Woodheath Cottage, rebuilt as The Foxearth
There was a cottage at the junction of Kemnal Road and Kemnal Lane in 1870, and probably for many years before that. It was named on old maps as Woodheath Cottage. The Foxearth, (shown here in the 1950s) was built on the same site
The earliest resident we have been able to trace was Harry Cheshire in 1881. He was originally a butcher from Beckenham, born in 1850. His wife Emma was born in 1854 in Middlesex. They were to stay at the Cottage until 1907, when Harry was 57. We cannot trace where he or his family went after then. By the time they left they had raised 12 children. These were: Frederic (born 1876), Emma (1877), Harry (1878), twins Arthur and Albert (1879), Mary (1880), Philip (1882), Gertrude (1886), Frank (1888), James (1890), Agnes (1892), and, finally, Ada (1895).
At some stage Harry gave up his job as a butcher, and had become a “Gentleman’s gardener” as he described himself in the 1901 census, probably for the Tiarks family. There was friendship between Agnes Tiarks and the family; when daughter Emma became ill, Agnes arranged and paid for her to go the Cottage Hospital in St Paul’s Cray, and later to Gower Street in London. There are many references to Agnes visiting the family, and the younger children attended the schoolroom at Foxbury.
The Cottage was not large, and it is difficult today to imagine life with 14 people in such a small space. When the last child was born, the eldest was 19, and perhaps had already left home, but nevertheless this was a tight squeeze.
There is no reference to them after 1906 and none we can find to Woodheath Cottage until 1918, when a James Reed is listed in the Parish Register. By 1922 he had gone and Michael and Elizabeth Crowley appeared in the register. They in turn were replaced in 1926 by Isaac and Mary Goolden.
In the same year a new name, Francis Lodge, appears in directories for Kemnal Road at this position in the road, and it looks as though it was at this point in its history that the cottage was demolished, and a new house built. Maps show that this was much bigger than the cottage, and with larger grounds of about 22 acres. including lakes to the north. The new house, first called Francis Lodge, is assumed to have been designed by Edward John May, who was an eminent local architect, who designed many houses locally in the then fashionable “arts and crafts” style. The new house bears his lozenge design motif on its chimney stacks.
It is said that it was purchased and rebuilt by Frank Tiarks for one of his children, but the wonderfully named Miss Thunder was the first occupant of the new house, in 1926. There is a Margaret Thunder buried at St Mary’s Churchyard, but we do not know if this is the same person. She was followed by Lt. Col. Wilfred Lucas in 1929. He and his wife Pussy were friends of the Tiarks children, and indeed Pussy Lucas formed a very strong relationship with Lady Millicent, the first wife of Henry Tiarks (Frank's son). The Lucas's left the house when Henry and his wife separated following the infant death of their only child, Edward. Frank had taken very strong exception to the relationship, and there is no doubt that he would have forced their departure.
Frank's eldest daughter Ramona took up residence in 1932. She was aged 30 and unmarried at the time, and this may have been her first move away from the family home. Two years later Peter Tiarks, Frank’s second son, moved in. He married in 1934 (to Pamela Silvertop, a regular visitor to Foxbury according to the entries in the visitors’ book), and they lived at the house after their wedding. However, they separated in 1937, and as a result moved away. By this stage Foxbury had been sold and the house was sold to Stanley Bates.
Stanley was at the house for only two years. It was in 1938 that the house is first referred to as The Foxearth, but we know from correspondence between members of the Tiarks family that its name was changed while Peter and Pamela were living there.
The next resident was David Greig, a principal in the David Greig Grocery Chain which at the time was quite big in the area. He and his family stayed on until after the war. In 1947 David and Winifred Langlands were in the house. They had two sons, John and Jim. Jim now lives in Australia, and kindly has sent a note of recollections of living at Foxearth (see below), They had moved in 1962, after which Wallace and Ella Hatcher lived here, who were still at the house in 1988.
A young woman was murdered and her body found in the grounds of The Foxearth in the 1950s. It made the front pages of the London papers and the police quickly established the identity of the killer who subsequently committed suicide. It was the first time a picture of the person the police “wanted to help them with their enquiries” was broadcast on television.
A note from Jim Langlands, who lived at The Foxearth (and who kindly provided the photographs):
“My parents, David and Winifred Langlands bought the house and lived there from 1947 to 1962. My father was an agricultural merchant with the firm of Pattullo Higgs, which was originally based in Orpington and is no longer in business. My late brother John and I also lived there during this period. My folks purchased the house from a Mr and Mrs Grieg; Mr Grieg was a principal in the David Grieg Grocery Chain which was quite extensive in that period. We always understood that the cottage was renovated by the Tiarks for one of their children on their marriage; I cannot remember the date of the renovation but there used to be the date in roman numerials set into the brickwork at the top of the semi-circular steps opposite the front door which lead down into the garden. The original plot owned by the Griegs was about 22 acres and included the paddock which Foxearth overlooks. The paddock was green belt and could not be built on at that time though it had collected a bomb during WWII. The crater is presumably still there. My folks only purchased the 4 acres containing the house and the top two lakes. A third lake lies in the paddock and used to provide water for horses which grazed the paddock. During the 15 years that we lived there my Father cleared (by hand!!) the top two lakes of bullrushes which by then had completely choked the lakes. This allowed wild ducks to fly into the lakes each evening and we used to watch them from the terraces surrounding the house.“
“The photograph shows the family on the terrace with Ms Taylor on the far left. She owned Foxbury South Lodge (across the road from Foxearth) and was an executive assistant to Harold Clifton who owned a large garage and service station on the A20 road. Sadly she developed cancer and died during our period in residence at Foxearth. Next to Ms Taylor is my Mother and Father, my elder brother John and our Great Dane, Brutus.”