Poynetts Farm

1841 and beyond

Poynetts Farm 1847 tithe map Hadleigh part 1
Poynetts Farm 1847 tithe map Hadleigh part 2
Front cover to title abstract
Drawing of barn interior by Ernest Godman...quite possibly the same barn that inspired Helen Stewart's barn exterior linocut
Reproduced by courtesy of the Essex Record Office (reference : D/Y 33/1/21)
Poynetts Farm 1889
Painted by Charles Nicholson
Poynetts Farm 1841 ...tithe map benfleet part 1
Poynetts Farm 1841 ...tithe map Benfleet part 2

At the time of the 1841 tithe map, there were 15 farms, wholly or partly in the Benfleet parish. Poynetts Farm was one which straddled Benfleet and Hadleigh.

It consisted of 266 acres, 1 rod and 26 perch, with the larger portion (195 acres, 1 rod and 16 perch) lying within the Benfleet parish boundaries. The remainder (71 acres and 10 perch) lay within the Hadleigh parish boundaries. Cultivation breaks down into 138 acres and 16 perch of arable farming, 66 acres, 2 rods and 16 perch of pasture, 57 acres, 1 rod and 28 perch of woodland and 5 acres, 1 rod and 6 perch of other uses.

The Hadleigh tithe map is the normal way up unlike its Benfleet counterpart and remember to click on the images to enlarge them. Sadly none of the plots have been given field names.

Poynetts was owned by the Enfield Parochial Charities from 1621 and the rent was used to fund a school in Enfield. However John Poynaunt, after whom it was named was around in 1308. Further references include Poynantes and Poynes in the same year (1412) and Poynattes (1554), so I think it is safe to say that there has been some form of estate/farm in the area for 700 years. Prior to the Reformation the property would probably have been an endowment of a chantry

The bequest was contained in the will of Thomas Blossom, who died in 1418. There is also an abstract of a title deed made out for Sir Charles Nicholson dated 1875, which makes me think that he bought and sold a part of the farm from the Enfield Trust.

We do know that in 1841 the tenant was William Emberson Benton (1818 – 1866), bargemaster of South Benfleet,  who was given a 21 year lease at £120 p.a. in 1832. However, by 1847 when the Hadleigh tithe map was created, Susannah Bunton is listed as the tenant.

In 1875 the Enfield Trustees sold Poynetts Farm for £6,000 after many years of frittering away the rents on costly litigation with various headmasters.

Please click on these links to view other pages regarding Poynetts Farm.

A new house rises from the ashes.

Poynetts Farm 1889 as painted by Sir Charles Archibald Nicholson.

The origin of local place names.

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