probably named after the Veal family who appear in the 17th and 18th century records.
Vespasian Farm	Vespasian Farm is between Nedge and Green Ore.
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W

West End.	Several farms may have been called West End farm in the past but the current West End Farm is now a private house
White Pitts	White Pitts farm was absorbed into other farms in the mid 18th century.
Whitemead	Whitemead or White Field may have been the name of a separate farm but it was probably the name of a medieval common field.
White Stile Cottage	The current building look Victorian but the 1794 map shows a number of building on the site which suggests White stile was once a farm and possibly a pub.
Wigmore	Wigmore Farm is a modern set of buildings near Red Quarr but Wigmore Pond appears in old maps.
Willets	Willets Lane leads from Sperrings Green to Watery Combe but the site of the former Willets Farm has completely disappeared.
Wills	Wills Farm is closer to Priddy than Chewton Mendip but it is part of Chewton Mendip parish.
Wrights	The Wright family were the Waldegraves agents in the 18th century and they occupied several properties.
Wych	Wych or Wiches farm was absorbed into other farms in the mid 18th century.
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X

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Y

York	The Yorke(e) family held several properties in the village.
York’s East End	There are several contenders for the York Farm in East End.
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Z

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