Speen Farm

THOMAS DELL snr.

Thomas Dell snr. purchased Speen Farm.   The date not known, but before 1811 (when he died).  He left it to his wife Ann, to go to their son Thomas, after her death.   She, prudently, gave it to Thomas jnr. long before she died.

1823.  INCLOSURES of MANOR of PRINCES RISBOROUGH

Speen Farm is registered in the name of Thomas Dell Jnr.   It is all freehold.

FIELD NAMES

1.      821.  Wood Field

2.      822.   Hog Trough Field

3.      823.  North Coppice

4.      827.  Marlins Field

5.      828.  Gosmore Grove Coppice

6.      829.  Water Bass Field

7.      830.  Middle Bass Field

8.      831.  Grubbs Ground Field

9.      832.  South Field

10.  833.  Sherbourn Field

11.  834.  High Field

12.  835.  Speen Wood

13.  836.  Farm, House, Yard, Close, Entrance Lane (from Flowers Bottom).

14.  819a. Close, in exchange for tithe land.

Thomas was also farming extra rented land in conjunction with Speen Farm.

1.      819.  Close.   An allotment of an old enclosure purchased from the recipient.

2.      820.  Middle Close.   An allotment of an old enclosure purchased from the recipient

3.      820a. Wood Field, Barley Field and Coppice.    An old allotment, already rented by Thomas Dell.

4.      812.  Cottage, garden and Pightle at Darvills Hill.

5.      818.  Cottage and garden at Darvills Hill.

MORTGAGES

October 31^st 1828.   Thomas Dell Jnr of Speen Farm took out a mortgage for £450, with Joseph Burrough and Elizabeth Chapman.

December 29^th 1832.   Thomas Dell of Speen Farm took out a mortgage for £1,200 with Thomas Brown of Dorchester, gent.   These were copyhold, making Thomas Brown the holding owner, they were all at Darvills Hill.

SALE OF COPYHOLD PROPERTIES AT DARVILLS HILL.

September 29^th 1837.   Sold by auction by Mr. Thomas Dell, of Speen Farm, with concurrence of the mortgagee.

1.      2 copyhold cottages, formerly one farmhouse, with 20 acres of land adjacent to Speen Farm, known as Darvills Hill Farm.   This lot was purchased by Mr. Anderson.

2.      2 copyhold tenements with gardens at Darvills Hill, occupied by Thomas Janes and widow Williams, yearly tenants  of £4 per annum each.

3.      Separated from Speen Farm by the road, a copyhold estate, comprising a neat cottage with barn and garden and two closes of meadow land called Templars Close and Nut Croft, containing 4 acres.   The cottage and garden in the occupation of Jacob Dell and the meadow by Mr. Thomas Dell.  This lot is tithe free and copyhold to the Manor of Princes Risborough.

NOTICE of Sale of Speen Farm, by order of the mortgagee, 29th September 1837

Capital Freehold Estate, Tithe-free. Mr. Morten has received instructions to sell by Auction at the Red Lion Inn, High Wycombe, Bucks, on Friday 29th September 1837 at two'clock, in lots; by order of the Mortgagee, under Power of Sale; of an excellent Freehold Farm, called SPEEN FARM, situate at Speen, in the Parish of Princes Risborough, now in the occupation of Mr Thomas Dell.

Containing 100 acres of fertile arable, meadow, orchard and thriving woodland, with homestead, barn, stabling, two cart-houses and other agricultural buildings. Speen Farm adjoins the excellent Preserves of Sir William Young M.P. and the Lacey Green Estate (Lacey Green Farm), which immediately adjoins the pleasant Grounds and Mansion of Mrs Shard, and this is an excellent Situation for the Erection of neat Villas.

Also Lacey Green Farm. click Lacey Green Farm

also cottages and land at Roundabouts (Up Green)

NOTICE of sale of Live and Deadstock at Speen Farm, by order of the mortgagee, 7th October 1837

Sale of Valuable Farming Stock by Mr Thomas Dell who is quitting the farm.

SCHEDULE

An excellent rick of wheat with the straw.   Large rick of barley and oats.   Capital rick of clover and meadow hay.   Quantity of wheat and barley straw.   An excellent black cart stallion.   Capital grey cart horse, 5 years old.   Three useful cart mares in foal, and ditto with foal.   Fifty ewes, lambs and wethers.

2 narrow-wheel wagons.   Narrow-wheel shuting cart, a six-inch wheel ditto.  Set of cart harnesses for four horses.  3 wheel ploughs.   1 drag harrow and couplings.   1 moss harrow.   Oak land roller.   Quantity of hurdles.   A variety of barn utensils and other farming requisites.

DOCUMENTS HELD

Following the sale of freehold,Speen Farm and Darvills Hill Farm, copyhold, the documents were held by the purchaser of the largest property, as was the custom.   This was Sir William Lawrence Young, who lived at North Dean – an absentee landlord.

SPEEN FARM TENANTS

1841 Census. Samuel Gibbons, 35, agricultural labourer

1851 Census. William Harding   80 acres  1 man

1861 Census. William Harding, 42, 120 acres

1871 Census. William Saunders 56m, Louisa, wife, Benjamin and William, sons, agricultural labourers. For William & Louisa click, William Saunders, born 1815 & Louisa, nee Lacey and for William Saunders, his son, click William Saunders 1851

1881 Census. William Saunders Snr 65 widower

1891 Census. George Saunders 40 and Benjamin Saunders 38, farmers (brothers, sons of William)

1901 Census. George Saunders 56, farmer

1905. Messrs Hatt Brothers. ( see under Mrs Eveline Forrest, below)

MRS EVELYN FORREST

Evelyn Forrest of Grymsdyke, died in 1905.   It is stated in the recent ‘Domesday’ record

SPEEN FARM.   Executors of Mrs Evelyn Forrest, dec’d.   Tenants Messrs Hatt Brothers.   Homestead, premises and land, 134 acres, approximately.

JOHN FORREST

John Forrest inherited from his wife.   He died in 1910. His executors sold to the Hatt Bros. (tenants)

FREDERICK and WALTER HATT

Frederick and Walter Hatt farmed Speen Farm from 1910/1911, to June 1938.

1911 census.   Frederick Hatt, 41, & Walter Hatt 38, brothers, farmers.   Also William Rogers, 27, nephew, waggoner

They also ran a timber carting business, collecting tree trunks from Hampden Woods on a timber-bob to deliver to furniture factories.  It took 6 horses to load and pull the timber-bob.

ISHBEL ALLEN RIDGLEY

June 1^st 1938.   Purchased Speen Farm from Frederick and Walter Hatt

Ishbel McDonald was the daughter of Prime Minister Ramsey McDonald.   Ishbel had been the hostess at 10, Downing Street, for her father.   When he retired she bought the Plough Inn at Flowers Bottom.  The entrance to Speen Farm was beside the pub.   She married Norman Ridgley and bought Speen Farm, where they then lived.    It was thought to be very run down, but most farms were, as there had been a great depression.

Norman Ridgley died November 10^th 1950.  Ishbel remarried James Calder Peterkin on February 24^th 1953, and moved to Scotland.

HUGH BUCKINGHAM

May 8^th 1953.   Hugh Buckingham of Hammonds Sandridge, Hers, Company Director, purchased from Ishbel Allen Perterkin, for £6,550, Speen Farm

All those parcels of freehold farmland, together with the messuage, buildings and outhouses erected thereon and known as Speen Farm.   All which parcels contain in area 134.186 acres.

SCHEDULE of FIELD NAMES

Ordinance No.  Description …………………………State…………………Quantity

15…………… Shermer Meadow……………………Arable……………….11.606 acres                  

19…………… Speen Farm Firs………………….....Woodland…………....8.657   “  

Part 20 …… Hog Trough, High Field, Long Hill......Arable, Pasture… ....88.728    “

20a …………………………………………………… Pasture  ……………. 0.514    “

21..…………………………………………………… Orchard, Pasture ...   1.909   “  

22 ……………………………………………………...Orchard, Pasture ...   1.470   “

23 …………...Speen Farm ………………………….Homestead ………….0.947   “

24 ……………Back Meadow ……………………… Pasture ……………….1.860  “

25 ……………Square Field …………………………Pasture …………… 12.923   “

39 ……………Ninny Meadow ……………………….Pasture ………………5.572   “          

NEW COTTAGE

In May 1961, Hugh Buckingham took out a loan from the Lands Improvement Company, part of the Ministry of Agriculture, for £1,619 @ 51/2 % per annum, in order to build a cottage.   (It was to be at the entrance off Slad Lane and called Lodge Cottage.

SHERMER MEADOW SOLD TO JOHN WEST

August 21^st 1968.   Hugh Buckingham sold to John West of Stocken Farm, Lacey Green, 33.9 acres of Speen Farm, being Shermer Meadow and part of ordinance no 26 (1921 edition).   This land ran up to the Main Road at Walters Ash.

COVENANT

This purchase bore a covenant that no building should be erected on the land while the Buckingham family lived at Speen Farm.

DR & MRS DICKSON

Hugh Buckingham sold Speen Farm to Dr & Mrs Dickson.

THE HOME OF REST FOR HORSES

In 1971 Dr & Mrs Dickson sold Speen Farm to the charity 'The Horses Trust'. A local 'Home of Rest for Horses'

MANAGERS

The managers were at first army vets.   The first was Colonel Lewis Bowen, followed by Major John Spurry.

Speen Farm
Construction Era	1600-1699, 1823 Enclosures Record
Type of Property	House, Farm, Cottage, Land, Wood
Use of Property	Business
Locations	Lacey Green, Speen