Situated in Ham Green at the end of a track leading to the River Medway, Callows House dates from the eighteenth century and was constructed during the 1720s.
The name derives from ‘The Callows,’ an old term from Ireland meaning low lying wetland or a river flood plain but this was not the original name of the house. During the eighteenth century the Chambers family owned the property on land belonging to Chambers Farm and the house became known as ‘Chambers House’ then as ‘Chambers Cottages’. Abraham Chambers became a well-known Ham Green farmer during the eighteenth century. The name of the dwelling changed to Callows House at the end of the nineteenth century and the first reference to this appears in the National Census for Upchurch dated 1901.
Although the house may originally have been one dwelling it appears to have been divided into two separate parts at some point with a loft which may have been used as a third living area. Evidence for this is a shared front entrance and staircase with a door on either side for entry from each side of the house on the ground floor. Both sides are more or less identical, with the exception of a separate area directly behind the living room on the right of the building, most likely used to house farm animals.
The ground floor originally had an earth surface like other old farm cottages in the area. Yew Tree Cottage and the former thatched cottages in the locality also had earthen floors. An open fireplace with a chimney stack on each side of the house would have originally provided heating and a means of cooking then in the nineteenth century an iron cooking range may have replaced this. One main bedroom is situated on each side of the first floor.
The exposed beams on the ceiling and walls of the ground floor are old ship’s timbers made of oak which probably pre-date the house. The building also has a tiled cat slide roof which is typical of eighteenth century houses.
In the loft are two enclaves with a small window on each side of the house indicating that the property may have also served as a Huffler’s cottage with lights displayed in the two small windows for guiding small boats and barges along the river. Hufflers were men who worked in pairs with ropes from a barge attached to their bodies whose job was to pull a vessel along the river from the shore. They also helped moor the boats and guide them along awkward creeks. The only other evidence for a connection between Callows House and river transport is found in the 1851 National Census for Upchurch which records the presence of a coastguard named George Phillips in the property. It’s possible that farm workers living in the house may have taken on the hufflers role as a part time job.
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Callows House as it is today. Photo - David Wood. |
According to the Upchurch tithe map of 1839 the house and the land in the vicinity were owned by a farmer and widow named Katherine Coveney who lived in Yew Tree Cottage at the bottom of Poot Lane. During this period farm workers George Edmonds and James Medhurst and their families lived in the property. During the 1850s John Thacker and his family joined them and after he left coastguard George Phillips resided in the house.
For most of the nineteenth century farm workers inhabited the property. In the 1861 National Census for Upchurch farm workers James Muggeridge and William Trice and their families resided there. They were followed by George Giles and his wife Mary, George Baker and Frances Holland in 1871, William Young, John Hatton and his family in 1881 and Walter and Jane Phipps and Fred and Mary Osborne in 1891.
Tom Seamer, his mother and a lodger named Henry Renshaw lived at Callows House in 1901 followed by Charles and Daisy Anderson and George and Nellie Shipp during the 1920s and 1930s then Annie King and Arthur Patrick during the late 1930s.
The deeds for the property reveal that Alfred Hinge from Tunstall bought the house along with other farm cottages and land in 1933. This passed to A Hinge & Sons Limited in 1949. Alfred and Charlotte Browning followed by Merci Higgins and her daughter lived in the house during the 1940s and early 1950s.
With the arrival of John Hinge to Ham Green House as a resident farmer in 1952, George Friend and his family moved into Callows House. George Friend worked as a gardener for John Hinge and became a well-known organiser and founding member of Upchurch Horticultural Society. He and his family resided in the property for about thirty years. After he passed away his family left and the house privately sold to Billie and Theresa Manley in June 1990. They made changes to the building by adding an extension to the upstairs area then sold the house to well-known local tree surgeon Jim Lindsay in 1996. He continues to reside in the property.
Like other old properties in Ham Green, Callows House has had a connection with farming until recent decades and remains a unique and rather isolated building close to the River Medway.
About David
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.
David Wood
