Lower BassibonesBy Geoff Hartley
I wonder if any Newsletter readers can throw some light on the origins of Lower Bassibones Farm (formerly known as Greater Bassibones).
Last summer I had a bed & breakfast guest, Mrs Ridley, who had lived at the farm in the 1950s. She had borne and raised her family here and was able to tell me a little about the farm but I’m sure there is much more to know. Mrs Ridley is an amateur archaeologist and gave me the following details about the farm.
She believes that a much older building stood where the current farmhouse is situated today. Whilst she and her husband were renovating the house in the 1950s, they stripped away the layers of old wall paper and found daubed on the wall in raddle (the waxy substance used for marking sheep in the old days) the date 1622. She thinks that this is authentic because of the type of script used. During hot weather clearly defined lines can be seen in the lawn where earlier foundations could have been supporting an older building – they could also be drains but I’m not game to dig up my lawn to find out just yet!
Mrs Ridley told me that when she and her husband moved into the house on 4th January 1957 it belonged to Mrs Judge who lived at Bassibones Farm next door. The property consisted of two adjoined cottages in a very poor state of repair. There was no lavatory, only an ‘Elsan’ placed in the coal shed, and no running water except for a pump in the yard. With no drains of any kind she used to have to tip the baby’s bath water into the garden. Of course there was no electricity (no change there then!) and the family had to depend on candles and oil lamps. It’s amazing to think that this was only fifty years ago.
In about 1901 the cellar of the adjoining house collapsed and was filled in with the resulting rubble, following which Mrs Judge renovated the property. Apparently Edith and Leonard Pearce lived in the other half of the property but later left the farm. Mrs Ridley believes that Lower Bassibones had once been the main house, it had a row of elm trees growing up the drive and there was (and still is) a gate and hardcore road which lead to the rickyard where the farm machinery and equipment were stored; the road then carried on to access the barns and farmyard.
My guest was a bit hazy about the chain of ownership of the farm, but thinks that it belonged to Edith Judge who married Arthur Brown (who changed his name to Judge). The Brown family went to live at Hunts Green and the Judges to Bassibones Farm.
If any local historians would like to comment on this information, add to or subtract from it, I’d be fascinated to learn more.
Finally, where on earth did the name ‘Bassibones’ come from in the first place? I have consulted Google on the subject but the best it could come up with was the name of a tribe of North American Indians! Any suggestions?