Great Oaks Farmhouse
This page was written by Pamela Hider
Great Oaks Farmhouse c.1974 (Courtesy of HER)
The Historic Environment for Bedfordshire describes this farmhouse as follows:
C18 house extended C19. Coursed limestone rubble. Old clay tile roof. Original house of 3 bays. In C19, 2 bays were added to N.W. to form an L-plan and the roof hipped around the S.W. corner. Also gabled wing added in the angle of the L. Two storeys and attics. S. entrance front has two hipped dormers with 2-light casements with glazing bars. First floor has three 2- light casements with glazing bars unoer timber lintels. Ground floor has four casements with glazing bars, two to either side of central door. Those immediately flanking the doorway are single light. The door is in panelled reveals with a pedimented canopy on slim Ionic columns. W. elevation of return wing also now of 3 bays. Central slightly projecting gabled section with small attic casement window. First floor has 1:1:1 2-light casement windows with glazing bars; the right hand one in the original house under a timber lintel. Ground floor has central 2-light casement flanked by French doors, again right hand opening with timber lintel.
Pre-enclosure
Our earliest record for Great Oaks is to be found in a Pre-enclosure map of part of Turvey dated 1783 (HG1/2/1) which shows some named strips of land (eg. Park Field, Windmill Hill Field, Goblins Hole Field). One of the plough strips is named "Bows & Arrows" (an indication perhaps of a previous medieval owner) - a portion of which has since become part of Great Oaks Farm, endorsed in pencil by a later hand (Gee's survey for enclosure). For centuries, Turvey land had been owned by the noble Mordaunt family, but after the civil war, the feudal structure was loosening and their remaining land holdings in the village were finally sold off after Enclosure in 1785. The village of Turvey was bought from the Mordaunts by Charles Higgins (Sheriff of London) in 1787 and The Higgins family owned much of Turvey thereafter, W.F. Higgins being the first landlord of Great Oaks Farm. Owners listed below would've been Lessors.
Boulton Family
The next name in our records to be associated with this farm was Boulton. Elizabeth Boulton, was a cousin of the world famous Birmingham industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and her grandfather had married Elizabeth Dyott of the illustrious Staffordshire family. She moved down to Stanwick in Northamptonshire to be married in 1752. It is thought she encouraged her younger brother Henry (born 1739) to follow her there for a better life farming in a village, as Henry married in Stanwick in 1763. His four children were all born in Stanwick, but married spouses from Bedfordshire in and around Turvey towards the end of the century.
John Boulton (Bolton)
His only son, John (born 1765) was mentioned in two of our documents dated 1807 & 1816, respectively Z178/34 & Z178/43, as being in occupation of land in Turvey (adjacent to Great Oaks) called 'Balls Close or Balls Pasture' consisting of 16 acres. The period after enclosure would have been the early years of building the Farm. John & his wife Elizabeth from Cardington had produced five children, two of which were to be the next farmers at Great Oaks Farm. John died in 1829.
Henry Dyott Boulton (b.1803)
In 1831, Henry married Mary Whitworth, daughter of John Whitworth of Turvey, who owned Turvey Mill. We know from private family records that Henry farmed with his father John at Great Oaks Farm. Extracts from the diarist* Matthew Boulton, a younger brother of Henry, record "a visit to his brother (Henry) in Turvey. The next day he (Matthew) attended an exhibition of hedging and ditching at his brother’s farm". Henry's wife, Mary, gave birth to six children, but most died in infancy. Mary herself died in 1839 and Henry married again in 1843 to Anne Susan Brown of Goldington. His Will (GA1907-8,) refers to him as a "Gentleman formerly of Turvey". Great Oaks Farm had now passed to his youngest brother George and Henry is henceforth referred to in documents as a "Farmer of Goldington" eg. (EBE/4/2). Henry's name is mentioned in several documents of the Quarter Sessions of the Peace over the years, where he is called to attend on the Grand Jury. He was also the Executor of the Will (GA 2023) of his previous father-in-law, John Whitworth, in 1852. John died in 1855. Henry and Anne had four children and Henry died in 1874.
George Boulton (b.1813)
Now that Henry had left Turvey, having moved to Goldington to farm after his second marriage, Great Oaks Farm came under the ownership of his brother George. George is named as farmer of Great Oaks Farm when he appears as a witness in document Z178/48 in 1846, and in the Post Office Directories of 1847 & 1869. Like his brother Henry, he is listed as a Grand Juror in documents of the Quarter Sessions of the Peace (1849 & 1852), and as a trustee in a conveyance document R6/3/5/4 (1855). He is also the Farmer of Great Oaks Farm at the time of Joseph Bell.
Joseph Bell was born in Turvey in 1846. Our document FAC129 concerns " Chapters from the autobiography of a village lad showing the hardships and superstitions of village life in England from 1846 to 1858 subtitled The story of twelve years in the life of a village orphan 1846-1858 told by himself. Written by Joseph Bell (born 26 March 1846) and addressed to his daughter Ellen Withycombe and dated 1926." The chapter pp 48 - 56 is headed "My First Engagement on a Farm" which is Great Oaks.
Henry Brown
About 1873, an inventory and valuation of Great Oaks Farm (BMB4/1/10/1) was made from George Boulton to Henry Brown. Henry (b.1831) was a descendant of John Bunyan and is listed in the Post Office Directory of 1877 as farmer of Great Oaks. (George and his family emigrated to America in 1880). Henry then leased the farm from W.F.Higgins in 1880 (BMB4/1/10/1/2) and indeed he is found in the 1881 census at Great Oaks Farm in Turvey as a ‘Farmer of 320 acres employing 7 men and 4 boys’. By 1885, document BMB4/1/10/1/10 refers to Henry as the outgoing tenant.
20th Century
W.F. Higgins died in 1899 and records of the Farm after that are few. In 1910, the Finance Act Valuation Records for Turvey (DBV1/86) listed the owner of land at Great Oaks as Henry Longuet-Higgins and the farm itself was occupied by Newland Fountain.
The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 (DV1/H18) specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. In March 1927, the owner of Great Oaks Farm was listed as Air Commodore Higgins and the occupiers as J. Tite & Son. The Valuer's notes, dated 24.3.27, state " ¾ mile from main road. T (tenant) supposed to keep ½ road in repair for ½ length and wholly in repair as to other ½. Landlord finds material T carts. Wants 2 good cottages! Heavy lands, poor". He also referred to "Good House. Excellent Buildings. Land disappointing especially the grass. Poor on East Onions in 71 & 72. Road an expense". "Find later 30.3.27 lack of cottages makes labour v difficult - therefore instinct may be high".
The house is described as "2 rooms, scullery, kitchen, cellar. Outside - Wood. Barn. Earth CLoset. Upstairs: 4 fair bedrooms, 2 small bedrooms. W.C. 4 Attic beds used for store only. Water from Pump. House really too big". Small diagram & measurements follow.
The Homestead is described: "Brick & Stone. Coach Hs Harness Room 4 stall stable horse box.
West of yard 7 Bay open hovel
S " " stone & slate Barn stable for 8
E " " " " 7 bay open hovel
N " " " " Cow shed for 12
4 Pig Sties
Brick & Stone 5 Bay open Cart Shed. Loft over Barn. Mixing Room Homestead well built mostly stone & slate but not enough cow room or boxes.
Sale of farm?
A letter from Beachcroft & Co to Rev H H L Longuet-Higgins in 1955 began: "Have heard that Great Oaks farm is to be sold shortly"....(HG7/2/151). No further details are known except that the building went into disrepair. In the 21st century it is thought to be owned by WG Payne & Son and is used for Livestock Farming & Mixed Farming.
Great Oaks Farm, August 2023
* Matthew Boulton, diarist (baptised in Turvey in 1807)
On 8 March 1841 Matthew Boulton was on a visit to his brother (Henry) in Turvey. The next day he attended an exhibition of hedging and ditching at his brother’s farm (Great Oaks). He died on 25 March 1841, aged thirty-four. His diary was kept for just the last five years of his life but the extracts are invaluable: "they reveal the economic, religious, political, social, cultural and sporting lives of the well-to-do middle class of Moseley (home of the Boultons in Wake Green, Birmingham) in the first half of the nineteenth century".
'Extracts from Matthew Boulton's Diary, 1836-1841' by Janet Berry (2021) for the Moseley Society.
We are indebted to Robin Phillips, a descendant of John Boulton, for access to private family records.