ninety per cent take on the stocks. Rhubarb was a second innovative crop for Newhall farm, and over an extended period Newhall Farm was producing one third of all of London’s rhubarb.
The 1980s Whilst these different crops were an opportunity to create additional income, by the beginning of the nineteen-eighties the returns on the production of the more traditional vegetables and market gardening produce had fallen dramatically. And so WJS went back to growing wheat and barley.
The eighties became a significant decade for the Soper family. WJS died in 1986 and, following his death, the family decided to reduce their commitment to farming. As part of that change, they contracted out some of their land to other farmers and sold off other parts, such as Canes Farm, but retained the land immediately around Newhall Farm,
Harlow, The Gibberd Plan and Church Langley Ever since the master plan for the new town of Harlow was developed by Sir Freddie Gibberd back in the 1940s, the land on which Church Langley and Newhall now stands has been earmarked for housing. The plan was always to contain Harlow in a circle, an obvious progression, perhaps, if you look at the map of the area. But maybe when the plan was conceived, it would have been council housing that Gibberd had in mind, and along the way something of the Thatcher days shifted the focus towards privately owned property.
In any case, WJS and his family had always been aware that their land would, one day, be built upon. At first WJS resisted the attempts to take his land, but three years after his death the inevitable happened and the land on which Church Langley now stands was sold to Countryside for development. However, the family retained that small island in the middle of Church Langley which is Kitchen Hall Farm.
Newhall and Newhall Farm It is now the grandchildren of WJS who own what remains of Newhall Farm, and they have taken the decision to become more hands-on in the development of what we know as Newhall. Their over-riding intention was always to make Newhall different, to give the development a unique style of architecture. As with all things innovative and different, the look they have achieved will have its supporters and detractors, but the family are happy that they have achieved what they set out to do, to make Newhall different, to make it 21st Century,
I asked Diana and Betty if it was a wrench, or a relief, to finally say, ‘Okay that’s it, we’re going to move on and let this land be used for something different.’
Diana told me, ‘It’s the end of an era which is always sad.’ And Betty added, ‘I was quite glad that it all happened after my father had died. He wouldn’t have liked it. But it was inevitable. It had to come.’
It is too easy, perhaps, to go through our lives, blind to history of where ever it is that we live. Yes, things must change, but maybe once in a while, it would be worthwhile to stand for a second, look around and ask, ‘How well do I understand this place? And how much do I appreciate its people and its story?’
Once again, I repeat my huge thanks to Betty Knight and her daughter Diana Pritchard for the immense help they have given me in putting these two articles together.
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