Furlong Farm

Furlong Farm, Duffield Road

Furlong Fam was once part of Elms Farm, held by the Hierons, the Radfords and the Strutts. From the 1850s, Furlong Cottage was tenanted by Joseph Tatam (nephew of Thomas Tatam of Elms Farm).

Joseph was a farmer of 21 acres and lived with his son William, a maltster at the brewery attached to Elms Farm, and his wife Mary and his family. William and his family moved out in the 1890s.

By 1902, the house was occupied by Sarah Ragdale, one of Thomas Tatum’s daughters, with her husband Joseph Ragdale, a wealthy bleacher from Lancashire. She bought the cottage and extensively remodeled it. They were joined by Sarah’s mother (Mary Tatam) and some of her nephews and nieces (children of John Joseph Tatum). Joseph Ragdale died in 1908 but Sarah lived on in the cottage until she died in 1924.

After Sarah’s death in 1924, the house and 7 acres of land were sold to a Mr Bean and he sold it a few years later to Ernest Gorton who had worked in insurance. He used the building and land for breeding dogs, geese and racing pigeons. He also let rooms in the house and in 1939, the records show Reginald Edmonson, a tyre salesman and George Humphries, a gardener, also living there. Ernest Gorton was a gambler who spent the winter months in casinos in the south of France.

He died at the roulette table in 1954, having just backed a winning number.

In 1956, the house and land were bought by Henry Fitch, a farmer and butcher. He took over the butcher’s shop from the Bosworth family and went on to buy more land by the river. His son Barry built up the business and still runs the butcher’s shop and still lives in the house.