Hawthorndene
Built 1871
Burnt down 1962
There was controversy in the 1870s when Colonel Lennard of Wickham Court decided to allow the building of substantial detached houses on his land which bordered Hayes Common. In 1870 Emily Hall of Ravenswood, West Wickham, complained that he had persuaded two widows, Mrs Francis Whitmore and her mother Mrs Maria Brandram to build on ‘the very prettiest piece of Hayes Common’. She wrote they: ‘are each building side by side, about 16 acres is confiscated – 8 to each house. The poles are run up and many of the beautiful trees go as well as the public path.’ These houses became known as Warren Wood and Hawthorndene.
The 1871 Census recorded that the new house, Hawthorndene, was nearly finished and that the lodge and stables were already built and occupied. Mrs Maria Brandram, a widow, took up residence at Hawthorndene and later that year was given permission to plant trees on part of the Common opposite her house. She died in 1874 at the age of 83. A few weeks later her daughter Eleonora married by special licence in Hayes Parish Church widower John Ferguson McLennan, an advocate. He had a ten year old daughter, Isabella, by his first marriage and she came to live with them at Hawthorndene. They employed a governess and had three resident servants.
He is remembered today for his theories of social evolution. Darwin admired him and in July 1878 discussing a visit to Downe by O C Marsh he wrote ’if he comes Friday he will meet J F McLennan, author of Primitive Marriage, a ’remarkable man’. After John McLennan’s early death in June 1881, at the age of 53, his widow Eleonora assisted with editing much of his work, which was published under the title Studies in Ancient History.
Eleonora died in 1896 and in June 1897 the ‘picturesque property’ was put up for auction by Baxter, Payne & Lepper. Described as an exceptionally well-placed House standing in the centre of park-like grounds with magnificent shrubs, lawns, terraces and an ornamental pond, the property had seven bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room, library, conservatory and servants’ hall. It was held on a long lease at a very moderate ground rent.The property did not sell immediately and the estate agents were still offering it for sale early in 1900. Later that year George Reader, a solicitor, leased the estate and moved in with his wife, two daughters, a cook and a housemaid.
In April 1909 their place was taken by Sir Steyning William Edgerley and his wife Ethel. He had spent most of his working life involved in India and in 1911 described himself as a retired member of the Council of India. He had a daughter of 9 and a son of 6, a governess and three servants. The house had 16 rooms, three above the stables were unoccupied, and its value in 1912 was £5,500.
John & Blanche Lee-Warner were the new occupants by 1913. Their world was greatly impacted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Their son Harry was already a captain in the Royal Field Artillery. He had a distinguished war career, was wounded five times, awarded the DSO in 1915 and the MC in 1916. He survived but very sadly 2nd Lieutenant Harold Evelyn Pennington, who married John & Blanche’s daughter Ruth in July 1915, died at the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Another daughter Gillian was the Commandant of Kent 80 VAD but gave this up on her marriage in June 1915 to Captain James Campbell Cowan. Her sister Blanche continued to work as a VAD throughout the war, mainly at Oakley Hospital on Bromley Common. It is not surprising therefore that in July 1916 with his daughters no longer at home John Lee-Warner tried to sell Hawthorndene. He died in May 1917 and was buried in Hayes Parish Churchyard. His widow Blanche continued to live in the house until it was bought by Major Basil Binyon in 1920.
Basil & Gladys Binyon remained at Hawthorndene for over 40 years. When they first came to Hayes they had a son Roger aged 5, daughter Margaret 3 and another son Hugh was born in Hayes in 1920. They had five resident staff, including a chauffeur. The head gardener, Herbert Mitchell, lived with his wife Esther and two daughters in Hawthorndene Lodge, which was on the west side of Hillside Lane.
Basil Binyon was an electrical engineer by training, an entrepreneur and a firm believer in the free market. He was very involved in the development of land and sea communications. He received an OBE for his work in the First World War. He helped to set up the BBC in 1922 and was a director until 1926 when it became a public corporation. In the basement of Hawthorndene he had a very well equipped workshop where he developed some of his ideas. Later in life he made a number of ingenious devices for time-lapse photography, which he used to produce accelerated motion cine films of clouds and of flowers opening. He built working model steam locomotives and set up a track within his grounds
With the threat of war again in the 1930s he joined the Observer Corps and became Commandant of the south eastern sector of the Royal Observer Corps. He played an important part in the air defences of London in 1940-41. Before radar was widely available he devised ingenious predictors based upon alarm clock mechanisms. He was also surprised when a ‘drop tank’ fell in his garden during an air raid in October 1943.
His only daughter Margaret became a junior commander in the ATS and served in France and later Germany with the British Army of the Rhine, his sons Roger and Hugh were also in the services although sadly Roger, who had married in 1943, was killed at Arnhem in September 1944 and did not witness the birth of his son in the November.
In April 1945 there was a proposal to convert Hawthorndene into a neurological clinic for members of the Polish armed forces. Consent was given but the clinic did not materialise. Many people expected the Binyons to sell Hawthorndene, especially after the marriage of their daughter in 1946. Plans were suggested for its use as a community centre or a school. However, they remained and continued to play a part in the life of Hayes until the death of Gladys in 1960.
Two years later Basil Binyon married Violet Hibbert and moved to Farnborough Park. The property was sold for development. The house burnt down in December 1962 and the site was cleared. The Hawthorndene estate was built, comprising Hawthorndene Road and Hawthorndene Close. There were eight different types of houses and they were marketed by Sutcliffe, Son & Partners of Chipstead at prices ranging from £6,350 to £10,800.
