The house originally consisted of three bedrooms, a loft and four downstairs rooms which included a kitchen, a living room, a sitting room and a storage room.
Another feature that dates from the farm’s early period is a concrete boundary post with the letter U on one side and H on the other situated to the left of the driveway entrance to Greylag Farm. The post served as a boundary marker dividing the parish of Upchurch from Lower Halstow. This happened because during the mid-18th century the body of a dead sailor was recovered from the river but permission to allow it to be buried in Upchurch churchyard was refused by the village overseers. However, Lower Halstow overseers allowed the body to be buried in Halstow village churchyard. This resulted in the farmer who owned the land at Ham Green to present the parish of Lower Halstow with 500 acres of land in the area as a gift in appreciation for what they had done. The land was returned to Upchurch during the 19th century but the rights of Ham Green residents in the former Lower Halstow part to use Upchurch church were not restored until 1961.
During the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century farmer Stephen Hedgecock and his family lived at the property which became known as Hedgecocks Farm. The farm consisted of 40 acres. A garden was also located on the opposite side of the road’ slightly to the right of the house according to the Upchurch Tithe Map of 1839.
Stephen Hedgecock, a well-known farmer in the parish, became one of only sixteen Upchurch residents to be given the right to vote in a general election in 1832. He also patronised the church and the village school as shown in the list of the school accounts for 1828 and 1829 where he is listed as giving the school seven shillings.
The acreage of the farm had decreased from forty to only eight acres during the 1850s, probably due to the death of Stephen Hedgecock and the running of the farm by his wife and his son Stephen who likely sold some of the land.
According to the National Census for Upchurch dated 1881 farm worker George Harriss and his wife Ann lived at the property and they were still resident there in 1901. This indicates that the house had become a tied farm cottage believed to have been owned by landowners Webb & Co.
Well known Upchurch parish councillor and fruit grower Ted Tress lived at the property with his family from 1909 to 1923. The house still had ten rooms including a flagged stone floor downstairs, a dairy and a big kitchen with a massive bakery oven no longer in use. Ted Tress’s mother used it for storing her homemade jam. There were 6½ acres of orchard attached to the house.
During the inter-war years, farmers A Hinge & Sons bought the property and land along with other farm properties and land in the area.
Actor James Robertson Justice lived in the house during the 1930s. He left for a while to serve in the Royal Naval Reserve during the war, but he got wounded and had to leave the service. He became resident at the property until 1945.
Greylag Farm at Ham Green.
While Justice lived at Hedgecocks Farm, ornithologist and broadcaster Sir Peter Scott became a frequent visitor and he and Justice spent time on and near the river bird watching. During this period Sir Peter Scott suggested the name Greylag for the property to Justice, so from this point, the house became known as Greylag instead of Hedgecocks Farm.
Justice caused controversy while living at Greylag by bathing in a tin bath in the garden, marching around the Ham Green peninsular wearing a kilt while playing the bagpipes, racing around the country lanes in his open top sports car and swimming naked with lady friends in the river. The police arrested Justice in 1944 and he appeared at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court for breaking the blackout law. He was released after being given a warning.
After Justice had moved away the property became a tied farm worker’s cottage again belonging to A Hinge & Sons. Several farm workers resided at the property during the 1950s but Ken Baldock and his family resided there the longest from 1958 to 1975. Ken Baldock became a long term worker for A Hinge & Sons for whom he worked well into retirement. He also became a long serving member of Upchurch Horticultural Society where he exhibited flowers, fruit and vegetables.
When the Baldock family left Greylag, printer Frank Russell bought the house from A Hinge & Sons. He renovated the property over several years and sold it. He and his family then moved to Callows Cottages at Ham Green.
Tristram Bower, a surveyor who spent his time working in the Arabian Gulf and then the Falklands, renovated the house and outbuildings and lived at the property with his partner Valerie until 2018. As a keen artist, he painted pictures of the local landscape and wildlife and he exhibited these locally. He also had one of the outbuildings converted into a studio where he spent his free time painting and hanging his work. While at the property Tristram Bower had a blue plaque in memory of James Robertson Justice fitted to the front wall of the house which can still be seen.
Michael and Laura Sears replaced Tristram Bower at Greylag in 2018 and they are the present occupants. They re-named the property Greylag Farm, redecorated the house and improved the appearance of the paddock.
Nowadays, Greylag Farm, like other former farm cottages and farmhouses in the Ham Green area, is an attractive and well-known property of historical significance.
Justice caused controversy while living at Greylag by bathing in a tin bath in the garden, marching around the Ham Green peninsular wearing a kilt while playing the bagpipes, racing around the country lanes in his open top sports car and swimming naked with lady friends in the river. The police arrested Justice in 1944 and he appeared at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court for breaking the blackout law. He was released after being given a warning.
After Justice had moved away the property became a tied farm worker’s cottage again belonging to A Hinge & Sons. Several farm workers resided at the property during the 1950s but Ken Baldock and his family resided there the longest from 1958 to 1975. Ken Baldock became a long term worker for A Hinge & Sons for whom he worked well into retirement. He also became a long serving member of Upchurch Horticultural Society where he exhibited flowers, fruit and vegetables.
When the Baldock family left Greylag, printer Frank Russell bought the house from A Hinge & Sons. He renovated the property over several years and sold it. He and his family then moved to Callows Cottages at Ham Green.
Tristram Bower, a surveyor who spent his time working in the Arabian Gulf and then the Falklands, renovated the house and outbuildings and lived at the property with his partner Valerie until 2018. As a keen artist, he painted pictures of the local landscape and wildlife and he exhibited these locally. He also had one of the outbuildings converted into a studio where he spent his free time painting and hanging his work. While at the property Tristram Bower had a blue plaque in memory of James Robertson Justice fitted to the front wall of the house which can still be seen.
Michael and Laura Sears replaced Tristram Bower at Greylag in 2018 and they are the present occupants. They re-named the property Greylag Farm, redecorated the house and improved the appearance of the paddock.
Nowadays, Greylag Farm, like other former farm cottages and farmhouses in the Ham Green area, is an attractive and well-known property of historical significance.
David Wood
About David
David was born and raised at Ham Green and still lives there today. He writes from personal experience about Upchurch village life and the changes that have taken place over the years.
David's book, Memories of Upchurch, is a very readable and detailed historical study of the village and is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk price £12 + postage and packing.
