Harold Hill Farm
Harold Hill Farm and Harold Hill House (now known as the Red House in North Hill Drive)
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This farm was created by the Neave family after the purchase of the manor of Gooshays in 1829; and was formed by the merger of Payne's Farm and other smallholdings. The farmhouse for the new farm was previously that of Payne's Farm, the houses for both farms lay in the same position, roughly on the site of North Hill Green within what is now Harold Hill. This farm was sold by the Neaves in 1919; the tenant at that time was Mr. C. Brooks, the yearly rent was £193. The farm may have been bought by a Mr. Craig in that year.
The owner, when Harold Hill Farm was compulsorily purchased by the London County Council in 1946, was a Mr. J.K. Corbett; who also owned "The Warrens" which lay near the "Plough" at Gallows Corner, this house was also purchased by the L.C.C.
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LOT 7. HAROLD HILL FARM. (from 1919 auction catalogue)
A MODERN FARM HOUSE.
Containing : Five Bed Rooms, Dressing Room, Three Sitting Rooms, Kitchen, Wash House, Cellar and Wood Shed, with a Good Garden, and Two-stall Nag Stable, Harness Room, Fodder Room and Coach House.
THE OLD FARM HOUSE.
Now occupied as a Cottage, containing : Three Bed Rooms, Box Room, Living Room, Kitchen, Scullery, Pantry, Larder and Wood Shed.
THE FARM BUILDINGS.
Comprising : Modem Cow House for 32 Cows, Barn with Lean-to Piggeries, Bull Pen and Mixing Room, Open Cattle Shed, Cart Horse Stable for Seven Horses, Old Stable for Three Horses, with Chaff Room and Cow Stalls for Four Cows, Cooling Room, Chicken House, Cart Shed, and Waggon and Implement Shed, with an Open Shed in Field.
The whole Farm comprising : 137a. 1r. 21 p. of Arable, Pasture and Woodland.
The Occupier was Mr. C. Brooks who Paid £193 10s 0d per annum on a Yearly Tenancy. G.P.O. Acknowledgment Is Rent for Telegraph Pole.
Outgoings :
Tithe Rent Charge (commuted amount) £29 15s l0d. Land Tax : £6 7s 0d.
The Purchaser was Mr. Ernst who paid £3,500.
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Below, the map from the 1919 auction catalogue.
A Harold Hill Farm photo recently brought to our attention by Andy Grant and verified by Don Tait. The Facebook conversation reproduced in full below. The picture can of course be found in "Harold Hill and Noak Hill: a History" by Donoghue and Tait.
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Andy Grant; It is always frustrating when the captioning on a picture does not contain sufficient information to identify where it is, but Don Tait has kindly identified the picture is of Harold Hill Farm, prior to being subsumed by the new Harold Hill estate. The picture was evidently taken before the new estate was built (the farm sold off all of its stock in October 1949 and ceased activities thereafter) and was entered into a competion in 1956 with a caption that simply says "a farm near Romford".
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Cj Tait; I do not know about the 1950's date to the image Andy as it has been identified as being taken during the 1910 to 1920's period by the Local History Department of Havering Libraries and appears in "Harold Hill and Noak Hill: a History" as such. Interestingly there is another image that accompanies this one in the same book, but with people standing in front of the small barn in the centre which is dated 1905 with the location of it being given as Harold Hill Farm. I have seen both images being labelled as either "a farm near Romford" or " a farm at Noak Hill".
Below from left/rear
Right flank taken from North Hill Drive Recreation ground
The photo below of The Red House (Harold Hill House) now in North Hill Drive. The first, almost front on was taken along with the others in 1981 when the building served as a Working Men’s Club. The building was taken over by a housing association in the early 1990s and modified and converted into flats. At that time it was refurbished and re-roofed and the grotesque front porch was removed. At the same time some equally inappropriate dormers were added. Presumably to maximise the number of flats possible. I suppose if that is what was required, then it was preferable to disuse and eventual demolition. The last photo in the series is how it looked from the front/right in the late 90s.
