15th century farmhouse with royal connections

Fosters Farm has been situated in the open fields of Kent since the late 15th century. It began life as a medieval hall, but has seen a great many alterations and additions to transform it into a comfortable home for the 21st century. Today is it Grade II listed and features original 16th and 17th century timber beams, as well as 17th century oak stairs.

Fosters Farm - Haysden Lane

Fosters Farm was formerly part of the manor of Bidborough, which can be traced back to the 13th century and the time of Edward I. However, when the house was built it belonged to the Vane family, but in 1551 Sir Ralph Vane was found guilty of high treason and hung at Tower Hill in 1552. When Elizabeth I came to the throne she granted the manor to her cousin, Henry Carey, the nephew of Anne Boleyn, son of Mary Boleyn. It is also thought that he could have even been the illegitimate son of Henry VIII!

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the manor was in the hands of the Smythe family, but it was during this period that Fosters Farm and surrounding land were sold. In the earliest surviving land tax records, in 1780, the farm was owned by Thomas Constable, but by 1790 had passed to William Crundell. At this time the farm was occupied by James Godwin.

Fosters Farm dining room

It was in the early 1800s that the farm house became the home of Lawrence and Elizabeth Foster – where the farm gained the name that has carried on for 200 years to today. The 1841 census shows Lawrence Foster, 72 years old, living in the house with 63 year old Elizabeth and their 25 year old unmarried daughter, Jane.

By the mid 19th century Fosters Farm was owned by John Deacon of ‘Williams, Deacon, Labouchere & Co.’, a prominent high street bank. While the Deacon family continued as the owners, the occupiers of the farm changed a number of times, until the turn of the 20th century it was home to George Hewitt, a ‘house painter’.

1901 census - The National Archives

Through the early to mid 20th century the ownership, as well as the occupation of Fosters Farm changed a number of times. It was in the early 1950s that Fosters Farm was purchased by the Vizard’s and it has continued in the family to this day.

For more information on Fosters Farm visit – Chesterton Humberts

For the full history of the house – The History of Fosters Farm