Sumners

The main part of this Grade II listed house dates from 1448, although dendrochronology has dated some timbers at 1359 and 1381. It is an open hall house with four framed bays, but with no crown posts or purlins. There are two rafters each with a collar tie supporting a steeply pitched tile roof. An internal bedroom has been inserted over part of the open hall, creating an internal jetty.

This house was originally called ‘Kembers’ which is a local family name connected with wool combing. In 1610 the copyhold of the property was owned by Hugh Fenne, and when he died it passed to his widow. She died in 1639, and the Bixley family, who already owned properties in the village, took over the copyhold. The Bixleys leased East Clandon Manor and its estate from Chertsey Abbey.  There were two tenants living at ‘Kembers,’ but William Bixley became the sole resident, and eventually passed the house to his nephew, another William Bixley.

In 1768, the Sumners family purchased Hatchland estate, and many of the medieval village houses became estate workers’ cottages. Kembers was one of them, and its name then became Sumners. In 1920, the house was acquired by a private buyer and converted back to a single dwelling. Racing driver Ken Tyrrell was born in Sumners in 1924.

Location:  On the eastern side of The Street, 80 metres north of Walnut Tree Gardens.