The history of Saddlescombe Farm

Nestled in a fertile, winding valley, Saddlescombe made a perfect prehistoric settlement for farming. A variety of archaeological finds have been discovered nearby, including Bronze Age loom weights and axe heads, and Mesolithic arrow heads. 

The farm changed hands from Saxons to Normans and the Domesday survey of 1086 provides the first detailed record of farming life at Saddlescombe.

At that time Saddlescombe belonged to Earl Godwin, whose son King Harold was defeated by William at the Battle of Hastings. Earl Godwin's family owned much grander places so never lived at the farm which would have been rented out to a tenant. As a sheep and corn farm it provided large tax revenues and had an estimated population of 135 people.

Saddlescombe became a preceptory, a centre where profits from the farm, and other Templar properties nearby, would be collected in support of the knights’ adventuring overseas. An inventory from 1308 gives a glimpse of farming life in the late medieval period. The Templars continued to manage Saddlescombe as a sheep and corn farm, with agricultural profits helping to pay for protection of the pilgrim routes to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 

The story of Saddlescombe today can be told through its buildings, and most of these date from this period of great change. Three huge barns, the manor house, the smithy, and the donkey wheel still stand today. The huge wooden donkey wheel, powered by a donkey or small horse, drew water from the 50-metre deep well. This was the only reliable source of water for the residents for centuries.  

From the earliest dawn of farming, little changed for thousands of years until the beginning of mechanisation. This period is brought to life in Maude Robinson's book ‘A South Downs Farm in the 1860s’, a collection of childhood memories of life on a Victorian farm. Maude's story is remarkable in its simplicity and is a treasure trove for farming historians.  

Quaker principals

As Quakers, the Robinsons' management of their family, the farm and the employees were based on principles of sobriety, industriousness and morality. The children were brought up without luxuries but were well educated and delighted in the complete rural freedom which was possible at the time.   

Raising the standard of living

Martin Robinson disapproved of overcrowded cottages and built several new ones which raised the standard of living for his workers, although a deep social gulf existed between the worlds of the men and their master. 

Keep traditions going

Saddlescombe was still an arable and sheep farm, with dairying introduced later. Until the late 19th century oxen were used for heavy work rather than horses, and the Robinsons kept 12 of them, just as the Templars had done 500 years earlier. 

For the first time the names of individual workers are known, and photographs taken of the people, the animals and farming activities such as the shepherd and sheep-shearing, the ox-teams and ox-shoeing. 

In 1921 the Petworth Estate decided to sell Saddlescombe, and at that point Ernest Robinson, Martin’s son, bought it. He became the only Lord of the Manor known to have actually lived there. This period sees the end of sheep farming at Saddlescombe after 3,000 years. Machines replace people, and two World Wars have a significant impact on human and physical landscapes.   

During the Second World War farming life at Saddlescombe radically changed. Canadian soldiers took over the farm, German planes crashed across the road and bombs were dropped in nearby fields. 

The renovation of a flint-built barn into a learning space for schools and community groups in 2016 is an example of the National Trust's work to bring Saddlescombe back to life. As part of these changes, farm tenants Camilla and Roly were welcomed in 2013. They are the first sheep farmers to live at Saddlescombe since 1942.