Maycrest Site

The following is based upon the deeds of 'Maycrest' and the memories of Mrs Parker who lived at No 6, Jubilee Cottages since childhood.

1920 23^rd August

Frederick Walter Benham, corn dealer of Chobham, sold 1 acre of the land and associated rights of common to Frederick Aylward of 2 Council Cottages, Burrow Hill, Chobham for £100.

Maycrest Land Map 400pxl.JPG (21046 bytes) "And also all such commonage and right of title to common of what nature or kind soever in upon or over all or any of the wastes commons and commonable lands of or belonging to the Manor of Chobham aforesaid as the Vendor possessed or enjoyed in respect of and were appurtenant to the land thereby conveyed and the inheritance of all such commonable rights as aforesaid in as large ample and beneficial a manner to all intents and purposes as the Vendor had theretofore used and exercised all or any of the said rights of privileges or as he or his predecessors in title or their former customary heirs could or might have used and exercised the same."

Frederick Aylward (b. 1876) who worked for a Chertsey-based building company (Payne's ??), had to retire because of injury at work in which he had lost a leg. Unable to continue in the building trade, he decided he may be able to run a small shop. Was the £100 part of his injury compensation?

Frederick used his bricklaying skills to build a bungalow for his large family (John, Tom, Terry, Jim, Hilda and Phylis) with a shop attached. Mrs Parker, who was only a tot at the time, remembers watching Frederick Aylward building the house with great care and even making each block by hand.

1933 4^th March

First mention of the house – ‘Maycrest’ (possibly named after the may tree which stood by the road till the late 1980s) when a mortgage for £160 is arranged ….

Requisition on Title between Trustees of F.R. Tebb’s settlement (Christopher and Son. 9 Clifford St, W1) and F. Aylward, retired builder. Local authority cited as Chertsey Rural District Council Offices, West Byfleet. The house is valued at £610.

Why was there a span of 13 years between Frederick purchasing the land in 1920 and arranging a mortgage in 1933?

1938 5^th May

Frederick Aylward, retired builder, increases his mortgage from £160 to £205 at 5% interest. Frederick signs with a beautiful hand. Did Frederick need this money to build the shop?

Frederick is remembered as a very pleasant man with a wonderful sense of humour with children. He kept bees which no doubt fertilised the many apple trees in his plot.

1940 12^th August

Surrey County Council designate Red Lion Road as a new road.

1947 12^th April

Frederick Aylward, retired bricklayer of Maycrest, donates Maycrest bungalow and shop and commonage to his son John Henry Aylward, bricklayer. A mortgage of £205 is still outstanding.

John Henry Aylward, bricklayer of ‘Ioah’ Horsell Way, Horsell, leases for 1 shilling per year the Maycrest bungalow shop and commonage to Frederick Aylward and Florence Olive Aylward (his wife) of Maycrest, Burrow Hill, Chobham.

1948 30^th November

But it is John who is immediately mortal …..

John Henry Aylward died intestate. His widow, Adelaide Lois Aylward of Horsell Way inherits Maycrest in Burrow Hill and Ioah in Horsell.

1949 21^st December

ownership of the property passes out of the Aylward family ……..

Adelaide Lois Aylward, of ‘Ioah’ Horsell, aged 49, marries Alfred Edward Cobbett, aged 56 a widower and gardener of Castle Grove Cottage, Chobham.

1954 4^th December

The old couple still live at Maycrest but sad news ……..

Florence Olive Aylward dies aged 79. Her husband Frederick’s occupation is described as a ‘general shop proprietor’.

1961 21^st March

Adelaide Lois Cobbett pays off the £205 mortgage.

1961 12^th April

Adelaide Lois Cobbett as owner, and Frederick Aylward as tenant conveyed to Bagshot Rural District Council the southern most 100 ft by 50 ft strip of the Maycrest land for £200. The council undertook to erect and maintain a chain link fence not less than 5ft high with concrete posts.

1963 18^th December

Frederick Aylward, still living at Maycrest, dies of cardiac failure aged 87.

Two daughters-in-law (E.J Aylward and R. L. Aylward witness the couple's death certificates).

1964 6^th April

Adelaide Cobbett, still living in Horsell, sells Maycrest and its right of commonage to P & S Chertsey Ltd – builders, for £5000.

P&S obtained planning permission to build three chalet bungalows; numbers 8,10 and 12 Red Lion Rd.

The houses are sold for £6250 each.

History of Number 8

1965 20^th January Barry, a camera operator, and Brenda Hood purchase and name it Carmel – after the area in Palestine where Barry served.

1978 22^nd July Barry died of coronary heart disease.

1986 9^th July Brenda Jean Hood sells No 8, Carmel with rights to Reginald Wallis Mason and Daisie Frances Joyce Mason of Little Heath Farm Chobham for £100,000. The house is renamed Lime Tree Cottage.

History of Number 10

1964 16^th November Peter James Cordial, bank clerk, and Jennifer Anne Cordial of Ashford, purchase and name it Maycrest.

1967 26^th October Purchased by John Hedley Elcock, design draftsman, and Netta Dorothy Elcock of Shepperton.

1980 24^th October Purchased by David Victor Stokes, IT project manager, and Lenka Marie Stokes, secretary in NHS, of Ashford Middlesex, for £47,000

History of Number 12

Geoff and Anne Humphries bought the house in the 1970s

Colin and Brenda Wareham bought the house in the 1980s.