Ifield Parish Map
Medieval Farms in Ifield

Many local farms with familiar names have long histories and tax returns show us that Ewhurst, Hyde, Ifield Court and Langley Farms were in existence by 1296 (though we know for certain that Ewhurst is older).

By 1327 Amberley, Bonwyckes, Stafford and Stumbleholm were also recorded.

Ifield Court and Stumbleholm are the sole surviving farms, though the ancient buildings still exist at Ewhurst, Hyde & Bonwyckes.

STUMBLEHOLM FARM

The extant house at Stumbleholm Farm is a 17th century farmhouse which is now in the Parish of Rusper, but was previously in the western reaches of Ifield. The Stumbleholm area was once a major iron working site, but the opening of Bewbush blast furnace by 1567 would have instantly rendered the medieval bloomeries here as redundant. The tithe map of 1839 gives nearby field names as Little Cinder Plat, Great Cinder Plat and Cinder Plat Mead, all recognising the vast amount of bloomery waste scattered around the area and now buried under pasture.

An early 18th century granary at Stumbleholm Farm

BONWYCKES PLACE

The current building at Bonwyckes, Bonwyckes Place, is a large mid 17th century house, the central portion of which contains an original staircase dating to around 1650. This was the house of Richard Bonwicke which hosted the meeting held in 1655 attended by George Fox, a founder of the Society of Friends, and Alexander Parker where the seeds of the Friends Meeting House in Langley Lane were sown, though the house has been enlarged considerably since that time, with much of that work taking place in the 1800s.

HYDE FARM

The current building, now known as the Hyde is, unlike Stumbleholm and Bonwyckes, not a listed building meaning that there is little documentation to research. The oldest section of the farm house, the central east/west range with it's external chimney, gives an outward appearance of dating to perhaps the late 16th century, possibly earlier. The lands of Hyde Farm were purchased by Sir John Drughorn in the mid 1920s and he turned the arable fields into Ifield Golf Course. The name Hyde derives from 'hide'; a measurement of land equal to 120 acres so this tells us how large the farm was, at least in 1296 when it was first documented.

An 'Ancient Ifield' Exhibition was held at Crawley Museum between 5 June and 5 July 2025. The posters that were on display at this exhibition can be downloaded from here. The video that was shown, including a version with an alternative soundtrack, along with the trailer used to promote it can be viewed here.

Text & photographs © Ian Mulcahy. Contact photos@iansapps.co.uk or visit my 'Use of my photographs' page for licensing queries.