Your House and Mine |
Colliers Farm |
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Introduction
Map of Frieth Moor End Bramblings Astrea Merrydown Cottage Corner Cottage Moor's End Cottages Moor Gate House Underwood The Copse Fingest Road The Forge Folly Cottages The Willows Perrin Springs Lane Perrin Springs West's Cottages Ellery Rise Hilliers Lynden Cottage Frieth Hill Hillside Cottage Rowleys Pear Tree Cottage Hillside View The Platt Little Barlows Cutlers Cottage Yew Tree Cottage Little Cottage Barlows Birch Cottage Tedders / Rose Cottage The Old Stores The Yew Tree Inn Fairfield House Flint Cottage 1 Flint Cottage 2 Inglenook Middle Cottage Sunny Corner The Gables The Orchards Hilltop Cattons Mallards Hillswood The Old Parsonage White Gates The Laurels The Cottage The Firm Marlstone Westwood Bradstone Haylescroft The Niche Rivendell Summerhill Ashcroft Selborne The Ranch House Sara's Cottage The Cherries The Old School House Innings Road Collier's Farm Innings Gate Down the Lane Sunset Cottage Fermain Chilterns Rowan Cottage Creighton Cottage Apple Tree Old Well Cottage The Cottage Flat Roof Whitsun Backlins Red Kites Maidenscraft Spurgrove Lane Maidencraft Cottage September Cottage Spurgrove Cottage Gable End Willems Elder Barn Sunnydale |
 The Barn at Colliers Farm in 1978
Collier's farm was originally called Friethe Farm then
renamed Cutlers Farm and lastly Collier's Farm.
In 1845 this farm holding included all the land bordering
Innings Road on both sides of the road and beyond, including Maidencroft and the
fields on the north side of Spurgrove Lane too. The house, barns and
outbuildings are recorded on Jeffreys 1770 map and according to the
D'Oyley Estate Map, mentioned earlier, belonged to William
Clayton Lord of the
Manor of Hambleden. By 1845 the Tithe Schedule shows that C.R. Scott-Murray then Lord of the Manor, owned this farm and let it to Edmund Dean, tenant farmer. [ You can find the Tithe Map under "Hambleden" on the menu bar above ]
In the 19th C the firm of West & Collier bought this farm and Tom Collier and family lived in it and owned it after the firm split up in 1916. Only an architectural survey of the roof beams etc. of the house and barns could establish just how old parts of them are. The Collier deeds of all their extensive properties were stored in a safe at their solicitors' office in High Wycombe, unfortunately a fire broke out and all were reduced to ashes so robbing us of much early local history.
The main house had a wine/beer cellar and also contained one of those earthenware crocs with a lid described earlier as seen at Moor Gate House.
[ I think the reference to William Clayton should possibly be to Sir Robert Clayton, after checking the map. Derek Collier says: According to Thomas Collier's will, the property was bought directly by the Colliers from Scott-Murray (not by West & Collier) although no date for this transaction is given. Henry Peplow in "The Barn" writes : I have some pictures of the barn by John Harris. They show the barn from the road, and a front view showing a pony in a wheel contraption doing some sort of lifting, I suppose. We moved here about 15 or so years ago. We know that Colliers Farm used to be a single property, including the cottage behind us. I used to work in London, and one day sat in our office canteen with a group including a girl who was working for us on an assignment. We talked about where she grew up, and eventually said ‘you won’t know it… it’s a village in the Chilterns.’ It turns out she lived in Colliers Farm and used to play in the barn as a girl. She said they had a swing from a beam and used to fire airguns at the wood. I’ve found some shots in a beam to prove her right! I’ve heard that the barn was used for some social functions before it was converted and sold as a house. We are the second owners. There used to be a little tree on the lawn and the children used it as a swing. It fell down in a storm, unfortunately.] |
