Cotchford Farm is a farmhouse building to the southwest of the village of Hartfield,

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in southern England. Its owners have included author

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-th ...

, who wrote all of his

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

books at the house, often inspired by the local landscape, and musician

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

, who drowned in the swimming pool at the house in 3 July 1969. It is listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

. The building stands on Cotchford Lane, a private lane off the B2026 between Hartfield and Duddleswell. It is located close to the

Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald National Landscape. It is situated south of London in the county East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation of above sea level, its ...

, and roughly equidistant from

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

about to the west on the A22,

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sand ...

to the east on the A26, and

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology "Uck ...

to the south. The building is a timber-framed farmhouse, with "L" plan, possibly dating to the 17th century or perhaps the mid-16th century. It was probably originally built with

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite material, composite building method in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called "wattle (construction), wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, and ...

infilled walls and a

thatched roof Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

, but was later refaced with red brick on the ground floor, and the roof rehung with tiles. The main block has three storeys oriented approximately north–south, with a two-storey wing to the south, and the kitchen in a single storey addition off the north end of the main block. Inside, the house has a split-level drawing room with inglenook fireplace, and views in four directions but mainly over the garden to the east and south, and also an oak-panelled dining room. Upstairs are six bedrooms, four on the first floor and two on the second floor. The building was bought as a country home by the author

in 1925. Milne died at Cotchford Farm in 1956. There are statues of Milne's son,

Christopher Robin Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney ...

, and his character

Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

in the garden, and also a sundial with a

gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields, typically to measure directions, position, or time. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was ...

in the shape of a quill and a base carved with images of Pooh characters, including Piglet, Tigger and Roo, the initials "AAM", the words "This warm and sunny spot belongs to Pooh, And here he wonders what it's time to do". A stream runs through trees along the southern boundary of the garden, with Poohsticks Bridge approximately upstream to the west. After being owned by an American couple, the Taylors, who installed an outdoor swimming pool, the house was bought by

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

band member

. He drowned in the swimming pool in July 1969, aged 27. The house retains some of the fittings he installed, including coloured lighting and glazing. It was bought by Alistair Johns in 1970 and became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1982. The house was put on sale by Johns's wife, Harriet Johns, for £2m in April 2012, including its plot with the heated outdoor swimming pool and fishpond. It failed to sell, and was put up for sale again in 2016, and was sold for £1.8m in June 2017."New owners want to refurbish 'Winnie the Pooh home'"
The Argus, 1 September 2018.

References

Sources

Rightmove, 5 October 2012
Cotchford Lane, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7 4DN
Savills,
No interest in Rolling Stones pool tragedy house
The Argus, 3 February 2013
You can buy the house where Winnie the Pooh was born (if you’ve got a spare £1.9m)
Metro, 14 March 2016

External links

{{coord, 51.09025, 0.10707, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title A. A. Milne Farmhouses in England Grade II listed buildings in East Sussex Grade II listed houses Hartfield Ashdown Forest Brian Jones