Mill Farm House, The Street, Cobham. 20st March 2014
When we purchased Mill Farm House in 2010 upon returning to Kent, we realised early
on how historic both the house and the village were. I enclose details of the ownership
dating back to the l700’s.
Whilst now called Mill Farm House we found a wooden sign “Mill House Farm Dairy” in
the cellar which had been recovered and is clearly a relic from many years ago.
In the dining room there is a fitted Georgian corner cupboard remarkably similar to a
cupboard to be found in Owletts, the National Trust property in the village.
Luckily the property became listed Grade Two on 21st November 1966 and almost all
original features remain. It is fascinating to see so many beams and to see the stairs from
the first floor to the top two bedrooms which are so narrow and split to go both left and
right (there being no landing). At their narrowest they are only l7 inches wide. There are
fireplaces in the two first floor bedrooms and the one in the master bedroom is a small
inglenook. Both the dining and sitting room also have inglenook fireplaces and cast iron
fireback dated in the l600’s.
When purchasing the property our Surveyor showed us internal features indicating the
origins were older than the brick date of 1712 on the front elevation. The house would
have originally had the farm animals in the rear part, which of course has long been
incorporated into the main buiding, now being the kitchen and rear of the sitting room.
The above is why the rear elevation is so different with a large “cat slide roof’, literally
dropping down to approximately five feet high externally.
A heavy door with both bolts top and bottom together with an older mortice lock divides
the dining room and kitchen. This would have been the original external door to the area
housing the animals. Another interesting feature are the heavy iron bars approximately
1/2 inch square which hang behind both the door from the dining room to the stairs and
also the door in the main bedroom. These would have been lifted and placed (they can
still be used) across the door internally as a form of defence or protection.
The west gable wall (which I understand was most probably originally weather boarded)
and is now of red brick has a distinct, large, heart shape set in it in almost black brick and
we have discovered that the village children have always called the property “The Heart
House”. This feature is most distinct in winter when the adjacent trees lose their leaves.
Our neighbour today (whose father built the adjacent bungalow) planted, the now large
chestnut, over fifty years ago.
The family who lived in the Mill House Farm Dairy property when the 2nd World War
started still have relations in the village
Peter Connellan
When we purchased Mill Farm House in 2010 upon returning to Kent, we realised early
on how historic both the house and the village were. I enclose details of the ownership
dating back to the l700’s.
Whilst now called Mill Farm House we found a wooden sign “Mill House Farm Dairy” in
the cellar which had been recovered and is clearly a relic from many years ago.
In the dining room there is a fitted Georgian corner cupboard remarkably similar to a
cupboard to be found in Owletts, the National Trust property in the village.
Luckily the property became listed Grade Two on 21st November 1966 and almost all
original features remain. It is fascinating to see so many beams and to see the stairs from
the first floor to the top two bedrooms which are so narrow and split to go both left and
right (there being no landing). At their narrowest they are only l7 inches wide. There are
fireplaces in the two first floor bedrooms and the one in the master bedroom is a small
inglenook. Both the dining and sitting room also have inglenook fireplaces and cast iron
fireback dated in the l600’s.
When purchasing the property our Surveyor showed us internal features indicating the
origins were older than the brick date of 1712 on the front elevation. The house would
have originally had the farm animals in the rear part, which of course has long been
incorporated into the main buiding, now being the kitchen and rear of the sitting room.
The above is why the rear elevation is so different with a large “cat slide roof’, literally
dropping down to approximately five feet high externally.
A heavy door with both bolts top and bottom together with an older mortice lock divides
the dining room and kitchen. This would have been the original external door to the area
housing the animals. Another interesting feature are the heavy iron bars approximately
1/2 inch square which hang behind both the door from the dining room to the stairs and
also the door in the main bedroom. These would have been lifted and placed (they can
still be used) across the door internally as a form of defence or protection.
The west gable wall (which I understand was most probably originally weather boarded)
and is now of red brick has a distinct, large, heart shape set in it in almost black brick and
we have discovered that the village children have always called the property “The Heart
House”. This feature is most distinct in winter when the adjacent trees lose their leaves.
Our neighbour today (whose father built the adjacent bungalow) planted, the now large
chestnut, over fifty years ago.
The family who lived in the Mill House Farm Dairy property when the 2nd World War
started still have relations in the village
Peter Connellan
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