Just over the North Mymms parish boundary lies Camfield Place at Wildhill, Essendon. It's the former home of the late Barbara Cartland. Reproduced below are pages from the 1921 auction brochure for the house and surrounding estate. Scroll past the pictures to view the pages from the sales brochure.
Note: This site doesn't normally include historical information from outside the parish, but seeing as this is so close we have decided to make an exception. The brochure belonged to Wildhill resident John Oakes and is now in The Peter Miller Collection, an archive of local historical pictures, documents and information.
A very attractive residential and sporting estate
The sales document describes the estate as a "very attractive residential and sporting estate" extending to almost 408 acres "with excellent road and rail communications with London, Hatfield and Potters Bar served by the Great Northern Railway" and "the motoring route by the Great North Road via Barnet is but 18 miles."
It says the estate "lies at a varying altitude of 250ft to 380ft above sea level, partaking of a very undulating, but not excessively hilly nature, and lies upon the diversified soil of the Oldhaven Beds. The valley areas are inclined to be of a heavier loam, providing sound pasture, while the higher parts bear gravelly sandy beds of useful building or road-making material. The chalk of the fringe of the Chiltern Hills is the sub-strata."
It's described as having extended woodlands and well-watered, "affording excellent covert for holding hand-reared game. There are a number of pheasants and rabbits to shoot. Though rearing has been in abeyance of late years, high and sporting shots may be had. Mr. Smith Bosenquet's pack hunts the district."
Note: Regarding copyright, we have tried to reach the auctioneers Curtis & Henson, the solicitors for the sale, Broughton Holt & Middlemist, and the printer of the brochure, D Reynolds in Northwood, but were unable to find contact details online. I am presuming they are no longer in business. And there is no accreditation given for any of the images used. So if you are the owner of the text or images for the material reproduced above please contact us (there is a contact form at the bottom of the side panel on the right) and, if you are unhappy with it being shared we will remove it. Thanks.
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