History

A brief summary of this old house’s history is shared below but there is more detail across the centuries since it was built in the sixteenth century:

• Tree-ring dating to 1530
• Tudor construction
• Georgian farming
• Victorian vandalism
• Agricultural decline
• Decay and change

Wisson Hill’s story

Wisson Hill is a remarkably original farmhouse built in 1530, as dated by dendrochronology. In 1589 a Mr Bushell sold the property to the Payton family, who were already occupying it. The Bushell family were wealthy local landowners, with connections to William Shakespeare, of local Stratford-upon-Avon, and several of the Gunpowder Plot families, who were also based around the English Midlands. For much of its existence, the farm was owned and occupied by different families: the farm would have been a source of income for the owners, who would not have got closely involved or spent time in the building. Read more about Wisson Hill’s Tudor history.

When the Payton family took ownership of the property they lived in, they may have made some substantial improvements, particularly to the jettied cross-wing, but in 1663 they also built a stone farmhouse just to the west of Wisson Hill, now known as The Manor House. It seems that more junior members of the Payton family lived at and worked from Wisson Hill, until the property was sold to Alice Deacon sometime before 1750.

Alice had installed a tenant farmer by Barton’s Inclosure Act of 1777. She married Maurice Hiller and ownership of the farm was transferred down through her husband’s family until the farm and buildings were sold by auction in 1870. Samuel Walker was an industrialist from Birmingham, with family connections to the area, and he bought the property for £7,500, keeping the same tenant farmer, William Tipping.

We know quite a lot from the documents about William Tipping, and also his predecessors, the Hurst family. It seems they and their families lived comfortable lives, as respected members of the parish of Bidford-on-Avon, based on wills, inventories and other documents.

From the late nineteenth century, two connected trends are seen: Samuel Walker’s descendants had to be found across the British Empire, when he died. The same globalisation had a negative impact on English farms, with imported grain bringing down the price of grain, and increased mechanisation changing rural life forever.

By 1925 Wisson Hill and its farm was consolidated with other local farms. Wisson Hill housed workers who farmed the land or were employed in other local activities of their landlord, including a fruit depot and motor repair yard on a site behind the house, or at the Bickmarsh pig farm. There are many stories from these years – often heard first hand – and some photos.

In 1960, Louise Chattock bought a rather delapidated farmhouse, extended and converted it into a comfortable and elegant village house and garden. The ‘covering up’ process of rendering and internal lining continued, as modern services were installed into the twenty-first century. Since 2006 the current owner has been restoring and researching the house, now sharing both the story and the opportunity to experience life in such a historic building.

Read Dr. Nathaniel Alcock’s full report of the house history

Read the full dendrochronology report

See the list of Wisson Hill’s owners and occupiers since the 16th Century