Ye Olde Cottage

Ye Olde Cottage
Construction Era	1700-1822, 1823 Enclosures Record
Type of Property	Cottage
Use of Property
Locations	Lacey Green

One cottage in 1823, divided into two (Ye Olde Cottage & Rose Cottage, near Floyds Farm) by 1841, then back to one property (Eumana) circa 1970s

THOMAS HEARN

In the enclosures of Princes Risborough in 1823, the plot upon which the later named 'Ye Olde Cottage' and the attached 'Rose Cottage' stood was allotted to Thomas Hearn. It was an old allotment, newly allotted to Thomas Hearn, freehold. Described as a 'cottage and garden', freehold.

NOTE In 1823 there was no Main Road in Lacey Green. Thomas Hearn was also allotted the ground upon which Clovelly Cottages were later built.

YE OLDE COTTAGE

In the twentieth century Ye Olde Cottage stood behind the Black Horse, on the left of a track leading to Floyds Farm.   There was a smaller cottage attached to the south side of it called Rose Cottage. It was by then assumed that it had always been behind the Black Horse, but it is not known exactly when the Black Horse was built certainly not in 1823, as it was then a bare plot allotted to James Tilbury

TENANT 1841 CENSUS Joseph Hawes 30, sawyer, born Lacey Green, Jane 30, born Saunderton, Emma 7, Jabez, 6, John 4, Dan 2.`

TENANT 1851 CENSUS Joseph Hawes 43 sawyer, Jane 43, Jabez 16, wood turner, John 13, ag Lab, Dan 9 ag.Lab, Bethsheba 9, lacemaker, Sarah Jane 7 lacemaker.

TENANT 1861 CENSUS Joseph Hawes 52, sawyer, Jane 52, lacemaker, Dan 21, sawyer, Sarah 17, lacemaker.

TENANT 1871 CENSUS Joseph Hawes 62, farmer 18 acres, Jane 63.

TENANT 1881 CENSUS John Hawes 43, Farmer 18 acres, Sarah 44 George 21, chair maker, Elizabeth 13.

TENANT 1891 CENSUS George Hawes 31, Farmer and chair maker, Sarah mother, widow, 54, Elizabeth, 23, sister, lace beader

TENANT 1901 CENSUS Sarah Hawes, widow 64, Elizabeth 33, 2 lodgers Edith Cole & Bessie Griffin, both 14.

TENANT 1911 CENSUS Sarah Hawes 74, widow, lacemaker, Emma 49, Elizabeth 44, servant

Edwin Williams, who was born there takes up the story. ---

On 31st July 1937 Mr and Mrs Arthur Williams moved into Ye Olde Cottage -- the day they were married

The cottage had no mains water and no electricity until about 1946/7. Water was drawn from a tank outside.

The rent was paid to Miss Emma Hawes who was apparently looking after the property for a friend who had gone to Australia. The friend never came back. When Emma died, Harry Hawes, the son of George Hawes, said he had found out that Emma didn't own the property and would they like to make an offer for the property and apply for the deeds as they were sitting tenants. Mr and Mrs Williams declined the offer, continuing to pay the rent to Harry Hawes until they moved out in 1955/6.

Research note As Harry Hawes had no deeds or will concerning the cottages, it was put into Chancery to be sorted out. It was awarded to the Hawes family who had been the tenants since before 1841, with Emma having been looking after it for the owner, of whom there was no trace. It now legally belonged to Harry Hawes.

Edwin continues. Eventually Harry Hawes sold the cottages to a Mrs Williams (no connection to my family) and her Irish partner, A chap called Harold Williams (nothing to do with the aforesaid Williams'!!!) then bought it - he subsequently moved into one of the new houses next door to the Black Horse (left hand side). I think it was then that Greens purchased Ye Olde Cottage and the adjoining Rose Cottage, substantially altering and modernising them into one house which they named Eumana.

An additional comment from neighbour 'Tup' Foster who lived in 'Clovelly'.

When the Greens started to alter the cottages, they removed some of walls and thinking to use some of the bricks again, they were left heaped outside over winter.   By spring, many of them had crumbled away.

Note. This was an indication of very old bricks, made before brick kilns did not heat all the brick well enough.   The old local brickworks down Kiln Lane had stopped production by about 1820, but it was already known that the cottages were built before 1823.