Willow Grange. Henry Treeby and his wife Eliza were very active in local affairs until he died in 1935. In due course his home passed into the ownership of Mrs Florence Willett. It is believed that she was related to William Willett, the originator of the concept of "Daylight Saving", who was born in Farnham in 1856. He and his father were renowned as builders in fashionable areas of London at the turn of the century but he soon became even better known for his Daylight Saving Act. This failed to gain Parliament's acceptance in 1908, 1909 and 1911 and was introduced only as a temporary measure during the First World War. William Willett died at Chislehurst in March 1915 and thus never had the satisfaction of knowing that British Summer Time eventually became law and a permanent feature of the calendar in August 1925.
Douglas Close & Tynley Grove. The release of Henry Treeby's land holdings sparked off the first spate of large scale development, which was interrupted by the outbreak of the second world war. In fact, not long after his death the first new roads put in an appearance. On land just off Stringers Common Road which had been part of Queen Hythe farm, Douglas Close became the address of some 19 new homes. North of Clay Lane, on what had been Great Crabtree field, another new address was Tynley Grove with 16 new bungalows.
Malvern & Fingle Bridge. A plot of land which had been bequeathed to one of Henry Treeby's daughters, Mrs Leonard Sheldon, was acquired by his head gardener, Thomas Todd, who had lived at Littlehurst (now called Stringers Barn). On part of this a bungalow was built for himself and his wife which he named Naziriyah (later renamed Malvern). He sold the other part of the plot and on this a second bungalow was erected called Fingle Bridge. An ordnance survey map marked "with additions in 1938" shows in outline Nazariyah and Fingle Bridge and also the new homes on the Woking Road, in White House Lane, in Tynley Grove and on Blanchards Hill but omits Douglas Close. However the Electoral Roll for 1938 reveals that every home in Douglas Close was in fact occupied whereas very few voters gave their addresses as Blanchards Hill.
Grangefields Estate. By 1939 Grangefields Estate provided the address of some twenty-three homes, thirteen of which formed what would later be renamed Oak Tree Close. The large trees which can be seen at the rear of their gardens were once known as "Ridings Coppice" and are clearly marked on maps as far back as 1686. A similar reminder of the rural past is the tiny copse in Treebys Avenue, which originally marked a boundary of "Great Bushy Field". The name "Grangefields Estate" was still in use until very recently for the bus stop on the Woking Road.
The other homes with the address Grangefields Estate were four houses and six bungalows just around the corner in what was to become Stringers Avenue. However the outbreak of war in 1939 caused a suspension of building and they remained in splendid isolation until the war was over.
It may be thought that the name Jacobs Well had acquired a village by 1891 when the original two houses at the crossroads had become six; or perhaps this status was achieved just before the Great War when some twenty homes used the name as their address.
However by 1939, with new building having provided over fifty homes spreading southwestwards along the road to Guildford and westwards along Clay Lane, we can surely claim that the village had "arrived" even if we exclude the other fifty-odd homes at the Woking Road end of the locality. And by this time the whole of the centre of the "triangle" had also been acquired by developers, even though any more actual building was deferred until after the war.
The village pound. The war saw the end of the village pound, or pinfold, which had stood at the crossroads - where the telephone box now is - for many years. It was used to hold stray animals until their owners recovered them on payment of a fine, or fee. The pound was guarded night and day because local gypsies resented having to pay to reclaim livestock which they had allowed to roam free.
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