1830’s - Farm grown to over 2000 acres, drainage introduced

After that revelatory outburst in the 17th Century our detailed records are sparse until almost the 20th Century, though we do know that clay-tile drainage - inch and collar pipes - was introduced in about 1835 from Surrey (a family from Croydon). The clay was dug out of an old pond in the middle of the farm which was drained (named Pond Bottom) and fired in a kiln close by, the remains of which disappeared into the foundations of the M6). They were laid too deep and too far apart, and the bore was too small to have much effect other than to ease water-logging in the spring and summer.

We also know that by about 1835 two thousand acres were "in hand".