Whelpley Farm

A Whiteparish local history page from younsmere-frustfield.org.uk

Thomas Cable, Gent. This possessor divided the property; in the 2[n]d year of Charles I. (1627) he disposed of that part called Whelpley farm to Joseph Stockman, of Downton, and the manor, with the remaining land, he bequeathed, by will dated the 23[r]d of March of the same year, to his nephew James Scardivale, Esq. who was lord of the manor from the decease of Mr. Cable till the year 1655, when Giles Eyre,of Redlynch and Brickworth, in this parish, Esq. became possessed of it by purchase. [ref: p -Brickworth deeds.] In his descendants it still continues, the present Lady being the Right Honourable Frances-Elizabeth Countess Nelson, daughter of John Eyre, of Landford and Brickworth, Esq. the lineal descendant and representative of the first purchaser of that name.
The division of Whelpley farm and manor [from Matcham page 31]

Whelpley Farm dates from 1627, when Thomas Cable divided Whelpley Manor and sold the part subsequently known as Whelpley Farm to Joseph Stockman. The remainder of the land he retained, together with the title of Lord of the Manor. Joseph subsequently bequeathed the manor to his nephew James Scardivale, who went on to sell the manor to Giles Eyre in 1655, explaining the pink Eyre estate around the blue Whelpley Farm in 1842 shown on the landowner map below - see Whelpley Manor for further details. [1655 is the year Giles Eyre 1 died and the estate was taken over by Giles Eyre 2 - which of them made the purchase?] The approximate extent of this purchase is shown below, traced as a red boundary over the 1842 Tithe Commutation Award. The additional land at its south (right) end near what is now the A27 was later added as allocations from the 1804 Tithe Enclosure Award. This is shown in blue, but outside the red boundary showing the original extent of the farm.

The extent of Whelpley Farm in 1842, showing owners on the left and manors on the right (north to the left)

The succession of the farm from 1627 until 1844, as related by Matcham, is summed up in the following table.

Owner	Details	Date
William Stockman [Matcham p31 says Joseph Stockman]	Purchased from Thomas Cable, farm separated from manor	1627
Joseph Stockman
Constance, daughter of Joseph Stockman, wife of Thomas Chettell	Obtained an Act of Parliament for sale of this and other estates, 297 acres	1678
Henry and Elizabeth Seymour	Purchased from Constance and Thomas Chettell	1678
Edward Seymour (son)	Died without issue, farm passed to nephew Sir Henry Munro, son of Mary Seymour, daughter of Elizabeth Seymour above	1760
Henry Seymour	Sold Whelpley Farm and other Whiteparish property to Henry Dawkins of Standlynch	1767
Executor of Henry Dawkins	Sold property in this parish to Robert Cooper of Winterslow. Included Street Farm (191a 1r 13p)	1813
Son of Robert Cooper	Lives on and cultivates the farm, as related by Matcham	1844

The breakup of Whelpley Manor had started in 1623 when George Tatteshall sold it to Thomas Cable. Thomas divided the manor, selling Whelpley Farm to Joseph Stockman of Downton. The rest of the land Joseph bequeathed to his nephew James Scardivale, who remained Lord of the Manor until 1655, when Giles Eyre's son, Giles Eyre (2), bought the manor and remaining land. The pink area on the landowners map above is part of this land, which was essentially all that remaining part of Whelpley Manor northeast of the old line of what is now the A36. This can be seen in detail, along with the other Eyre family purchases as they progressively extended their holding to become the largest landowner in the parish, in the account of the Brickworth Estate here.

The history of the manor up to 1627 and the post-1627 story of the rest of the manor can be found on the Whelpley page.

The Whelpley Farm sign on the A27 - the plough team forming a nice contrast with the Tipplefield one across the road

Up to 1925 the farm buildings stood on four sides of an open area, as seen on the maps below. Later development by 1966 included the addition of St Leonards House and Whelpley Bungalow, as well as further farm buildings to the south of the original area.

Whelpley Farm in 1842, 1876 and 1924 (map survey dates in the latter two cases)

More maps can be found at Whelpley old maps (1842, 1876, 1901, 1925, 1966).

not visible on the public version of this website for copyright reasons
Detailed map of the Whelpley farmyard in 2022 and 2025
On the right hand map the chapel is the northmost building of the left (west) side of the track in the farmyard, not the building indicated

In recent times the farm was farmed by two brothers, one living in Whelpley Farm Cottage and the other in a new house, St Leonard's House, named after the adjacent St Leonard's Chapel., with the younger generation now taking over. A new house, Trees, was added south of the farm in the late 20th century, with various alterations made in 1990, 1991 and 2001. The Ordnance Survey standard map on the right above has the label for the chapel next to the wrong building.