My mother’s house was built in 1860. The house was built on land owned by estate-owner William Lambarde – head of an established family in Sevenoaks. The land was given as a wedding present to the daughter, Ellenora when she married Robert William Percival Battiscombe in 1854.
After their marriage they had 4 children and occupied the house together with 4 servants. After the death of Robert Battiscombe in 1885 the house was inherited by the eldest son, Percy Francis Battiscombe and the household increased to 13.
The architect for the house was Norman Shaw, a young architect at the beginning of his career that saw him go on to design many notable Victorian houses and public buildings including Bedford Park in London and the New Scotland Yard building. He gave his name to the house – Shaw Well – which also refers to a well in the surrounding woods.
During the late 70s my father used to spend his weekends uncovering the old rubbish tips from the house which were scattered in the surrounding woods. Old lemonade bottles, ceramic toothpaste jars, stone hot water bottles, broken dinner services, jars of Dundee marmalade all helped to provide a fascinating insight into life in the house in the days before rubbish collection.
Since the days of the Battiscombes 3 more families lived in the house before my family moved in the early 70s. We used to receive unexpected calls from people who used to come to the house in their childhood and wanted to revisit old memories.
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