The Hamlet of Greys Green

Over the centuries, the small hamlet was a small settlement of farms. By the late 1700s there was much rebuilding and most of the houses date from that period. The school was closed in 1966 and demolished but the terrace of School Cottages (1836) remain. The village hall (1924) had a thatched roof originally (this village hall has capacity for maximum of 100 people - please book through Joan Holmes tel: 01491 628552) . Nearly all the open spaces belong to the National Trust and the area is designated a conservation area even though there are no listed buildings. The war memorial is the western edge of the boundary and Greys Green House is the eastern edge. Cricket on the Green is played during the season (please see the Cricket page) and originally very bumpy. When troops were billeted on it for D-Day, the Army promised to resurface the green after the Second World War and as promised it is now in excellent level condition. The original cricket pavilion started life in the grounds of Greys Court but was later moved to the north-west corner of the green after the second world war, with the kind help of Lady Brunner & her family. However, when it eventually became unfit for purpose, it was replaced by the present pavilion in 1983.

Forge Cottage was the location of the village smithy and was still open for business until 1981 and is now a house. Once it was two houses with the forge at one end and a wooden structure at the other which served as the telephone exchange and the post office. There was a barn to the forge side to house horses coming for shoeing (see photo). The only time the smith was hurt was when the Greys Court donkey came for shoeing. Let out from the vertical hamster wheel, to draw water from the well (dug 14th Century) in the well house (16th Century and still intact) he let loose with his hoofs and left a perfect imprint on the smithy's (Mr. Bill Barrett) hand. Bill was church warden for St. Nicholas for more than 50 years and was given the British Empire Medal for his services.

Greys Green