For several decades now an intimate time capsule has remained untouched on the border of England and Wales, hidden from modern civilisation and the busyness of the world beyond the trees and hills that surround it. Much presumption still surrounds the property, and only the clues inside can lead to any kind of narrative regarding its past. From what we can piece together we know that a married couple with children once lived here and operated a small dairy farm throughout the years whilst having a keen interest in British automobiles and a fully licensed passion for shooting. By all means there was an iconic and very traditional rural life lived out here right until the end when the younger generation began to disappear from the farm and the dates begin to fade into the mid 90’s. An obituary service book can be found inside that read’s ‘In loving memory of Archie Edward Wall, died 6th June 1993’. Everything inside points to the slow and steady decline of an elderly person’s livelihood, with old fashioned clothes, a zimmer frame and even adult diapers piled up across rooms that leave vivid images of the last years of their lives. The house remains unsold, unused and unseen as it is presumed that the sons or daughters didn't decide to part with the property following the passing of their parents and hence it was left to the elements in a spectacular fashion.
This is perhaps one of the most photogenic abandoned homes I have ever been to. Around every corner a more emotional side of this family’s story unfolded in front of our eyes, and we visited twice over the space of last year just to be able to appreciate it in its entirety. What we found suggests that a family lived their entire lives in this one property. The best part of a century’s worth of cultural memorabilia is littered across the grounds, including an old Austin seven, Austin allegro, Ford, Vauxhall and Lotus saloon cars from the 1960s-1980s along with tractors that have become completely taken back by nature. It became plainly clear that whoever lived here was a prolific shooter, with gun licenses and live ammo scattered across several of the rooms. It was definitely a far cry from a modern existence; a chamber pot still lies next to the bed and a series of old televisions are stacked up together with a wireless from the 1950’s in the spare room. It would also appear they were avid collectors, with one cupboard full of farmer’s weekly magazines, birthday cards, postcards and drawings from the grandchildren. Not much can be found on the history of the farm and cottage, yet it does come up briefly in the local council newsletter which talked in detail about the condition of the property.
Like many houses that pre-date the 20th century, the floors are warped with low ceilings and short door frames that have all been exaggerated over time since the house has been left without any kind of maintenance. Light is now starting to creep between the seams of the masonry and the ground floor has now collapsed from the weight of the storage that someone appears to have put together in some faint hope of once clearing out the home. Before long nature will work its way into this building as it has done so creatively with the vehicles outside, at which point I would love to see it again sometime in the future. For now, however I can’t help but feel that such sentimentality deserves a little more peace and quiet whilst it still can. So many places like this end up cleared out and renovated in the blink of an eye without leaving a single part of their previous owners life behind, and seeing a forgotten home like this makes you realise that what we leave behind is a lot more than just words in an obituary. Only in places as remote and rural as this can a person’s life and legacy be admired for so long after they leave.
