Redfield House and estate, a rural idyll...



Redfield House from the south


General...

The Redfield estate totals 6.9Ha, (hectares), it comprises the main house, a separate stable block, a small, semi-derelict cottage, and tarmac car park areas which cover an area of about 1.7Ha. There are also 2.8Ha of pastureland, 2.0Ha of woodland and 0.4 Ha of cottage garden.

The main house faces south and looks out onto the pasture in which the small flock of sheep graze. The pasture itself is bounded on three sides by woodland which has a woodland walk running through it. The cottage garden stands on the north west side of the house and a small orchard stands on its southern edge. To the north of the house is the pond and "chicken city", further to the north stands "Eco-Woods" and the tennis court. The stable block stands to the northeast of the main house with car parking to its south and the gateway to the eastern aspect of the house which is the main entrance.


The House...

Redfield House is built to three storeys and has approximately 50 - 60 rooms, according to who counts them and what they consider to be a 'room'.

It was built from 'red rubber' bricks, a soft type of brick which could be 'rubbed' to form relief patterns in the finished brickwork. The southern aspect of the house has four main rooms on each floor, the ground floor rooms being communal and comprising, lounge, dining room, activity room and the historically named, 'T'ai Chi' room, so called because one of the original members used it to practice and teach the oriental art of T'ai Chi. On the ground floor there is also the communal kitchen and 'breakfast' room which forms a central meeting point for the members, a laundry and various store rooms. Below this there are extensive cellars which, considering their location, are remarkable dry.

The first and second floors are used for private living space, this is nominally divided into 'units' that can be used to house families, couples or single people depending on the requirements of the community and the individuals occupying the space.

Click here to download a small text file on the history of Redfield House


The grounds...


A major feature of the estate is the meadow to the south of the house and its boundary of forest. To the east of the meadow lies what is known to members as the Main woods, this area, in common with most of the estate, had been badly neglected when the original members arrived in 1978. It was renovated with some re-planting in 1979 and today is a wonderful example of small scale managed forest with a fair diversity of wildlife. It is believed to have originally been planted after the Enclosures Act of 1870 and comprises mainly native standards such as oak and beech with a laurel understory. Also in this area are six fine Redwoods, (Sequoia wellingtonia), which are believed to have been brought from the Americas in the latter part of the last century. They are healthy trees and currently stand at approximately 130 feet in height and about 20 - 25ft in girth at their base.

The Front woods bound the extreme southern edge of the estate and hide the road from view. This was the latest area of woodland to be renovated, this was done in 1991 when it was re-planted with mixed broad leaf standards & ash coppice, including a new hedge across the front meadow. There were 2,300 saplings planted in this area at the time and today it is beginning to look healthy once again after the radical surgery that was performed upon it.

To the west of the meadow is the New wood, this is a new plantation and again comprises traditional mixed broad leaf standards which are closely planted partly as a windbreak & partly for future biomass use, this wood also has a mixed fruiting edge. 700 saplings were planted in this area, it completes the almost circular walk through wood land that surrounds the southern meadow in front of the house.

On the northern boundary of the estate is Eco wood, this was renovated in 1987 after the terrible hurricane that devastated a lot of southern Britain in that year. It is mainly hazel coppice with mixed standards, (oak, ash, poplar, walnut, chestnut), plus an amount of various species of conifer as a filler.

The tennis court lies directly to the north of the garden, it was built in about 1986 on the site of a previous tennis court which had become derelict. This in its turn was built on the site of a curling rink which was used by the Lambton family each winter.

The stable block is a fine example of Victorian stabling; we are currently developing long term plans for these buildings as a mixed development of new residential units, commercial workspaces and accommodation, workshop and classroom spaces for courses.


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