Petworth Road, Chiddingfold, GU8

No Onward Chain. Representing part of the very fabric of the beautiful Surrey Hills village of Chiddingfold, it is reported that horse-shoes were being made at the Old Forge Cottage until 1914, with records of a forge being on the site for some 600 years! Grade II listed to preserve it for posterity, it now provides extensive 5-bedroom, 4 reception room accommodation over three floors. Despite its period and the propensity of timber beams this is not a house that feels dark nor does it have particularly low ceilings/beams unlike some similar style properties - indeed, all round, we think it makes for a very practical period house for many!


Old Forge Cottage is included on the National Heritage List as a Grade 2 listed building. In its recent (last 100 years or so it has seen life as an overflow for The Crown - the long room was used as a 'restaurant' according to a prior owner who still lives in the village). It was an antiques shop circa 1955 (see photo) where the flower beds at the front of the house were first seen bounded by the wrought iron railings which are still in place today. It was also a 'cafe' providing teas and coffees with an unusual combination of cakes and cardigans(!) circa 1934, photo also online, and an advert in the Parish magazine at the time, proclaimed the building to be over 600 years old - which would make it one of the oldest residential houses in the area.

It is reported that horse shoes were still being forged at the Old Forge Cottage up until 1914 with definite records of a forge being on site for 600 years. There is evidence of a well in the back garden which probably provided the forge with the water it needed on site. The forge served the community not least visitors (who were likely to be pilgrims travelling between Salisbury and Canterbury) who would rest at The Crown built by Cistercian monks in the 13th century. There is a horseshoe by the front door which may well have been one of the last to be forged at the Old Forge Cottage.

The Old Forge Cottage enjoys so many of the charming feature charcteristics that keen fans of this style of property are so often searching for ie a glorious Inglenook fireplace with bread oven, beamed walls & ceilings, exposed timber floor-boards including some that are quite likely to have come from ships, and a beautiful oak-panelled study. Furthermore we think the accommodation easily lends itself to the creation of an annexe for an elderly relative,