Situated on the east side
of the junction between Boltons Lane and Pyrford Road. From the road the house appears to be architecturally of the Queen Anne period.
However, obviously it wasn’t always “old”. The records indicate that a Roger de Leghes owned what was then called Lees farm in 12
72. It would have looked very different then. Probably a single-story open ‘Hall House’. If this hypothesis is correct, then there will be evidence of the upper floor being slotted in during the first extension and the chimney being inserted. To confirm this would involve taking the house apart and so it will always remain a hypothesis!
Alternatively, it is possible that originally there was a Tudor house with an upper floor built around it. What does exist today is a tiny room at the upper level. Legend has it that this is a where catholic priests were kept hidden.
We do know that a Nich
olas Burley bought the house in the 1600’s, demolished the old parlour and built a new cross wing with an upper floor at right angles to the existing buildings. This exists behind the present 18th century Queen Anne facade. He used the old fire chimney and put in a new fireplace which carries the initials NAB for Nicholas and Anne (his wife) Burley and dated it 1604. In the present formal drawing room, he put a similar fireplace and built a new fire stack giving the house the two chimneys you can see from the outside. The house today is what he designed, albeit, subject to frequent alterations and extensions that assimilated succeeding fashions.
The land around the house was always farmed but expanded, reduced or was rented out depending on the needs of the owner.
Since we have owned The Old House, we have discovered Tudor wall paintings and reinstated an original culvert that drains water under the house. The reinstated culvert very effectively drains water out into the ditch system draining the surrounding water meadows and is evident on old maps. In addition, a structure has been uncovered that seems to be a 17th century icehouse. A major project has been extensive repointing of the house, with lime mortar. This allow
s the bricks to “breath” and these old methods have been very effective in drying out the structure and reducing damp caused by impermeable modern mortars.
Land has been bought back that would have originally belonged to the house when it was a farm. 4.7 acres to the south and 100 acres of golf course to the east (including Peatmore Wood an area of ancient woodland). This land is now to being “wilded” and is of interest as a flood plai
n. It has already attracted many more teal ducks and skylarks have nested for the first time since 1994. A snipe and kingfishers have been nesting whilst starling numbers are on the rise and swallows are returning. Latterly the 16th century Granary Barn has been bought on a 0.75-acre plot beside the Coach House. It is in reasonably good condition and will be restored using traditional methods.
The garage or coach house seems to be 16/17 century with a Victorian extension. We have restored this building using traditional building techniques, with an “exoskeleton “frame, holding the building together so that the original old building is all still visible from the inside. There is environmentally friendly insulation andthen the original tiles that we inherited have been replaced.
Joy Sachak – May 2024