The Cradle House, and in the foreground, a footbridge over Robins Brook. The house was the old Marks Hall Rectory before the nearby Georgian house was built. Rather a mysterious place, there was a priest hole in the chimney. Two families lived there including that of the late Owen Martin who was brought up in the house and worked at Gatehouse farm as a lad. The farm itself is just out of sight in distance top right.
Date not known
Ref: 41/02
Date not known
Ref: 41/02
Also in: Market Hill
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Comments
By Geoffrey Pawling: In the mid-19th Century, Tom Pitts and his family lived in the Cradle House with one other family (see 1851 census). Pitts was the butler/personal servant of the Rev. Philip Honywood, who lived in the Rectory close by. Pitts was also huntsman of Honywood's pack of beagles which were kennelled at the Cradle House. A painting by Harry Hall (1847) shows Honywood and Pitts with the pack. There was a strong bond between Honywood and Pitts whose graves are side by side in Wakes Colne Churchyard.