Brackendene (earlier names Simpson’s Cottage, Goodrest)
Five Elms Road
Early 19th century
Locally listed
Situated on Hayes Common, Brackendene was known as Simpson’s Cottage in the early 19th century. It was built on land given to the Parish by Vicary Gibbs of Hayes Court in exchange for enclosing two acres of common near his house in 1797. The land was leased and when Adam Simpson took over the land this building became known as Simpson’s Cottage in contrast with the neighbouring Simpson’s House (later The White House).
Poor’s Land Charity
In 1861 the Poor’s Land Charity was approved by the Charity Commission.The income from the rents from Brackendene and the White House contributed to the cost of running the Charity School and also to provide fuel, clothing, food or financial assistance to any poor resident in the parish. It was also to support the provision and maintenance of four cottages for families in need.
Jacob and Jonathan Angas 1836 – 1879
Adam Simpson continued to pay the rent until 1831. The property may then have been developed but was occupied by a Quaker family by 1836. Dorothy Angas paid the rates and Jonathan Wilkinson Angas, a miller, lived with her. In 1851 his older brother Jacob, also a miller, resided there with a house servant and he employed one man. Jacob’s will was proved in 1857 and Jonathan, with his unmarried sister Alice, remained at Simpson’s Cottage until his death in 1879. at the age of 90.
A year later a 21 year lease was granted to Josiah Wilkinson at a rent of £30 and he agreed to spend £400 enlarging and repairing the house. After the improvements had been made he sub let the property in 1886 to Edward Friend, whose first daughter Mercy was born in 1889 and a second baby in 1891. At the time of the census there was a resident housemaid, parlourmaid, and two nurses.
Goodrest and the Thompson sisters
In 1898 the property was let to Miss Anne Thompson of Point House, Bromley. The house name was changed to Goodrest and she lived there with her sister Mary until 1916.
In 1900 she was very upset when the Poor’s Land Trustees proposed to increase the rent to £60 a year. She wrote ‘this house though very small – having only four bedrooms and a dressing room – is very expensive to keep in order as the old part of it needs constant repairs. It also has great drawbacks of having no bathroom, no pantry, no upstairs W.C. and a very small kitchen so uncomfortable that I am obliged to give my servants one of the sitting rooms to sit in. Also the passage upstairs is so narrow that no large boxes can be carried along it and they have to be unpacked downstairs which is most inconvenient.This house though too small for a family suits us being only two ladies and I should regret to leave it but if a high rent is demanded I could not afford to stay.’ Eventually a new lease was agreed in 1901 at £50 a year.
They employed a cook and a house/parlour maid.
By 1910 the property was valued at £700 and described as:
Goodrest – Detached old red brick and slate house, was formerly a cottage and has been added to. Part is very old. No bathroom or WC upstairs. Cesspool drainage. In want of repair generally. Very pleasing situation. No gas. First floor 5 small bedrooms, 1 box room. Side of house has a timber structure, once a chaise house now used as a store.
Anne Thompson died at the age of 79 in 1916. Her sister Mary decided that she would not want to stay there, ‘the situation is too cold for me now in winter’ and she asked permission to let the last six years of the lease stating the house is lacking in modern conveniences, having no bathroom, pantry or gas laid on.
Change of name to Brackendene
David Chattel & Son negotiated a new lessee, William Pughe, describing the property as in a beautiful situation with extensive views, 3 sitting rooms, 5 bedrooms, a large entrance hall and a garden with a large lawn and fruit and vegetable garden. Rent £50 p.a.
William Pughe assigned his lease to Captain J Mcleod Burghes in 1917. The property became known as Brackendene. After the war Captain Burghes had difficulty in paying his rent, an eviction order was obtained against him and he absconded the following day on 16 December 1921. A complicated legal case followed in which 77 year old Mary Thompson had to settle with the Poor’s Land Trustees all the outstanding arrears and costs. She was also held liable for the breach of the covenant on repairing Brackendene.
Eric and Peggy Davies 1922 – 1974
Eric Davies moved to Brackendene after his marriage to Peggy Frost of Glebe House in 1922. At the time a report on its kitchen indicated there was no hot water or gas, kitchen accommodation was poor, only a small combined kitchen and scullery, no larder or cupboards, none of the rooms were large. He agreed a lease for 21 years at £75 rent less an allowance of £10 for 17 years because of the improvements he made by enlarging the kitchen, making a new pantry and larder and creating a new bathroom with hot & cold services. A request to go on mains drainage was turned down by the Trustees as it would have to wait until they had sufficient funds.
Eric Davies served as a captain in the First World War and was in the RAF in the Second World War. He was mentioned in despatches. Some bomb damage to the house was caused in November 1940 when windows were blown out, ceilings fell and slates came off the roof. The Bromley Town Clerk wrote to the Trustees asking them to repair the damage caused by enemy action.
At times Mr Davies also had difficulty in paying the rent which had increased to £210 by 1960 and the new lease specified there was to be no subletting or carrying on a trade or business.
Eric and Peggy were animal lovers and in the late 1940s and early 1950s were in conflict with the Hayes Common Conservators because they allowed their goats to wander on the Common, an event which Eric claimed only happened for a few weeks ‘after kids were born’.
Boarding of animals
In 1964 approval was given for a licence tor them to keep an animal boarding establishment. It was to be reviewed in a year. Mr Davies maintained he kept dogs for breeding and occasionally boarded friends’ dogs. When Brackendene was inspected in 1965 about 30 poodles were being kept in various places on the premises and the garage was used for clipping poodles. Issues continued but by 1968 it was agreed he could not board dogs but he could breed them. This activity had a damaging effect on the building causing dampness, wet rot and also a rotten floor in the downstairs lavatory. Mr Smith, the builder used by the Trust, repaired the floor but further work was still needed.
After Eric died at the age of 74 in January 1974 his widow Peggy decided to move.
Last tenant 1974 -1989
Mr Angeolini of Hayes Hardware and Electrical, 50 Hayes Street, agreed to redecorate the building and pay £350 rent for the first three years and then £750 a year. In the early 1980s he offered to buy the property but the offer was refused. However, following a serious burglary in 1988 and with major repair work necessary the Trust received permission from the Charity Commission to sell it in 1989.
The sales particulars stated ‘this early Victorian property offers a rare opportunity to acquire a large country house in an idyllic rural situation yet close to all amenities. Built in the early 19th century with brick elevations under a slated roof, the property retains many period features and upon further improvement and modernisation would provide a superb family home’.
New Owners
Charles Boyd bought the property which he improved and ten years later sold it to Catherine and John Thulborn. The house retains its historic form. Permission for a glazed conservatory was given In 2004,.