Then	Now
Nos 2 & 3 in 1931	Berwin (no.5) in 2003

Bonsey's Lane marks the western boundary of the old Ottershaw Park. There are no dwellings on the Ottershaw Park side of the lane shown on the Ordnance Surveyors Drawings of 1806/7. The 1819 sale catalog shows that Ewell Slade Cottage stood on a small plot of land at the junction of Bonsey's Lane with the Chobham Road. A plan accompanying the conveyance of Ottershaw Park from Sir George Wood to Richard Crawshay in 1841 shows that another cottage, now used as a workshop in the grounds of Berwin Park further down Bonsey's Lane, had been built by that date. This is probably the cottage referred to as Cleargain Cottage in the 1841 census as it is on a plot called Clear Gain Stripe in the 1819 sale document. In 1851 it was occupied by Miles Ansted a gamekeeper, his wife and eight children! This property was probably always the gamekeepers cottage and was described as such up until 1931 (sale catalog). The name Berwin was so named by the owners in 1946, Bertram and Winifred Pickett.

There are two other cottages listed in the 1841 census returns, occupied by agricultural labourers, James Harding and William Martin and their families. These were on the other side of Bonsey's Lane and formed part of Ford's or Dolley's Farm . The cottages are clearly identified on a map of the lands belonging to Francis Sewell Cole (undated, but probably 1840's) as Ford's Cottage (opposite Cleargain Cottage) and Twitchen Cottage. In the 1881 Census both were referred to as Ford's Cottages. They were still shown on the 1897 OS map (surveyed 1894/5) but had been demolished by 1912 (survey date of 1920 OS map).

The 1859 sale catalog refers to Buckland's Cottage where Ewell Slade Cottage had previously been. This may mean that the cottage had been rebuilt or maybe merely renamed. Up until the 1881 census there appear to be only these four cottages (Ewell Slade/Buckland's, Clear Gain, Ford's and Twitchen cottages) in Bonsey's Lane. Only Ewell Slade and Clear Gain remained at the time of the 1891 census. However, by the time of the OS map of 1896 (surveyed 1894/5) three more cottages had been built. These comprised a pair of cottages, now nos 2 & 3 (now called Oaktree Cottage and Fairoaks Cottage) and no. 4 (now Oakleigh). It would appear that Ewell Slade/Buckland's Cottage was replaced at this time by the present no.1 (now called Fairacre but previously called Dingley Dell and before that when occupied by Mr King, The Pines). These four "excellent modern cottages" were referred to as "Bucklands cottages" in the 1907 sale catalog for some reason and were probably built by Lawrence Baker for his agricultural labourers in the mid 1880's.

Albert Smith, a gardener at Ottershaw Park for over 70 years, lived at No. 1 or "top house" as it was then called for many years until 1931 when he moved to one of the other houses to make way for the head gardener, Harry King.

William Atkins, head ploughman for Lawrence Baker, Freidrich Eckstein and Miss Schintz, lived at first in one of the cottages in Brox Road but later moved to No. 4 Bonsey's Lane. His son (also William) recalls that he won many ploughing competitions.The horses in the 1920's were called Punch and Turpin and stabled at Bonsey's Farm, then part of the Ottershaw Estate.

In 1950 No. 5, Berwin Park, was described as a "bungalow ... constructed of brick and tile... with two bedrooms and bathroom." The bathroom was evidently an addition to the original building. It has an unusual triangular chimney. The original water well is still in use.The original porch is now missing and the building has been much altered and is now used as a workshop. The cottage apparently once featured in an episode of TV series "The Sweeney".

The table below shows the occupants of the cottages in Bonsey's Lane from 1819 to the present day.

Occupiers of Bonsey's Lane cottages:

(* Joseph Rayson and Henry T Blackbow in Bonseys in 1901 census)