Sheepsheadhall along Bradmore Lane

Sheepsheadhall Cottage, Bradmore Lane
Photograph A Nott / G Knott part of the Images of North Mymms collection

A small, wooden-faced brick cottage "set in neat gardens" on what was described as "an excellent holding" once stood alongside Bradmore Lane on the edge of Brick Kiln Wood. Now the site is overgrown with the adjacent woodland having reclaimed the land.

The spot where Sheepsheadhall Cottage once stood (location - https://w3w.co/gloves.head.every) is a third of a mile west of the junction with what is now Station Road.

The compact "brick, timber, and tiled" cottage, with a "parlour, living room, and scullery" downstairs and four bedrooms upstairs, stood at the point where the woodland meets a field. There were "good gardens" and a "well of water".

The descriptions of the cottage, set out above, were taken from an auctioneer's brochure from July 26, 1922 when 800 acres of the North Mymms Park Estate went under the hammer.

The land up for sale was divided into 20 lots. Sheepsheadhall Cottage was part of lot seven, which is shaded in pink on the map from the auctioneer's particulars below.

Map from a section of the "particulars, plan, and conditions of sale"
Sheepsheadhall (all one word) is middle top of the pink section
Click here for a larger version

The brochure produced for the auction described the land as "an admirable site for the erection of a country residence". More than 100 years on and there is no evidence of what was Sheepsheadhall Cottage and the "country residence" was never built on the "excellent holding".

Section of the "particulars, plan, and conditions of sale"
Click here for a larger version of the auction details

According to a copy of the particulars (above) published in 1922, Sheepsheadhall Cottage was let to Mr S Long for £10.8s a year, with the rest of the land, totalling 105 acres, 2 roods, and 9 poles, let to Mr James Crawford for £60 a year.

The Ordnance Survey (OS) map for 1936 shows Sheepsheadhall centre top
Image courtesy of the National Library of Scotland (NLS)
Click here for a larger version

The cottage has gone by several names over the years. It's been known as Sheepshead Hall, Sheepsheadhall Cottage, and, on the Dury & Andrews map of 1766 (below). it's named as 'Ships head Hall'. The map also shows two buildings on the site, one larger than the other. There are also two buildings on the next bend to the west, and two more buildings at the junction of Bradmore Lane and what is now Station Road. This was Bradmore Farm, home of Arthur Young, the famous agriculturist.

The Dury & Andrews1766 map showing 'Ships head Hall' on Bradmore Lane

On the John Cary map of 1786 (below) the cottage goes by the name 'Shipshead Hall'.

The John Cary 1786 map - Peter Miller Collection
Click here for a larger version

The North Mymms History Project has not been able to establish why the name changed so much, perhaps the cartographers had a problem with the local dialect. When such maps were created, those gathering the information would have relied on conversations with locals in order to establish place names.

But, thanks to records from the Peter Miller Collection, we have been able to go through the census information for the house between 1841 and 1911 in order to find out the names of some of those who lived there over the years. We can see that the cottage was the home of various agricultural labourers and gamekeepers over the years.

1841
Joseph Gower (70) Agricultural Labourer
George Gower (20) Agricultural Labourer

1851
John Bitchener (36) Agricultural Labourer
Rachel Bitchener (36) Wife

1861
John Burr (37) Gamekeeper
Sarah Burr (30) Wife
Samson (11) Scholar
William (9) Scholar
Ellen (5) Scholar
Arthur (4) Scholar
Susannah (2)

1871
William Knott (40) Gamekeeper
Rebecca Knott (42) Wife
William David (14) Undergardener/Domestic (Tom Nott’s father)
Harriett (10) Scholar
George James (6) Scholar (Later to become the photographer of North Mymms)
Eliza Kate (4) Scholar

1881
William Knott (50) Gamekeeper
Rebecca Knott (52) Wife
Eliza Kate (14) Scholar
Mary Matilda (7) Scholar

1891
William Knott (60) Gamekeeper
Rebecca Knott (62) Wife
Mary Matilda (17)

1901
Noah Smith (52) Gamekeeper
Sarah Smith (53) Wife
Frederick (22) Gamekeeper
Lavinia (20) Laundress
Bernard (17) Builders Labourer
Ernest (15) Gardener/ Domestic
Kate (13)
Ethel (8)
Leslie (6)

1911
Noah Smith (62) Gamekeeper
Sarah Smith (64) Wife
Bernard (27) Bricklayer
Ernest William (25) House Painter
Kate (23) Laundress
Ethel Margaret (18) Laundress
Albert Leslie (16) Gardener

The location of Sheepsheadhall Cottage is edged in green on the map below.

The site of Sheepsheadhall Cottage is edged in green
Map created on Maphub by the NMHP © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap © Maxar
Click here for a larger version

We can get an idea of the size and layout of Sheepsheadhall from this drawing courtesy of the Peter Miller Collection.

Sheepsheadhall Cottage plan - click here or on image for a larger version
Drawing courtesy of the Peter Miller Collection

William Knott of Sheepsheadhall - gamekeeper at Potterells

The Knott family outside Sheepsheadhall in the late 19th century
L-R standing William David, Eliza Kate, Mary Matilda, George James
Seated William and Rebecca
J.P. Stephen / Peter Miller Collection

Local resident, Tom Nott, wrote in 1975 about how his grandfather, William Knott, who lived in Sheepsheadhall (see census information for 1871 above) came to be appointed as the gamekeeper at the nearby sub-manor of Potterells. Tom Nott was one of a large family, half being known as Nott and the other half as Knott. Tom can recall no reason for this, but thinks it may be because his father appeared as Nott in a magazine in 1893:

“My grandfather told me that when he was married, he was gamekeeper at High Cannons, Shenley, next door to the Old Guinea pub at Ridge. He had two sons and three daughters. In due course he heard Mr. Cotton Curtis at Potterells, North Mymms, needed a gamekeeper. He applied, was accepted, and came to live at Sheepshead Hall, Bradmore Lane.

“His sons were educated in an old workhouse which stood on the same site as the present boys’ school; then the older one worked in the gardens for Mr. Cotton Curtis under the head gardener, Mr. Farren, while the younger George J Knott started as a waiter, later becoming the first photographer in North Mymms.”

William was a generous man when it came to family and there was always room for one more in Sheepsheadhall. His grandson Tom continues:

“When the older son was twenty he met the cook at Moffats House, Moffats Lane, and they were to become my parents. My father naturally wanted to better himself before marriage, and so answered an advertisement for a head gardener in Caterham Valley Surrey. He was accepted, and they were married at Croydon Parish Church. A house went with the job, but with certain conditions: Not too many children, and no washing to be hung out in view of the carriage drive.

“First a son was born, followed by a daughter, then another son, so my parents, to keep the job, brought the baby to his grandparents to be brought up at Sheepshead Hall. But two more daughters came along, so they got notice to quit.”

William's employer, Cotton Curtis, was a London banker. According to various reports he welcomed locals to visit Potterells at certain times. This from ‘Gleanings of North Mymms’...

“Many church and Sunday school treats took place in one of their fields, weather permitting, and each child returned home tired but happy, clutching an orange in one hand and a bag of sweets in the other. Beatrix Potter (journal of Beatrix Potter from 1881-97) recalls a delightful visit by pony and trap from Camfield Place, while staying with her grandparents, to take tea with Mr. and Mrs. Cotton-Curtis.”

William Knott was good at keeping his growing family busy. Tom Nott remembers how as a small boy his grandad was always keen to enlist their help as unofficial gamekeepers.

“Grandfather used to send my brother all round Bradmore Fields to drive the pheasants back and report if any poachers were about. Then he would meet up with him at the top of Bradmore Lane.

“One morning, my brother told him. "Grandad, there’s a man in the pond down there". "You get off to school lad - you don’t want to know anything about that," said my grandfather, and continued down the field.

“Before reaching the pond he met Mr. Crawford’s shepherd and said, "Bill, there’s a man in the pond, what are you going to do about it?" He replied, "You found him, so you’d better tell the police."

According to Tom Nott, the dead man was thought to be a jeweller from London who was wearing a gold watch and chain, “but it was not proved and the watch never found, although the pond was drained, so he was buried in the churchyard as an unidentified person.”

William Knott of Sheepshead Hall in the 1890s
Image A Nott / G Knott part of the Images of North Mymms collection

Noah Smith of Sheepsheadhall - gamekeeper at Potterells

Noah Smith was one of the last gamekeepers to live at Sheepsheadhall. Like his predecessor, William Knott, Noah sported a lion’s mane beard, wore a bowler hat and breeches, and had his gun dog by his side.

Noah Smith outside Sheepshead Hall in the 1900s
Image A Nott / G Knott

Noah, too, had a large family as can be seen in this picture below with Noah, seated, in the middle.

The Smith family at Sheepshead Hall c 1900s.
Back row: Charles, William, Emma, Nell, Lavinia, Frederick, Bernard.
Front row: Kate, Noah, Leslie, Sarah, Ethel
Image A Nott / G Knott part of the Images of North Mymms collection

The decline of Potterells and Sheepsheadhall

According to archaeological historian John Brushe, Potterells emerged around the fifteenth century as a sub-manor of Brookmans and continued to be attached to Brookmans until 1632 when the reversion was sold to Thomas Coningsby of North Mymms Park.

The Coningsbys sold North Mymms Park in 1658, when Potterells became their family seat. In 1792 Potterells was left to Justinian Casamajor and was described as “a small estate of some 200 acres”.

In 1908 Potterells was bought by Hugh Francis Seymour. The Seymours remained at Potterells until 1933 when the house was sold. The house was sold again in 1965 and was demolished in the 1990s.

Potterells house in ruins in 1970
Image by V Barnard part of the Images of North Mymms collection

The rebuilt lodge at Potterells, now much extended, is now the Potterells Medical Centre on Station Road. Existing outbuildings have been converted into private residences.

Potterells Lodge, replaced by the Seymour family in 1906-08
Image courtesy of P Grant / G Knott part of the Images of North Mymms collection

Sheepsheadhall Cottage was demolished in the 1950s. Now, the land where the cottage stood is overgrown. You will find the spot if you head west down Bradmore Lane. The site is a third of a mile from the Station Road junction at the point where the lane bends left, see fist image below.

Sheepsheadhall Cottage would have been on the left at the first bend heading west
Image by the NMHP part of the Images of North Mymms collection

The cottage would have been on the right at the final bend heading east
Image by the NMHP part of the Images of North Mymms collection

---

Comments and information welcome

If you have anything to add to this feature, or just want to add your comments, please use the comment box below.

---