Home Farm

Home Farm, Rigga Lane

Home Farm was part of the Outwoods estate, owned by William Woollatt.  William Woollatt was the brother- in- law and business partner of Jedediah Strutt and had inherited land in Little Eaton from the family of his wife Susanna (nee Lalouel). He built the mansion for his daughter, Elizabeth, around 1781 and the outbuildings, including the farmhouse, were added later.

Dorothy Woollatt married John Trowell in 1792 and their daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1798. John Trowell died in 1804. Shortly afterwards Dorothy and Elizabeth left the Outwoods and the house was let, including: “Coach House, stables for 5 horses, cowhouse for 6 cows. Also 38 acres of pasture and arable land. Buildings newly erected”. The mansion and buildings were let to various tenants, including Nathaniel Birkinshaw, (a timber merchant who went bankrupt), Miss Evans (great aunt of Florence Nightingale), and Reverend Mellor Hope. The land was let to Thomas Brown who lived at Park Farm. The mansion and buildings were then sold in 1844 to Reverend Carr; to Colonel Edward Noel in 1880; and to Charles Catt in 1901.

In 1936, the mansion, buildings and land were bought by Garford Lilley, a wealthy industrialist. He demolished the mansion and built a new house, but kept the gardener’s cottage and other buildings. At the same time he bought Park Farm and ran the two farms together under the management of the Essex family. The land was used for a pedigree herd of Friesian dairy cattle and for racehorses.

At this time, the gardener’s cottage was occupied by James Coley and his wife, with part of the house sub-let to a Mrs Waldron. Mr Coley had been the gardener for the Catt family, as was his father, Walter, before him. The Coleys were well known in the village, frequently winning local produce shows. In 1952, the house was taken over by the Essex family. They had lived in Park Farm from 1947 to 1952 but moved to Home Farm when Garford Lilley sold Park Farm and 40 acres to Albert Redfern. He kept about 60 acres and, together with the 40 acres from The Outwoods estate, used the land for his cows and racehorses.  

In 1960, the house and farm were bought by James Dickinson who lived and farmed there for 50 years. In 2013, the farm was bought by James Godber who lived there with his wife Kathleen and two children. James died in 2018 and the farm is now run by his son, Jonathan.