By 1086 West Yeo was a long established farm recorded
in the Domesday Book as a manor supporting five families. The name was Ratdon
(Red Down) and by 1283 it had become West Yeo meaning " west of the water".
The medieval cob and stone longhouse was destroyed by fire in about 1870 when Mr and Mrs Cocks bought the farm and rebuilt the house and buildings as they are today. The stone coming from a quarry on the farm which is still providing building materials for the farms dry stone walls.
Many of the field names have not changed since the Tithe Map of 1840 and earlier, such as Lake Park, Longpark, Newclose, Higher and Lower Tunbridge.
Since coming to West Yeo in 2000 we have set about restoring all the historic features back to the 1850 map. A Countryside Stewardship scheme has helped pay for this restoration. The funds have allowed for the restoration of three orchards (with old varieties of cider apples and dessert fruit. Many hedges have been put back and planted with native hedging to create the right pattern in the landscape and to allow for "better" farming. This scheme is coming to an end now, but it is hoped to get into HLS to allow for the restoration of all the old stone farm buildings.
The medieval cob and stone longhouse was destroyed by fire in about 1870 when Mr and Mrs Cocks bought the farm and rebuilt the house and buildings as they are today. The stone coming from a quarry on the farm which is still providing building materials for the farms dry stone walls.
Many of the field names have not changed since the Tithe Map of 1840 and earlier, such as Lake Park, Longpark, Newclose, Higher and Lower Tunbridge.
Since coming to West Yeo in 2000 we have set about restoring all the historic features back to the 1850 map. A Countryside Stewardship scheme has helped pay for this restoration. The funds have allowed for the restoration of three orchards (with old varieties of cider apples and dessert fruit. Many hedges have been put back and planted with native hedging to create the right pattern in the landscape and to allow for "better" farming. This scheme is coming to an end now, but it is hoped to get into HLS to allow for the restoration of all the old stone farm buildings.
