Foxbury
Foxbury was the Chislehurst home of the Tiarks family. Building of the house started in 1875 on an area of land called Upper Broomfield within an estate of 57 acres of land acquired from the owner of Kemnal Manor, which stood to the north.
The house, described in Webb’s History of Chislehurst as a ‘fine mansion, beautifully situated on an eminence’ was completed in 1877. The architect was David Brandon (whose name is on the watercolour above). He had been vice president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and had won the RIBA silver medal in 1832 when he was only 19 years old. The design of the house is a mixture of styles, probably picked from a design catalogue. The cost of the building was £22,000, and was carried out by a local firm, Hill, Higgs & Hill.
Foxbury in 1886
A description of Foxbury, from The Builder, 1881
‘The mansion is erected upon an estate of sixty acres, on rising ground to the right of the Kemnal-road, Chislehurst. The external walls are built hollow, with Hassock stone rubble-work, faced on the outside with Kentish rag-stone laid in random courses, with a rock face, and lined on the inside with brickwork in cement. The masonry of the cornices, windows, doorways, &c., is of Combe-Down Bath stone, and the roofs are covered with Broseley tiles. The corridors throughout are of fire-proof construction, upon Fox & Barrett’s principle. The principal rooms have been decorated with enriched panelled ceilings and characteristic high mantelpieces of oak, cedar, and walnut, inlaid with other woods, and the walls of the dining-room are lined with wood framing of pitch-pine. The principal entrance is on the east side, through an enclosed porch, paved with marble mosaic executed by Messrs. Burke & Co., leading into the entrance hall, which is separated from the corridors and principal staircase by arcades of Portland stone. The principal staircase, which is 19ft. 6in. square and 27ft. high has a wainscot oak staircase of three flights, protected by balustrades of pierced strapwork, with large newels at the landings, surmounted by heraldic animals after the fashion of those at Hatfield House and other houses of similar date. The staircase windows are filled with grisailled glass, having armorial medallions in the centre of the lights, carried out by Messrs. Heaton, Butler & Bayne. On the first floor, which is 11ft. high, there are eleven bedrooms and dressing rooms, with three bathrooms, the servants’ bedrooms being arranged over the offices. The basement-storey is appropriated for the heating apparatus, wine, beer, and coal cellars, icehouse, &c. The approach-roads and gardens were laid out by Mr. Milner, and lodges are placed at the junction of the carriage-drives with the Kemnal-road. The stables and kitchen-garden, with gardener’s cottage and extensive greenhouses, are arranged on ground to the north-east of the mansion.’
The idea of a new house here was conceived when Samuel Asser bought the Kemnal Estate from New College Oxford in 1871. He carved out 57 acres of the grounds of the estate, created appropriate rights of way to enable the building of a large house, and offered the land for sale in 1874. At this time, many wealthy London merchants were building themselves grand houses in the country near London, including the partners of J Henry Schröder & Co, one of the most successful London merchant houses, whose success was based on the growth of international trade.
Henry Tiarks was at the time a young partner in Schröders, and was living with his family in Balham, South London. He jumped at the chance to build himself a large new house, and brought his 33 year old wife, Agnes, to Chislehurst in April 1874. She noted the visit in her diary: ‘To Kemnal. Lovely woods and songbirds’. Henry bought the land a few weeks later, on May 23rd, for around £20,000. It took a further year for the building of the house to start, on May 26 1875, when their eldest son, five year old Harry, laid the first stone. Nearly two years later, in April 1877, the house was handed over to their newly appointed housekeeper, and on June 14 Henry, Agnes and their six young children moved into the house. With some understatement, Agnes noted in her diary: ‘Arrived at Foxbury at 6. Dinner at 7. Sat on the terrace. Tea in Billiard Room’. The house was now to be home for a family of 13, a complement of 20 or so house servants, and a regular train of family, friends, guests and business associates, not to mention a menagerie of dogs, cats and birds. It was to remain the Tiarks’ family home for the next 60 years.
The layout and use of the house
Foxbury was a home to a large family and an even larger group of servants. How did they live in the house? During the day the family had use of the large ground floor rooms in the main house. These included the double drawing room, study, dining room, morning room, library/schoolroom and billiards room. A conservatory was added in the 1900s on the south side of the house, and the large entrance hall was also used, and not only for morning prayers and hymns. Photographs taken at several times between 1886 and the 1920s of some of these rooms can be seen here.
The youngest children will have spent quite some time in the day nursery on the first floor. At night the family of thirteen would retire to their seven bedrooms (and one night nursery), though it is possible that some of the four additional dressing rooms might have been used as bedrooms at some stages. There were three bathrooms. Most of the rooms had open fire places and Agnes recorded in her diary when the first autumn fires were lit each year. Lighting the fires and maintaining them must have been a full time job for the servants in the winter months. The butler and footmen had their own small bedrooms on the ground floor in the east wing by the kitchens, and there was a housekeeper’s office, butler’s pantry and large servants’ hall on the ground floor. This was where the servants would eat and relax when they had the chance to do so. In 1911 (from an inventory following Henry’s death) the hall contained four tables, eighteen Windsor chairs and two easy chairs. There were a number of servants’ bedrooms, including individual bedrooms for the cook, nurse, and housekeeper. The two footmen shared a room and the remaining fourteen or so maids shared five other bedrooms. It is likely that one or more of the nursery maids slept in the night nursery, and the two ladies maids may have slept close to their charges, in the dressing rooms.
There were almost continual changes to the fabric and facilities of the house during the years that Henry and Agnes lived there. A conservatory was built; substantial new terracing was built to the west of the house; new plumbing was introduced after the cholera scares in London; electric lights and later telephones were installed as soon as the new technology was introduced.
An album of photographs from 1910 shows some of the changes.
Agnes and Henry brought up their eleven children at Foxbury, and were hosts to twenty-three grandchildren, as well as many nephews and nieces, all described by Agnes in her diaries, kept for the 46 years that she lived at Foxbury. Henry died in 1911, leaving Foxbury to his eldest surviving son, Frank, but giving his wife Agnes a life interest in the house. She remained living there until her death in 1923.
Frank moved into Foxbury with his family after his mother died; this was to be his main home until 1937. He was a wealthy man in his own right, and after his father’s death he had purchased the estate of Homewood to the east of Foxbury, which was now incorporated its grounds into Foxbury’s. ‘Homewood was a large and rather plain Georgian House. Its last owner was Frank Tiarks whose interest was not in the building, but in the large estate which stretched back to the borders of his own domain at Foxbury. Here he laid out two polo grounds.’ (Bushell). The west lodge to Homewood can still be seen in Old Perry Street. Frank’s grand-daughter, Henrietta, now Duchess of Bedford, adds that there were two full-size polo grounds here, ‘and they had Mendip stone walls erected so that the hunters (who spent the summers at Foxbury) could get practice jumping them’. Between 1927 and 1935 the polo grounds were used to host tournaments.
The farm continued to be important to Frank, and he won prizes for short-horn cattle bred at the estate. There was a nine-hole golf course, and gymkhanas were held here regularly. Frank also had trees cleared to allow his son Edward to land his De Havilland Moth aircraft here.
Frank also made a number of changes in the house, to bring it up to date. The schoolroom was converted back into a library, and all the windows were changed to metal leaded hinged windows. Electricity had been introduced to the house in the 1890’s and this was upgraded. It was presumably at this time that the silent vacuum cleaning system was introduced. There was a pump in the basement which had tubes attached leading to each room, where they were capped. When cleaning was being done, the maid would attach the cleaning nozzle into the tube, and the motor would be turned on. This enabled silent cleaning in the rooms themselves. Frank also built a chapel for his wife in the attic, with a vestry for the priest. He replaced many of the fine ceilings with barrel vaulted ceilings, and textured the walls to give the impression of ashlared stonework. The grounds were made more rugged, and Somerset limestone rocks added to make the ponds more natural-looking.
Bromley Library archives include Foxbury’s visitors’ book from July 1925 to September 1936, and one can see the range of visitors and family to the house during this period. Some of these were business guests, including members of the Rockefeller family from the USA. Others were Emmy’s family over from Hamburg, and many friends of his grown children, who still used the house a great deal. Even though these were years of financial difficulty for Schröders, which affected Frank personally, he continued to hold the regular garden parties and polo competitions for which Foxbury was renowned.
By 1937, Frank had decided to sell Foxbury and moved to Loxton, Somerset, where he had retained Loxton Lodge as a holiday home. Emmy was an invalid and this may have contributed to Frank’s decision to sell up, though his financial situation was also a factor. Despite the enormous losses he suffered in 1931 he remained a partner in Schröders and a Director of the Bank of England, and retained a London house until the mid 1940s. Emmy died in 1943. Frank lived on until April 1952.
Foxbury Sales Particulars 1937
11 miles from London (20 minutes from the City by train0. The Foxbury Estate, Chislehurst, Kent. One of the most important properties on the outer fringe of London. A Superbly-appointed Modern Stone-built Mansion with Notable Gardens. Polo ground & part of a nine-hole golf course, covered riding school, indoor swimming pool, extensive outbuildings and cottages. Of exceptional interest to those requiring an easily accessible property for use as a Sports Club etc., and to Scholastic Institutions. To be sold by Private Treaty with about 30 Acres (or less) or with up to about 150 Acres by arrangement. Chislehurst. On high ground near the Common. Gravel soil.1 1/4 miles from Chislehurst Station with frequent services of electric trains reaching the City in 20 minutes and the West End in 25 minutes.
Foxbury – a Luxuriously appointed moderate-sized Mansion erected in 1875 of ragstone with tiled roof and stone mullioned and transomed windows, standing about 250 feet above sea level. In surprisingly unspoilt surroundings, approached from Kemnal Road (a private road) by two principle drives, each with Lodge entrance.
Ground Floor: Lounge. 66ft by 26ft 6in with recess and about 12ft in height, partly oak-panelled. Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Cloak Rooms.Library. 26ft 6in by 17ft 6in. walls lined with bookshelves.Drawing Room. 31ft 3in by 27ft and about 14ft in height with plaster panelled walls.Morning Room. 19ft 6in by 16ft. Fine oak-panelled Billiard Room.Dining Room. 29ft 10in by23ft 4in, panelled in pine.
On the First Floor: Arranged in suites are:10 Principal Bed Rooms & Dressing Rooms, Nursery Suite and 6 Bath Rooms On the Second Floor: 12 Secondary and Servants’ Bed Rooms and 3 Bath Rooms. Very Fine Domestic Quarters on the ground level, completely up to date and white tiled practically throughout. Company’s electric light, water, gas and main drainage are installed. Oil-fired central heating throughout and Independent Boiler for domestic hot water service.
The House is surrounded by Extensive Grounds of great beauty. The Grounds fall in Terraces to a Chain of four naturally-fed Lakes. Two hard tennis courts. Walled Kitchen Garden with range of heated glass. Gardener’s Cottage. Garage for 7 cars. Chauffeur’s Quarters.Luxurious Covered Heated Swimming Pool, with chute and diving stage, Dressing Rooms etc.Six Loose Boxes and other buildings. Model Farmery. Covered Riding School, 100ft by 50ft with Gallery. Pony Stabling for 13. Estate offices. Several Cottages and Lodges. Beautiful level Polo Ground, and part of a private Nine Hole Golf Course. The Polo ground lies over gravel soil and having received unremitting attention for many years past is immediately suitable for first-class playing fields and sports grounds.
Price for Foxbury House with about 30 acres, including The Mansion, Grounds, Stabling, Garage, Lodge, Kitchen Gardens, Gardener’s House and part of the Farmery, £30,000 freehold representing the value of the land alone. Arrangements could be made to sell with a smaller area or with a larger area up to a total area of about 150 acres.
Foxbury since 1937
The house was sold to the Church Missionary Society. In 1938 a women’s training centre was established here. Apart from the war years, it was to remain as such for 30 years. Both the ATS and the Army occupied Foxbury during the war. There was some initial link with Kemnal Manor in the early part of the war, but this stopped when the REME moved into Kemnal Manor. Foxbury was the Headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the London Scottish Regiment, and there was a photograph, sadly now lost, which showed the Massed Bands beating the retreat on the Foxbury lawn below the terrace, when the 1st and 2nd Battalions visited the 3rd Battalion at its ‘Baronial’ Headquarters on 13 July 1941.
Foxbury was twinned with the men’s training centre based at Liskeard Lodge at Woodlands on Ashfield Lane (whence the name Liskeard Close). The training centres both moved to Birmingham in 1968, and Foxbury became a retreat. In 1976 the Woolwich Building Society bought Foxbury as a training centre for £145,000, but had to spend another £750,000 to refurbish the house. In 2003, it was acquired as a private home, and the new owners have spent time and effort to restore and modernise the house.
Much of the remaining land in the estate was bought by Foxbury Estates Ltd. Plans were drawn up to develop large parts of the old Homewood Estate, planning permission obtained, and work begun on laying sewers in Foxbury Avenue in 1937. However, the planning consents were reversed in 1938 when most of the land was designated as part of the Green Belt. Compensation of £65,000 was paid following this reversal. The land has remained since as playing fields or maintained pasture.
In 2009 Foxbury became one of the world’s worst kept secrets when it emerged that the singer Michael Jackson had taken a one year lease on the house and grounds from June that year. He was due to give a number of concerts at the O2 arena in Greenwich, London, between July 2009 and March 2010, and Foxbury had been identified as a suitable location for him and his family to live during this time. Sadly Jackson died in Los Angeles on 25 June, just days before he was due to come to Foxbury, and it was with mixed feelings that Kemnal Road residents learned that they had lost the chance to have a global celebrity as a near neighbour. The house remained empty for the whole year.
Domestic servants at Foxbury
There were twenty servants registered in Foxbury in 1881: The butler, Benjamin Royhouse (31) from Chelsea; footman, Alex MacKenzie (29), Argyleshire; two English maids, Susan Clarke (27), London; and Alice Gregory (20), maid, Maidenhead; a nurse, Harriet Hide (40), Farring, Sussex; the cook, Anna Hubble (32). Canterbury; three servants without a title, Arthur Benstead (20), Northboro, Northants; Harriet Clow (16), Tundsay, Kent; Clara Haffer (20), Great Swaffam, Cambs; three laundry women, Louise Greenland (20), Trowbridge, Wilts; Elisa Johnson (22), Chelsea; Jane Toats (30), Impington, Cambs; Susan Scott (34), workwoman, Colchester; under coachman, William Ball, (23), Bromley; two stable helps, John Bennet (21), Welling, Herts and William Hollan (19), Deptford; two gardeners, Arthur Holloway (25) Salisbury, Wilts and Harry Powell (24), Churshow, Warwicks. The servants include two from outside the UK : Felincta Barillot (17) from France, and Magdaline Ruckert (15) from Germany. They are described as maids.
There were still 20 servants in the house ten years later; the butler was now Tom Harris (30) from Somerset; he had an under butler, Thomas Wilkinson (25) from Yorkshire; Joseph Stratton* is footman, he was 21 and from Pimlico; Harriet Hide was still the nurse, now aged 50; three ladies maids, Elizabeth Coleman* (40) from Thanet; Emma Calsen* (37) from Holstein, Germany; and Amanda Johnson* (26) from Gothenberg, Sweden; four housemaids, Emma White* (33) from Southsea; Lydia Stockbridge (26) from Cambridgeshire; Caroline Edmonds* (19) from Mile End; and Annie Clark* (17) from Keston; two kitchen maids, Ellen Toms* (24) from Reigate; Emma Scoones (18) from Kent; three laundry maids, Mary Bray* (29) from Northampton; Alice Bridgeland* (26) from Kent; and Maria Miles* ( 19) from Brighton; Louise Heinsick* was the nursery maid, she was 22, and from Offenbach Germany; the housekeeper was Annie Oldring* (55) from Southwold, and the cook was Frances Everhurst* (32) from Kent. The photograph here, dated 1890, shows a group of servants. It does not refer to Foxbury, but the observatory behind is clearly Foxbury’s, and we have identified many of the 1891 servants from their names on the photograph. The names are identified in the text with an asterisk; some were servants in the house, while others were living in the various lodges and cottages within the grounds of the house. There were nineteen servants registered at the house in 1901: the butler, George Bradman (48) from Watlington; two footmen, Thomas Macquiure (25) from North Wales; and Herbert Russell (18) from Kent; a hall boy, David Tye (15) from Kent; there was now a male nurse, Thomas Taylor (58) from Ealing; the cook was still Frances Everhurst (42) from Kent; two kitchen maids, Sarah Alder (24) from Gloucester; and Edith Mallinson (19) from Southwark; scullerymaid Gertrude Russell (16) was surely Herbert’s sister – she was born in Chislehurst; a needlemaid, Emma Calsen (48) from Germany; two ladies maids, Louisa Kohlrude (22) from Germany; and Cleriance Trowsuain (34), from France; three housemaids, Catherine Worley (35) from Lee; her sister Ada (32) from Chislehurst; and Hannah Keeble (20) also from Chislehurst; and finally, four laundrymaids, Mary Stamson (32) from Worcester; Edith Keeble (22) Hannah’s sister, from Chislehurst; Alice Wake (19) from Grimsby; and Elena Colyance (52) from Sarle, Kent.
Ten years later, Frank Skinner (49), from Gloucester, was butler. There were two footmen, William Mills (28), and Charles Barnes (18), from St Mary’s Cray, and a Hall Boy, Martin Stepton (15) from Chislehurst. Emma Calsen, now 58, had been elevated to Housekeeper, and Harriet Hide, now aged 70 was described as a Pensioner. Sarah Alder (34) from Gloucester was the Cook. There were two Ladies maids, Annie Harris (26) and Ellen Dennis (20) from Windsor. Hilda Scores (17) was a pantrymaid, and there were four housemaids, Rosa Siddons (38) from Manchester, Emma Chain (22) from Surbiton, Sarah Dickens (19) from Birmingham, and May Hylands (19). There were also four laundrymaids, two sisters from Sussex, Alice Watts (29) and Julia Watts (23), Ellen Harriet (17) from Sheerness, and Fran Andrews (26) from nearby Hayes.
By the 1930s the register of voters shows only 6 servants living at the house. Even allowing for the likelihood that some servants were under 21, this is a remarkable reduction in the numbers for such a large house.
More about Foxbury and the Tiarks family:
Henry Tiarks, 1832-1911
Agnes Tiarks, 1840-1923
Frank Tiarks, 1874-1952
Emmy Tiarks, 1875-1943
Herman Tiarks, 1875-1955
Henry Tiarks, 1900-1999
Death of Edward Tiarks, 1905-1929
Horace Goemans, Foxbury Land Manager