Hoblands Cottage

Hoblands CottageHoblands Cottage was originally built as the stables for Woodheath on the north side of the house. It had living accommodation and in 1881 Henry Holden (57), a coachman from Kingston, Surrey, was living here with his wife, Anne, two years older than him, from Middlesex. Ten years later, 36 year old Harry Fisher was living here with his wife Emma, then aged 39. He was from Essex, and she was from Wisbeach in Cambridgeshire. They had two sons, Harry, born in 1878, and Major, born in 1881 (10), both described as scholars.

In the 1901 census the same property was described as a lodge. It was a gardener and not a coachman who then lived here. Ernest Heald, born in 1878, was the head of the small three-roomed household, with his wife of the same age. He was from Nottinghamshire, and she was from Kent. We have no further information about the occupants until 1934, when Frederick Warner is identified in Kelly's Directory as the head of the household. He was still there in 1940, but it is not clear if at this stage the Cottage was separated from the main house, or whether Frederick was an employee. By 1945 he had left, and Ernest and Hilda Howard had moved in. They stayed there for four years. James and Lilian Binfield also stayed there for a short time, leaving by 1951. Photographs taken in 1953, of which one is reproduced here, show a rather dilapidated building. This was later extended on the west side, but there are enough features in and around the building, for example the brick bower, to make it recognisable as Hoblands Cottage.

Hoblands Cottage2009

After 1956, the property was developed into a comfortable home (pictured above in 2009), and named Hoblands Cottage. Charles Dunn had moved in with his wife Elsie (Nita) in 1956. When Peter Harding bought the land behind Hoblands (find out more), a strip of land between Hoblands and the sunken garden were sold to Charles Dunn. Charles was well known in the local community. He was one of the founding members of the Kemnal Residents' Association, a Trustee of the Amenity Strip, and for many years was a member of the Executive Committee of the Chislehurst Society. Charles died in 1995 and his wife died in 2009, after which the house was purchased, demolished and is being replaced by a modern home, designed in a style sympathetic with the original.

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