The village of Limpsfield, lying only three miles to the west of Westerham, has long been appreciated for its wealth of historic domestic architecture. However, the identities of the people who owned and lived in its houses before the twentieth century have been largely untraced. The speaker, Nicholas Dixon, will explain how he reconstructed the history of one Limpsfield cottage and the land on which it was built, resulting in a revised understanding of its actual age and the discovery of fascinating information about its owners and residents. The story of one seemingly insignificant cottage gives remarkable insights into the history of the Limpsfield and Westerham area from the medieval era to the present day and demonstrates the potential of archival research to shed light on historic houses in Britain more generally.
Dr Nicholas Dixon is a professional genealogist and house history researcher in London. He studied History at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and was awarded a PhD for a thesis concerning the history of the Church of England in the nineteenth century. He is an external contributor to the History of Parliament project and conducts research projects for clients.