1977 - Home Farm (from Sale Particulars)
In 1861(see 0893), Home Farm was part of 'Upper Farm', itself part of a larger Estate put up for sale (owner possibly the Beet family of Harpole) that year - refer Record Office map FS 23/53. The same parcels, together with the Broomhill site and one other, were put up for sale again in the late 1860s (see 2134). It is known, from a reference in the Record Office (Ref FS 23/63), that in 1881 the Langham Estate (Sir J H Langham, baronet) - predecessors to the Cottesbrooke Estate - had recently bought from Mr Bosworth (some 153 acres) plus land purchased from Studds Trustees (some 83 acres), and the latter was almost certainly 'Upper Farm'. The Langham Estate decided that this should form one farm offered to Mr. Dunkley, who is also the tenant of land recently bought from Rev Crow (vicar of Great Creaton). This included Home Farm, separately let, with 11 acres, at that time to John Lucas (who also rented land west of the A5199). Later Home Farm and this land was let to Samuel Shatford, and then by 1909 to Thomas 'Banger' Manning. Teddy Wykes bought Home Farm with 26 acres immediately to its north, in 1914, and leased other land of some 100 acre from Lord Erskine at Spratton Hall; land west of the A5199 and at the northern end of the Parish of some 72 acres, and land to the south of the latter (once owned by the Bosworths, now the Misses Featherstone) of about 30 acres - a total of some 230 acres. Teddy had been living at Cottesbrooke, and had been married in 1905 to Ellen Webb, who became ladies' maid to Miss Bevan. In the 1930s, he was running a mixed farm of arable land, crops, sheep (about 1000), poultry and pigs. He had two permanent farm hands, Dick Wykes (a nephew) and Will Manning. In 1937, a distant cousin Millie Wykes (now Barrett), aged 15, went to live and work at the farm - she was taught everything by Ellen, and is still an accomplished cake maker. Lord Erskine, who also had an estate in Scotland, would often stay at Home Farm when all his staff had been despatched to Scotland and he had no one to look after him at Spratton Hall. During the war they had the assistance of four prisoners of war who, it is believed, were billeted at Boughton and were brought everyday to work on the farm. Ellen, who treated everyone as an equal (even the POW's), died in 1948. Notwithstanding the many changes of ownership (Byng c. 1940, Phipps 1945, Cazenove 1947, Darling 1949) it appears that Teddy Wykes continued farming Home Farm until 1951, although he was probably not living in the house by then. It is believed that the next owner was Victor Cross, who was a key executive in British Chrome. He sold the property to Mike and Sue Roberts in 1977. It was re-thatched by Bob Farmer with Continental water Reed in 1996.
Acknowledged to Northamptonshire Libraries & Information Service
Image Reference: 1101
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