The old farmhouse

Today’s walk took me up to the old farmhouse
During WWII the Woodhouse farmland was reduced from 270 acres to just fifty when an airfield was built to station both American and British forces to help in the fight to free Europe from the Nazis. The last fifty acres around the airfield was farmed by various owners throughout the war, with the help of the women’s land army, and some of the service personnel on their off duty moments.
The land now will become an incinerator to deal with waste from London.

I’m just very disappointed that I couldn’t find out anything more about the people who lived in both of the houses over the years. I know the farm was once part of a large estate belonging to Felix Hall which isn’t that far from Woodhouse Farm.

Charles Callis, Baron Western 1767-1844 inherited Rivenhall Place, a large estate just outside my village, also owned Felix Hall in 1790 as it was his main place of residence and where he died in 1844. Charles was an avid collector, traveller and antiquarian, but his main interest was in the improvement of farming methods, such as improving the breeds of sheeps