One of my husband's young relatives arranged a trip for both of us to visit the village where he grew up in Surrey, a place he left as a teenager. Unbeknown to us she had spoken to the owner of what had been his grandfather's farmhouse and arranged for us to see the property.
This pen and ink drawing of the farmhouse was done from a photograph by one of my husband's cousins 40 years ago, and this is how my husband remembers it. The barn at the side of the farmhouse sits on staddle stones (mushroom) legs which kept rats and other unwanted creatures away from the corn stored inside. Both the property and the barn are now Grade 11 listed.
This is how the farmhouse looks today, but I personally feel, that it has lost some of its charm. The entrance porch has been removed, and the interesting square patterns created by the brick and flint stone work when it was built in 1590 are now hidden by paint.
We wandered down to the village church and discovered that strangely there were two entrance pathways leading up to the church.
The photo below shows both pathways leading to the church.
This last image is another ink drawing again done by my husband's cousin from an old photo. This is the road that runs besides the church, and we were surprised to see that it still looks exactly the same today even though this image was probably taken during the 1930s.
We loved the pretty steeple made out of chestnut wood shingles which over the years has turned a lovely shade of silver-grey, and the attractive sundial clock. The bird flying around the tower was one of several Buzzards seen soaring up into the sky on thermals.
H0RA PARS VITÆ
Every hour is a part of life
