1. Introduction
This month we have a profile of Wheelers Farm, a snippet on Arthur Munby, who lived there from 1878 - 1910 and a short update on the progress of the HCA project.
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Situated on the south side of Warren Lane, approximately 300m east of St Nicholas’ Church, Wheelers Farm is a part of the dispersed medieval village of Pyrford. Historically, most of the related farmland would have bordered the shallow valley of the river Wey and may possibly have extended west beyond the ford after which the village was named – now Pyrford, but ‘Pyrianforda’ in the 10C then ‘Pyrpherde’ in the 16C.
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The building was originally a Smoke Bay Hall House. The most notable change to the structure would have been the inclusion of a chimney and back-to-back inglenook – probably in the 16C. This alteration enabled the house to have an upper floor. What had originally been a barn, tacked onto the eastern end, was converted to became a part of the living-space. It is very likely that another barn was then constructed as a replacement, but there are no records to substantiate this. The barn that exists today was built at some point in the 18C and, like the farmhouse, is Grade II Listed.
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Records indicate that the house was occupied by a Mr Welere in 1474. At that time, it is possible the building was named ‘Welere’s Farm’. But, in the late 18C, the land was worked by a man named Wheeler – hence, perhaps, the present name. It is, of course, just possible the two named persons were distantly related – despite the centuries in between. In 1912, the house was named ‘Buttercup’, but soon reverted to Wheelers.
After the ‘new’ barn had been constructed, it is probable that the farmyard would have been between the barn and the house. Some of this space was lost when an extension was built – thought to have been created in the 19C. A further similar extension was then added against the first – date unknown, but possibly late19C or very early 20C. The gap between the barn and the farmhouse has been reduced to about 5m at the closest point.
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The water supply to the farmhouse was originally from a well situated about 15m south of the building. However, the well water became polluted at the beginning of the 20C and a connection to the main supply became necessary. This was achieved by laying a 300m pipeline along Warren Lane.
Originally, the farm was a part of the local Manor lands of the church – seized by the Crown at the time of the Reformation. It then transferred into the ownership of local earldoms from the 16C until owned by the Countess of Lovelace (Ada Byron, the daughter of Lord Byron) at the end of 19C. One of the occupants during that century was Arthur Munby – a Cambridge Don famously known to have a predilection for working women.
In the earliest years of the 20C, the house was rented by Mr W Thompson. After his death, the house became unoccupied for a number of years until bought by Mr P H Shaw in 1963. Mr Shaw died in 1972. His widow, ‘Dot’ Shaw, continued in residence until 1994 when she moved to be with her granddaughter in West Byfleet. Since then, her daughter and son-in-law, Ian Whittle, have been in residence.
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After the end of the Second World War, much of the land in the area had been sold – including all the land pertaining to Wheelers Farm except the farmhouse itself on two acres of land. The barn then became disassociated and under risk of development into residential space. This unpopular state of affairs was thwarted when the daughter of the incumbent owners of the farmhouse (Ian and Hilary Whittle) managed to purchase the barn and some 10 hectares of the original farmland – thereby preserving the historical and rural nature of the Wheelers Farm landscape.
There is an inscription above the front entrance that is credited to Mr Arthur Munby:
Illa placet tellus in qua res parva beatum me facet
“It is a pleasant place in which small things make me happy”
Ian Whittle
12 February 2024
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3. Heritage Snippet – Arthur Munby
A curious local resident, Arthur Joseph Munby leased Wheelers Farm from 1878 until his death in 1910. Munby was educated to be a barrister and was called to the bar in 1855. His interest however was working-class women, particularly those who performed
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hard physical labour. A pastime was wandering the streets ofLondon and other industrial cities where he approached working women to ask about their lives and the details of their work, while noting their clothes and dialects. The observations were recorded in his journals. These journals explore what Munby practiced with his parlourmaid wife, Hannah Cullwick, as well as his desire for the strength and care of a working woman.
He was an amateur artist, and his diaries contain sketches of working women. He collected hundreds of photographs, such as colliery women, kitchen maids, milkmaids, charwomen, and acrobats. His diaries and images provide historical information on the lives of working-class Victorian women. His papers are housed today at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
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4. HCA Project Update
The project team have received updates of the work commissioned from Headland Archaeology and this will appear on the website in due course. The Heritage section of the website has been significantly re-organised to include project team terms of reference, team meeting minutes since the start of the project and project progress so take a look at https://pyrfordforum.org/heritage-project-team-minutes/ for loads more detail on the work we are doing. Let us know what you think at info@pyrfordforum.org
Final preparations are being made for a conservation area assessment of Aviary Road and we will shortly be contacting those who are interested to participate in this activity.
Geoff Geaves – for and on behalf of the HCA Project Team
12 February 2024.
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