5 Church Farm Lane, Gravenhurst

The Parrish family migrated from Guilden to Steeple in the early 1900s and William Francis Bertram Parrish was tenant of Home Farm and lived with his family in  the farmhouse in Cheyney Street. On 29 Sep 1918 Bertram (as he was known) took the tenancy of the larger Church Farm and the family moved into the farmhouse there. In 1933 Bertram bought the farmhouse and 25 acres of land. He died in 1939 and Minnie in 1949.

Their youngest son James Graham (known as Graham) born 1908 had married Marjorie Eileen Cook at Campton, Bedfordshire in 1936. As his parents were still living in the main farm house, a new house was erected for Graham and Marjorie Eileen in Church Farm Lane and it was named Gravenhurst after Marjorie’s birthplace in Bedfordshire. It became number 5 Church Farm Lane under the 1969 numbering scheme.

The plot for the new house was taken from a pasture field known as Cinquefoil Close, which lay to west and north of the Church Farm homestead and extended to 4a 1r 33p. Cinquefoil covers a variety of flowering plants, some of which were suitable for grazing and there was also cinquefoil hay. The field layout in 1839 is shown on the Tithe Map extract below.

After Graham and Marjorie moved to the main farmhouse in 1950 Gravenhurst was sold to Jack and Barbara D Sturgess, who lived there until 1967, when new owners occupiers Richard T Diss and Dorothy E Diss moved in and remained until 1980, although only Dorothy is recorded there in 1978 and 1979. In 1980 Michael David Lopez and Stella Madeleine Lopez became the new owners and still living there in 2024.

Since 1980 various planning applications have been submitted for alterations and extensions. In 1980 a two storey rear extension, 1983 an extension, 1991 an extension (garage) and porch, 1997 an extension and 2000 a conservatory.