The History of Oakhurst Farm
The name Oakhurst derives from the Old English hurst meaning a wooded hill. The first mention of a settlement on the site of the Farm is in the 13th century. The earliest reference to the place name is as Ochurst in the Assize Rolls of 1255. Robert Ireland held the property at the time of the 1605 survey of the Loxwood Manor. Unfortunately, no records survive for the period between then and 1848.
The records of Loxwood Manor name John King as the tenant of Oakhurst up to 1848 when his death was reported to the manor court, and he is recorded in the 1841 tithe survey for Wisborough Green. The west wing of the house is thought to date from 1750.
John King’s family lived and farmed here in the 19th century. It seems that, by the 1860’s, Daniel Muggeridge (pictured) had become the tenant with his wife, Sarah, and eight children. They farmed 210 acres employing five men and two boys, plus a further three farm servants who also lived in the house.
Also, at that time Charles and Ellen Barnett were living in a part of Oakhurst Cottage. Today, Roger Barnett, who farmed across the valley at Songhurst Farm for fifty years, can remember living his first years there.
An unusual event took place in 1900 and is shown in the photograph. Two of the Muggeridge daughters, Eva and Ethel, were married on the same day. Sadly though, only five years later both had died.
In 1905 the Loxwood House Estate was sold to James Davison following the death of its owner Walter George King although the Muggeridges remained until the advent of the First World War when they were succeeded as tenants by Thomas Cooper who was paying an annual rent of £106 10s 0d for 131 acres. The Loxwood House Estate, comprising of 181 acres, was put up for sale again in 1919 and was bought by Herbert Froggatt. Stanley Ward arrived from Worcestershire to be the tenant in 1924, and he bought the Farm in 1946 from Herbert Froggatt. The Wards remained until his son, Keith, died in 2006 when the Farm was bought by Nigel and Fiona Gibbons.
The House has been extensively restored and extended, and the Gibbons family have lived there since 2013.
