A FAMILY AFFAIR

 Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

Published in Along the Furlong in April 2000.

I am told that a timber-merchant's business flourished on the southern slope of the Downs at Nepcote for two hundred years between 1775 and 1976 in spite of suffering from two horrendous fires. I have discovered that this timber-yard belonged successively, and for an equal period of time, to two local families, the well-known Tates and the Ockendens.

By 1785, William Tate, although primarily a timber merchant, farmed 99 acres of Findon agricultural land. He held seventeen acres by copyhold from Findon Manor and this was at Nepcote Green. In all he leased 82 acres from four other different Findon landowners. It could be said that Tate farmed on a comparatively large scale. In those days most tradesmen had agricultural interests, some of them considerable, so it is difficult to calculate which activity was the main source of Tate's wealth, the timber business or that of farming.

Charles Ockenden was born in Washington in 1837. I discovered that he appeared on the Nepcote scene by 1861 when he was aged 24. There was a family link between the Tates and the Ockendens and it seems he took over the business as carpenter and wheelwright and lived in one of the nearby Nepcote cottages with his wife, Ruth, and their nine children.

By 1891, Charles' 30 year old son, William, a wheelwright and smith ran the family business. His wife was Rosina and over the years their family grew and they had ten children —

The Ockenden family lived in one of the old Nepcote cottages, (approximately now the site of 20 Nepfield Close). On Friday, 17th January 1892, disaster struck and a terrible fire swept through the property and destroyed their home. The family subsequently had to move to 1 York Terrace next to the Nepcote Chapel.

The business of undertaker, blacksmith and general decorator was also conducted from the Nepcote woodyard site by 1906.

In 1914 the woodyard site (described as shop and sheds) was owned by Captain C. N. Lyall and only occupied by William Ockenden but I do not know for how long he had been the owner.

Twenty-three years after the awful blaze, almost to the day, history was to repeat itself and on the night of 20th January 1915, there was yet another fire and the devastation wreaked can be seen. This time the flames took hold of the woodyard and destroyed all the flammable timber stock held by Willliam Ockenden. The place ignited like a tinder-box and the corrugated iron roof panels of the workshops crashed to the ground as the timber supports gave way. It was a scary time for the inhabitants of Nepcote. It is said that the blaze was of such intensity that the paint blistered on the window frames of the cottages on the opposite side of Nepcote. By the next morning the woodyard was a scorched charred ruin and the business had to start again from scratch.

Six of William's sons worked in the woodyard over the years and the business could certainly be called a family affair.

The Nepcote smithy and woodyard were busy places in those days. There was always something to see, as well as horses being shod. It was a sight to behold when trees were hauled down Nepcote by horses and then made a sharp right-hand turn into the timber yard. The trees were subsequently sawn up into planks by being passed over a deep pit and cut with a large double hand saw — before ending up in the required lengths for posts, fencing etc.

In addition, trees were cut, seasoned and prepared for the making of coffins for the undertakers' side of the business. There was a Chapel of Rest on the southern side of the woodyard (roughly on the site of 1 Nepfield Close), and the finished coffins were stored down in the cellar of one of the cottages in Nepcote.

In time a lorry was purchased for the timber business and Frank drove this. The sons lived in close proximity to each other. John built and partly designed the house named "Sunny Nook" in Nepcote. In Nepfield Close, Frank resided at the far end at "Fairhurst", Sydney at "Cedar Cottage", and William at "Glanville". Ronald, who was the youngest, and captain of the Findon 2nd VI cricket team lived at "Glanville" after William.

In 1948, William Ockenden died and his sons, John, Ron, Hugh and Frank took over. The old established Ockenden way of life carried on at Nepcote for many years. In addition to the main building activities, hand-made garden furniture was also produced on the site and it was often remarked that it was made by Findon craftsmen out of Sussex oak.

Unfortunately, in time the Ockenden sons moved on, or passed away and John, who had started work with his father at the age of 12, and worked in the sawmill, was the only one left to keep the business up and running. He had additional duties as Churchwarden, a position he held for 25 years.

The decision to sell up the woodyard was made in 1976 when John's son, Mick was managing the company. At the date of being wound up the firm comprised of only timber-dealing and building work. Chris Whittington, a distant relation of the Ockenden family, had been in charge of the timber business for many years and he now took this side of the work to Castle Goring.

John Ockenden died in 1976 soon after the firm's closure, he was 83 years old. He had lived all his life in Findon and had been christened at the parish church.

The site was sold to Seaward Properties Limited. The yard and old buildings were demolished and the approach to the existing houses in Nepfield Close where the Ockendens had lived was diverted. A small development of houses and bungalows sprang up on the woodyard site to form the Nepfield Close of the 1980s.