Mote End Farm History

The history of Mote End Farm goes back several centuries, when the fields you see today were split into many smaller privately owned parcels of land. Records show in the 17th century, Richard Jackson owning 139 acres as part of his Moat Mount Estate.

In 1822, 122 acres of the farm was purchased as part of the Hendon Park Estate by William Wilberforce, the slavery abolitionist who lived there until 1831. Also the Cox family who lived at Moat Mount had by 1874 enlarged the farm to include 209 acres.

In about 1904 Alfred Weedon who had the tenancy of The Rising Sun pub, took over the running of the farm which was then owned by Mr James Fraser (who was Chairman of Express Dairies). Along with Alfred’s wife Elizabeth and their three daughters Dorothy, Elsie and Freda the farm had success in producing crops, straw and hay and in addition the milk from a large dairy herd which supplied the residents of Mill Hill delivering the milk in large milk churns by horse and trap. In 1941 after Alfred’s death, Freda and Elsie took over the reins of the farm which had by then increased to 250 acres.

In 1948 the film director Sidney Box purchased the farm and changed the name from Hendon Park Farm to Mote End Farm. He also built the majority of the current farm buildings and installed the very best milking machinery. With Elsie and Freda continuing to run the farm on a day to day basis, Mote End continued to produce all the milk for the local community. In addition to the many pigs, cows, chickens, ducks and geese they had a prize winning bull, St George who won the Best Bull in Herts show in 1959!

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Mr Box used the farm for many film projects with big Hollywood names visiting Mote End. Peter Rogers who was the director of all the ‘Carry On’ movies was a regular visitor as he lived in the lane.

In 1963 Elsie sadly died and Freda continued on her own until 1969 when the farm was purchased by Ron and Marina Hobson who introduced a large beef herd of cattle and various arable crops. They also converted several barns into stables and opened the yard to DIY clients.

In 2003, Debbie Hobson and Mike McCombe took over the running of the farm and embarked on a large refurbishment programme introducing facilities and additional stabling for full and part livery clients. They have strived to create a professional, friendly and peaceful atmosphere at the farm for both horses and clients alike and are backed up with a dedicated super team of staff. In addition to the business, they are both passionate about conservation and manage the 250 acres of land with wildlife very much in mind. A herd of Dexter cattle were intorduced to help rotate the land for crop and hay production. We continue to be one of the largest meadow hay producing farms without the use of any fertilizers or chemicals within the local area. Highland breeding bulls have also been reintroduced to the farms operations.

The Metropolitan Police Mounted Division and the Dog section have and continue to use the farm for both training and recreational purposes.

Their son Ben has now joined the farm as a third generation member of the family working the farm.

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