History
Folly Farm is one of the largest examples in this country of a ferme ornee, with a historic landscape dating back to the 17th century, and a range of farm buildings dating from the late 17th to early 20th century. The Strachey family of Sutton Court also developed a programme of agricultural improvments at Folly Farm throughout the 19th century but by the beginning of the 20th century tenant farmers were brought in to manage the land. During the first world war there was a shortage of men to work the farm and women were employed for general labour.
"During the 1926 General Strike when pits were closed I had no work and started haymaking (2shillings and 10 pence and hour - less than 15p) and general farm work - then Mr Masters the tenant farmer at Folly Farm asked him to come to work for 32 shillings (£1.60 pence) a week. At that time Folly Farm kept 200 - 300 sheep. I had to check them each morning - there were 20 cows, Dairy Shorthorns, and the milk churns were taken out on a cart to the road, where there was a platform. On Saturday mornings I had to mop and scrub the flagstones in the kitchen till they were white and shake out the coconut matting."
During the Second World War farmers were encouraged to plough up as much land as possible and many acres of Folly Wood were felled, to be replanted later in the war by Italian POWs. The Stevens family moved into the farm shortly after the Battle of Britain and remained tenants until the Sutton Court Estate was sold in 1986. Ken Stevens was the youngest son of the family and looks back at those days.
"The first time I went to Folly Farm it was raining like mad. I was about 9 years old and all I could see was water gushing down gullies, a cart road with great ruts in it. It was September 1940. My father and brothers had come down to repair the fences so myself and another lad went into one of the outhouses and spent our time playing conkers. I didn't think much of the place that day!
But I lived there for 47 years, and I wandered round the farm night and day and in all wind and weathers and I certainly changed my mind. For a child it was a great place to grow up in.
Up in the attic we'd put the apples we picked from the orchard and it smelled lovely, and in bed at night you'd hear the bats above you in the attic. And it was nice when the snow was on the ground, and at night you're away from everything - you'd see so many stars, hear a fox yapping, owls hooting - wherever you went on the farm you had a good view.
The tree behind the farm - the old woodsman Jo Bird whose memories went back to Victorian times, said even then that he couldn't see any difference in the tree. and when I was a lad an old lady came to visit who said she used to go out there when she was a little girl and play under it with her dollies - that tree could tell some tales …"