Nightingale Farm

Originally part of the estate of Brigadier Winstanley, upon his passing, it was inherited by his niece Lady Isabel Lander. She then sold it on to Hugo Barnaby who broke up the farm and retained the farmhouse together with several of the outbuildings and a half-acre of land.

In 1984, Mr Barnaby began a tradition that carried on until 2003. He rented a self-contained flat in the farmhouse to Neil and Susan Carter – thus becoming their first home upon their marriage in February of that same year. It is here that they welcomed their first child, Emma into the world later that year.

Mr Barnaby sold the farmhouse the following year to Mrs Marjorie Antrobus, who was to become affectionately know to all as Mrs A, and to Joe Grundy as ‘the dog lady’.

Under Mrs A’s ownership, she took in quite a few lodgers whom she steadfastly added pounds to their waistline. They included Nigel Pargetter, Ruth Pritchard [now Archer] and Doctor Richard Locke. She converted the old outbuildings into kennels, which originally housed her precious eight Afghan dogs.

Her final tenant, Hayley Jordan moved in 1995 in order to aid her search for love with John Archer. After [her almost fiancé] John died, Hayley took comfort in a close friend of John’s, Roy Tucker and in 1999, Roy and his daughter, Phoebe Aldridge moved into Nightingale Farm after Mrs A made arrangements for the flat to incorporate another room making way for another “first family home”. Roy proposed to Hayley on the toll of the millennium bells and village fireworks and they were married from the flat in May 2001.

Mrs A owned the farmhouse until 2003 when she was forced to sell up in order to pay for much needed assisted living accommodation at The Laurels and the farmhouse was purchased by Matt Crawford.

After extensive refurbishment, in which the building was restored to one residency, Matt rented it to his lover Lillian Bellamy [nee Archer, formerly Nicholson] who lived there alone until Matt moved in with her following his divorce.

In 2006 Matt sold the property in order to buy The Dower House.