49 16 to 9 The Bridge back over Chissell Brook copy

The land ahead of you was divided between three farms in the 1800s.

The fields to the east (your right), along Sutton Lane and south of the bridleway to Avon Weir, were Sutton Lane Farm.

The fields ahead of you, south of Chestnut Road (then known as Back Lane), were part of Poplar Farm, where the tenant farmer was John Russ in 1841.

The fields in the west of the village and south of the main road to Draycot were farmed by John Lea, who had the buildings at both Arms Farm and Gate Farm, but his 'homestead' or farmhouse was at Gate Farm.

From here you will cross the field towards the clump of trees, with the large pylon in the background and then go over a number of stiles and across a few more fields until you reach Sutton Lane Meadows.

Sutton Lane Farm

Sutton Lane Farm; c1990

Several generations of the Fry family were tenant farmers at Sutton Lane Farm. The farmhouse is about 200 years old, and is almost identical to the Church Farm farmhouse.

The pair of houses on Sutton Lane, to the south of Sutton Lane Farmhouse (now known as Meadow Farm) were built in the late 1870s as part of a government scheme (known as the Improvement of Lands Act, 1864) to try to improve conditions for farm workers.

Location