OTHER
LOCAL FARMS
The agriculture in parish has always been
mixed farming. Pigs lived in the woods eating acorns, worms and whatever they
could find. Cattle grazed in the fields of pasture on the clayey lowland soils.
Sheep grazed on the fields along the top of the ridge and were followed by
crops of cereals or vegetables.
At the beginning of the 19th century, to
take advantage of the improvements offered by the Agricultural Revolution there
was large-scale farm building programme on the clay lands at the foot of the
Greensand Ridge. Their names give indication of that period when, following the
French Revolution, British naval expeditions were taking action against the
French in the Mediterranean - Gibraltar Farm, Port Mahon Farm and Waterloo
Farm. Nearer Potton there were farms named Portobello and Carthagena. These
were named after some of the successful battles of the campaign.
CHURCH FARM
It was built in the 19th century
opposite St Mary’s church using bricks from Everton brickyard. There was an earlier
farm on the same site. The new farm was tenanted by Mr Roberts, then by Wally
Smith's father. It included a smithy's yard and the tithe barn (burnt down in
the 1960s) where the parish tithes were stored. Two tin-roofed cottages
opposite the church were used as pig sties by Mr Croot. Mr Seward's stock yard
and milking parlour/dairy was in one of the sheds. There was a steam engine in
one shed that powered a feedmill for chopping feedstuffs for cattle.
(Conversation with John Brooker, Everton)
In the 1980s the farm was demolished and
the area built on with new houses in Church End and St Mary's Walk.
A small thatched hut stood inside the
churchyard, thought to be the gravedigger's cottage but more likely a tool
shed)
GIBRALTAR FARM
This was thought to have been an 18th
century farm built on heavy clay land down the hill. In 1864 the tenant was
John Smith. (Kelly’s Post
Office Directory 1876) During the Second World War it was taken over by the R.A.F. The roof tiles were
removed to make it look derelict. For the same reason much of the black
weather-boarding was removed. Inside, the stairs, ceiling and first floor were
removed to create a very large room. The inside walls were built up and
reinforced. This was to be the airfield’s nerve centre.
Outside the pond was
left and ducks were reported to fly in regularly to use it. Cattle were
deliberately grazed on some of the fields when the runways were not in use to
make the pilots of any German planes that managed to fly over think it was used
for agricultural purposes. It succeeded. It is said that the aerial photographs
taken by German pilots who flew over were interpreted as a disused airfield.
After the war it
was demolished and in 1965 Francis Pym but sold to Mr Astell of Woodbury Hall. One abiding memory for any visitor to the
airfield today is the memorial barn. It stands in lonely isolation
amongst the fields of cereals. The black weatherboarding and internal structure
has been restored but the inside has been left as it was when the agents arrived
prior to take off. Here they were supplied with parachutes and important kit
for their trip. Their plane taxied up to the entrance of the barn and they were
then taken off into the moonlit night.
Bare and dusty concrete bunks line three sides. These
were the shelves from which the agents were issued with their parachutes and
supplies immediately before take-off. Photographs, mementoes and personal
messages adorn parts of the walls. Every Remembrance Sunday the local British
Legion leads a service. Poppies laid years ago gather dust but there are lots
of messages left by the loved ones and those who remember the men and women who
lost their lives when they were stationed at Tempsford. Outside the barn is a
square of grass on which a number of young trees have been planted. At their
base are small plaques commemorating individuals for their role or just thanks
by veterans from those countries who had wartime connections with the base. Since the war ended reunions
were held every year. Pilots, their crews, the ground crew, agents and others
use
For more details of what went on during the
war at Tempsford Airfield contact Bernard O'Connor at Fquirk202@aol.com
GREEN MAN FARM
This farm is in Tetworth, close to the crossroads
at Gamlingay Cinques (TL 225530).
The tenant in 1842 and 1864 was David Walcock who was also a brickmaker. (Kelly’s Post Office Directory 1846,
1864)
LOW FIELD FARM
This is situated on heavy clay land, part of
Woodbury estate at the foot of the hill. Charlie Wagstaff farmed Low Field Farm
in the late-19th century. Just to the west of the level crossing was
an area of land known as “New Zealand“, divided among about 20 market
gardeners. Each had between two and three acres of heavy clay land on which
they grew seed potatoes and corn (wheat, oats and barley). The latter had
clover planted between the rows so that once the corn was scythed the field
would grow a field of hay.
Just to the northwest of Low field Farm
there was a Duck Decoy, a wide stretch of water which was fenced in with
netting. At the northern end was a trap. Ducks were scared by dogs up the
stream and into a net where they were trapped. The farmer made additional
income from selling them to local butchers.
PARK FARM,
SANDY
This farm was built in 1837
by Francis Pym, the owner of Hazell’s estate, to capitalise on the ever-growing
demand for food from the expanding urban settlements. It was located close to
the parish boundary with Everton and consisted of a south-facing house with two
rows of single-storey farm buildings and a barn behind. Together they formed a
large square. Its name was later changed to Hazells Farm. (Pym, F. ‘Sentimental
Journey, pp.76, 180)
PORT MAHON FARM
It is thought to have been an 18th
century farm built on heavy clay land. Olney Folbigg was tenant in 1842 and in
1874. By 1876 William Kirkham was advertising as the tenant farmer.
During the Second World War, Port Mahon Farm was occupied by pilots who were
taught the vital skill of recognising the silhouettes of planes. An old
keeper's cottage near the entrance to the base was demolished. After the war
the farm itself was demolished and on the site a semi-detached building was
erected to house the farm manager and agricultural workers.
In 1864 Mark Newman was the tenant farmer. (Kelly’s Post
Office Directory, 1864)
Farm manager was Mr Hunter who lived in Old Woodbury (?).
Joe Webb was Lady Astell's chauffeur who lived in the thatched
lodge at the end of the drive.
VICTORIA FARM
Thought to have been an 18th
century farm, situated on the clay land at the foot of Victoria Hill, reached
by Walnut Tree Lane from St Mary’s Church. It and three agricultural labourers’
cottages were demolished in 1942 during the construction of Tempsford Airfield.
WARDEN HILL FARM
Warden Hill is an unusual feature in
Everton. It is a symmetrical hill which may have had an occupation site on the
top where a look out could be kept, hence the word, warden. Local rumour has it
that a Viking longboat is buried beneath the hill but no records confirm this
and excavation has not been done.
The earliest part of this farmhouse dates
back to the 17th century. Inside is the remains of a "Beehive" bake
oven which the farmer used to supply the labourers with bread as part payment
of their wages. These beehive bread ovens date back to the 18th century. They
were connected to the kitchen, dairy, buttery or to the backhouse, the
alternative name for bakehouse in earlier times. (Beds. Mag.?) This was quite a
usual arrangement as was the provision of beer in the fields at harvest time. A
barrel might be taken out with three pints given out to each man. Another usual
custom was for the farmer to entertain his labourers to a slap up meal after
harvest. It was called the "Horkey" but the practise disappeared
towards the end of the nineteenth century when cash payments were
preferred.
A hollow trackway led down the hill to the
fields on the clay where cattle were put to pasture. Over the centuries their
hooves left a muddy track which, after the rains, would have the soil washed
away.
Floor tiles in the outbuildings were
supplied by Everton brickworks.
The tenant in 1876 were Matthew and John
Bliss. By 1920 Peter Wisson had taken it over. (Kelly’s Post Office Directory 1876. 1885, 1920,1931)
The farm buildings and farm yard were sold
in 19—and a new housing estate built. The house on the corner is the old farm
house.
WATERLOO FARM (now FERNBURY FARM)
It was one of the 18th century
farms built on the heavy clay land of the Pym estate. Henry Breed was the
tenant in 1876 followed by William Flint. When he took it over is uncertain but
he was advertising from 1920. (Kelly’s
Post Office Directory 1876, 1920, 1931) During the depression of the
1930s the fields at the bottom of the hill suffered neglect and ruin. It was
very heavy clay land much overgrown with hawthorn. Late every afternoon tens of
thousands of starlings used to fly over the village and descend the hill to
roost in the bushes. The noise was terrific. They would all fly off in great
black flocks in the morning. Between three and four inches of bird droppings
accumulated underneath. William Flint was still the tenant and it is said that
he paid his rent by shooting rabbits. During the War it was taken over by
Jonathon Hodson who used land girls to help with the work. All this was
ploughed up and drained during the construction of the airfield. It was
reinstated after the war and renamed Fernbury Farm.
THE ELMS
This was the Pym’s estate office and home
of Mr. Preedy, Pym's agent. Then occupied by Jonathon and Ruth Pym and family.
Fox hunting - ten foxes hung up by their
neck.
In the
early-1900s two farms supplied milk to the village. Tom Wisson's herd of cows
supplied milk to the Sandy end of the village and Mr Seward of Park Farm supplied it to people living near the
church.