The early-sixteenth-century timber range
In the early fifteenth century Loxwood was a small hamlet within the large parish of Wisborough Green. Houses and farmsteads were scattered among fields, closes, common land and woodland and were connected by local tracks. The petition for a local oratory in 1404 described the journey to Wisborough Green as long and difficult through deep, miry ways and wooded ground. Robert Rede, Bishop of Chichester, authorised the oratory at Loxwood that year, and a Surrey will of 1488 records its dedication to St John the Baptist. Across the road, Loxwood Place was already an established medieval farmstead
It was in this rural setting in the early sixteenth century, that the building was constructed. It began as a single timber-framed dwelling of two bays, standing on farmland and a small track may have passed nearby towards the chapel.
Historic England dates this central two-bay section to the early sixteenth century. In 2000 the Wealden Buildings Study Group examined the surviving frame and also suggested a date of about 1500. The group recorded substantial timber framing in large panels, with jowled posts and long down-braces. The roof used clasped side purlins and queen struts. Parts of the original walls were later removed, covered or replaced, but surviving framing at the rear preserves the structure of the early building.
The house was already more than sixty years old when Loxwood Bridge was built in 1568. The bridge established a direct crossing of the River Lox, and the route northwards towards the chapel developed past the existing house. That route became the line of the later High Street.
Box Cottage and Ryley Cottage are among the oldest surviving cottages in Loxwood. The building has been enlarged, and divide, but it continues in the domestic use for which the original timber-framed house was built.
The early-seventeenth-century extension and chimney
The first significant alteration extended the building by two bays to the south-east. Historic England dates this work to the early seventeenth century. The Wealden Buildings Study Group reached the same broad conclusion from examination of the square-panel framing and short down-braces used in the added bays.
The chimney belongs to this extension. The study recorded it in a narrow bay between the earlier and later timber work. Hearths were arranged to serve rooms on both floors, and the original bay beside the chimney was floored over at the same time. Another hearth was later inserted at the back of the stack to heat the adjoining bay.
The turnpike and the late-eighteenth-century rebuilding
A major change to the setting came in 1757, when Parliament authorised a turnpike from Alfold Bars in Surrey to St Mary’s Gate at Arundel. The route passed through Loxwood, over New Pound Common and New Bridge, then through Pulborough and Bury. The Act allowed land forming parts of the old road to be sold where it was no longer required.
By the late eighteenth century Box and Ryley were therefore beside a road carrying regular carts, wagons, horses, livestock and other traffic through the village. The building was altered again during this period. The Wealden Buildings Study Group recorded brick additions at both ends and the rebuilding of the front wall so that the whole range presented one brick ground floor towards the road, with tile hanging above.
Historic England describes the same work as late eighteenth century. Its list entry says that the timber-framed range was clad in brick to the front and extended at both ends to create two cottages. The exterior now has six windows, a red-brick ground floor, a modillion course below the upper walling, tile hanging on the first floor and a tiled roof. Later porches, garages and other additions altered the ends again. The western cottage was smaller than the eastern one.
Finches in the early nineteenth century
Finches is on the right-hand side of the old cottages but belongs to a later period. Historic England lists it at Grade II and dates it to the early nineteenth century. The house is two storeys high and two windows wide. The ground floor is red brick with grey headers, the upper floor is hung with fishscale tiles, and the roof is hipped and covered with tiles. The present porch is later.
By the time Finches was built, the road outside had been a turnpike for around seventy years. The Wey and Arun Junction Canal had been authorised in 1813 and canal construction was changing access to farms and businesses in the lower part of Loxwood.
The village chapel was rebuilt in brick during this period. Local records place the main rebuilding of its nave around 1820-22. Finches’ early-nineteenth-century date places it in the same period of road, canal and building work.
Loxwood History research suggests that bricks at Finches may have come from a local brickworks because similar brickwork appeared in other buildings of the period. Historic England records the material simply as red brick and grey headers.
Finches and its nineteenth-century households
The census sequence places George and Hannah Durant at Finches during the 1840s, with George Durant working as a mole catcher. In 1861 Middleton Puttock, a bricklayer, occupied the property, followed in 1871 by John Hawkins, a gamekeeper.
In 1881 George Standen, a bootmaker, lived at Finches with Elizabeth Standen and their sons William Standen and Ernest Standen.
By 1891 Elizabeth Smithers and Walter Smithers were at Finches, with Elizabeth Smithers working as a laundress.
The 1891 auction
On 29 April 1891 Henry Hemming, the local land agent, offered a number of Loxwood freeholds for sale at the King’s Head Hotel in Horsham. Lot 1 included three substantial brick-built and tiled cottages producing £15 a year in rent: the two cottages of Box and Ryley range and Finches. The same lot also included Cherry Villa and the saddler’s and harness-maker’s premises next door.
The sale particulars described extensive frontage to the main street, large gardens and a good water supply. The Sussex Agricultural Express reported on 2 May 1891 that John Elliott of Loxwood bought Lot 1 for £450 and thereby owned all the properties from Hill Top Stores to Finches.
The cottages as working homes, 1891-1915
After buying the properties in 1891, John Elliott developed this part of High Street. The two cottages within the Box and Ryley building were subdivided to create three separate dwellings, while the old harness-maker’s premises beside Hill Top Stores were removed and Cherry Cottage was built around 1900. The result was a denser line of houses and working premises between Hill Top and Finches.
Loxwood was largely self-sufficient in everyday goods and services, with village businesses supplying food, clothing, transport, repairs and other necessities. The census returns from 1891 to 1911 record this activity in the cottages themselves. Occupations within the Box properties included a general carrier, laundress, farm carter, grocer’s assistant, steam sawyer, baker and confectioner, groom and gardener. Several of these trades continued between successive censuses, particularly baking, carting, laundry work and employment connected with the village shops.
Finches was also part of this working High Street. In 1901 its household included a carter employed at a flour mill and a saddler and harness-maker. Other nearby properties supported butchers, shoemakers, builders and shop workers, while Hill Top Stores supplied groceries and other goods.
Finches becomes Hillside
Maurice Botting and Emily Botting were living at Brewhurst in the 1911 census. On 19 November 1915 a meeting of the Loxwood Chapel trustees was held at Hillside, with Maurice Botting in the chair. By then Finches was known as Hillside and Maurice Botting and Emily Botting were living there.
Maurice Botting had farmed and milled at Brewhurst for many years. He had served on the local School Board, chaired Loxwood Parish Council and supported the annual Loxwood Show. He remained chairman of the Loxwood Chapel trustees and a churchwarden after retiring from much of his business work.
Maurice Botting died on 1 February 1916 and was buried at Loxwood Church on 4 February, aged sixty-three. The funeral report stated that the recorded attendance from Loxwood and the surrounding district was a significant number to pay their respect.
Maurice Botting was buried near an oak tree planted by his son Maurice Botting, then serving as a private in the 3/15th Battalion London Regiment. Sadly the younger Maurice Botting was killed on 15 September 1916 while serving with the London Regiment. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as the son of Maurice Botting and Emily Botting of Hill Side, Loxwood.
Box Cottages in the 1920s
Local property notes record Arthur Standen and Mary Standen as tenants in the right-hand part of the range during the 1920s. Arthur Standen had been recorded with his mother Elizabeth Standen in the Box range in 1901. Their address was written as Hill Cottages; the numbered form 1, 2 and 3 Box Cottages became established later.
The Botting family remained at Hillside after Maurice Botting’s death. A 1929 engagement notice for one of the sons gave the family address as Hillside, Loxwood. By the 1939 Register the address was written Hill Side.
Emily Botting was still living at Hill Side in 1939 and was recorded as blind her daughter Mary Emily. Botting, was an elementary school teacher in the village.
Emily Botting died on 1 April 1942, aged eighty-six. Her death notice described her as the widow of Maurice Botting of Brewhurst.
The High Street in the 1950s
A photograph from about 1950 shows Box and Ryley on the left with Finches beside them. The long cottage range has the brick lower floor and tile-hung upper floor seen today, while Finches is a separate house at the end. Clipped hedges and garden boundaries divide the houses from the road. A large tree is beside the frontage, cars are visible farther down High Street and a white centre line runs along the carriageway.
Box Cottages after the war
Post-war newspaper notices use the Box Cottages address. In August 1956 a resident named Thomas advertised a 1954 Cyclemaster motorised bicycle from Box Cottages, Loxwood, asking £10 or nearest offer.
Two years later the address appeared in a wedding report. Angela Emily Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Mr and Mrs M. Moore of 2 Box Cottage, married David William Farley at Loxwood Parish Church in September 1958. The reception was held at North Hall and eighty guests attended.
Loxwood History Archive also identified Bessie Hempsted in the cottages during the 1960s. Bessie Hempsted was instrumental in the Dependant Brethren movement and had long been a director of the Combination Stores and Aylward, Smith & Co.
The name Ryley Cottage
By the 1970s the old cottages were being described as 1, 2 and 3 Box Cottages. Local property notes record No. 2 being sold to Sheena Mursell, widow of Philip Riley “Pip” Mursell. Philip Riley Mursell had been a solicitor and died on 25 September 1965. His probate notice records addresses at Old Well House, Lodsworth, and 34 Nicholas Lane in the City of London.
The local property record states that Sheena Mursell renamed No. 2 Ryley Cottage in memory of Philip Riley Mursell. The probate record spells his middle name Riley; the cottage name was spelt Ryley.
Philip Riley Mursell’s brother Peter Mursell married Cicely “Dil” North, whose family was associated with Loxwood House and the gift of North Hall.
Local notes record Nos. 2 and 3 Box Cottages being combined during the 1980s. Ryley Cottage became the larger eastern house and Box Cottage the smaller western house.
Box Cottage, Ryley Cottage and Finches today
At Box Cottage and Ryley Cottage, the front elevation is mainly brick at ground level and tile-hung above, while the rear retains parts of the timber frame between later brickwork. Inside Ryley Cottage, the 2021 heritage statement records exposed structural timbers and later Crittall windows set within timber surrounds.
Finches retains the compact proportions recorded in its separate listing: two storeys, two front windows, red brick and grey headers below, fishscale tile hanging above and a hipped tiled roof.
