The history of Hamfrith Farm

Mark Gorman (@Flatshistorian) continues his series on the farms of pre-suburban Forest Gate and district with a look at the history of Hamfrith Farm, some of which is today occupied by Godwin and Woodgrange schools.

Hamfrith (literally “Ham Wood”) was originally part of the lands of Stratford Langthorne Abbey, the great Cistercian monastery on the banks of the river Lea. In 1538, after the abbey’s dissolution Hamfrith, together with the rest of West Ham manor, was acquired by the king. At the end of the C17th George Booth was given a 99-year lease for the manor of West Ham for services to the crown. Booth later made a grant which divided the manor into two parts. He assigned Hamfrith farm (which had been made out of Hamfrith wood) to Sir John Blount, a director of the South Sea Company, for 69 years, starting in 1733.

After the South Sea Bubble burst Blount was ruined, and his estates were sold. The Stratford and Hamfrith property was bought in 1734 by John Tylney, later Earl Tylney. It was then inherited in his family until the end of the 18th century.

Map of Essex by John Chapman and Peter Andre 1777. The map shows Hamfrith incorrectly marked as "Wood Grange" (sic), Woodgrange farm is the collection of buildings to the south of the Eagle and Child pub.

Both parts of the manor remained Crown freehold until the end of the 18th century, but the demesne land (land in the manor retained by the owner for his own use) and the manorial rights were then sold separately. In 1787 the whole manor contained 290 acres demesne lands, and 54 acres of commons, most of which formed part of Wanstead Flats. The demesne lands were mainly scattered in the southern marshes, the only substantial tenement (occupied buildings) being Hamfrith farm, 128 acres lying north of the London-Ilford road, on both sides of the boundary between East Ham and West Ham, occupied by John Greenhill.

Map c 1800 showing the Greenhill holdings. Their land streches from Forest Gate in the west to what is now Manor Park, and bordered the southern edge of Wanstead Flats, as well as fields south of the road to Romford. Hamfrith farm was east of the Eagle and Child on the map.

 

By 1799, when the occupiers were William, John and Richard Greenhill, Hamfrith comprised 148 acres. William Greenhill bought the freehold of Hamfrith Farm (without manorial rights, which were sold separately) from the Crown for £8,642. At this stage the Greenhills had substantial holdings both north and south of the Romford Road. William Greenhill's father, John, was said to have been the first large-scale potato grower for the London market, probably from the middle of the C18th, and his son had continued to develop the business. By the 1820s the Greenhills were employing upwards of 100 workers, mainly Irish.

By this time, however, William Greenhill seems to have run into financial difficulties, as between 1824-8 he mortgaged the farm for a total of £9,000. He died in 1832, leaving over £50,000 (approx £4.7m today) and directing that Hamfrith should be held in trust for life, and should later be sold. Financial problems continued for his heirs, however, for in 1835 William's son, John, was declared bankrupt and the contents of Hamfrith farm were auctioned off, while three months later part of the farm itself, described as "130 acres of superior land, in the highest state of cultivation" was offered to let. John's brother, William, occupied Plashet Hall at the time, which also had farm buildings and 145 acres of farmland, much of it south of Romford Road.

 

Hamfrith Farm and "Potatoe Hall" on the 1797 draft Ordnance Survey map.

Their house, Plashet Hall, on Romford Road, was known locally as "Potato Hall". The name "Potatoe Hall" also appeared on the draft Ordnance Survey map, made in 1797 (see above), showing that the Greenhill's business was nationally recognised.

The trustees finally sold the entire estate of 300 acres, as well as Plashet House, "a most Desirable and Gentlemanly residence" in 1850. The farm was described as "superior and productive Market Garden land", but significant emphasis was also put on the extensive building frontage "to very excellent roads".

The estate was eventually bought by Samuel Gurney (see here), owner of the neighbouring manor of Woodgrange and Ham House, for £17,710. Hamfrith then comprised 131 acres, bisected by the main line Eastern Counties Railway. John Greenhill, despite having to sell off his interest in his father's estate in 1836, appears to have enjoyed a comfortable life after moving to Leytonstone, where he died in 1869.

The 1863 6-inch OS map, showing that Hamfrith Farm has become West Ham Hall with an entrance where Chestnut Avenue meets Avenue Road. The red line running through the map is the projected route of the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway, opened in 1894.

 

West Ham Hall c1890

John Gurney, grandson of Samuel, sold most of Hamfrith in 1872 to the British land Company, who in turn, in 1874, sold it to the Manor Park Cemetery Company. The eastern part was used for the cemetery, while the remainder was gradually developed by the Cemetery Company for building. Sebert Road, built up by 1878, runs through the centre of the Hamfrith lands.

The site of West Ham Hall is now occupied by Godwin primary school

Hamfrith farm-house had existed at least since the early 18th century. In the 19th century it became a gentleman's residence, with ornamental gardens. From the 1860s it was known as West Ham Hall. It stood on the north side of Sebert Road between Avenue Road and Cranmer Road. A carriage drive stretched north to the modern-day junction of Avenue Road and Chestnut Avenue.

About 1890 it was acquired by the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway Company, which was then building its line, via Wanstead Park, to Woodgrange Park. West Ham Hall was still standing in 1893, when the company put it up for sale, with other surplus land. The house was bought by West Ham School Board, which demolished it. Today it is the site of Woodgrange and Godwin schools.

The main entrance to Hamfrith Farm was at the junction of Avenue Road and Chestnut Avenue. The farm gates were where the post box is today.