CONYGRE and BREACH FARMS

Conygre farm stands a little out from the village on the north Ram Alley portion of the parish on land entirely composed of greensand, and is now merged with its long-time neighbour Breach farm.

‘Cunneygah’ or ‘Conygre’ - rhyming with vinegar - is the Middle English name for rabbit warren. Rabbits at that time were an introduced, not native species and needed to be continuously nurtured to provide meat for tables of the gentry.

In the 16th century, the land consisted of a fifty-acre warren, complete with a keeper’s lodge. The rental was five hundred pairs of rabbits to be supplied each year to the landowners, the Seymour family. By the end of the 17th century, rabbits no longer needed to be protected – they survived well in the wild and were becoming a pest.  Instead, the land began to be prepared to grow crops and new farm buildings were constructed.

In the year 1765, Charles Becher, once a steward of the Savernake estate, was paying a yearly rent of five pounds for the leasehold of the neighbouring Breach Farm and a group of five fields bearing his name is shown on the map of 1814. ‘Breach’ was a term that applied to land that had been recently broken up, or ploughed for the first time.

William Westbury was born in Easton in 1776 and when he was aged twenty-five moved with his wife to farm at Conygre where his children, Hannah, Harriett, Sarah and Philip were born.

Mrs Westbury was a descendant of the Moroccan Princess Britannia Artiax who had settled somewhere near Ram Alley around two hundred years’ before.  Sarah’s middle name was Artiax and it seems that this was how she was commonly known.

After their father had died, Artiax married James Culley and moved to Little Bedwyn, leaving Philip farming at Conygre with his sister Hannah. At that time, James Crook was at Breach with his wife Jane and young nephew Thomas.

By 1861 Hannah had died and Philip moved to Southgrove farm in Burbage.  Artiax, who was now a widow and described by the census as a Yeoman, returned to run Conygre on her own until she died in 1865. The two farms merged, farm buildings were demolished and a trio of thatched roadside cottages was built on the site of an old barn.

By 1875 Conygre had been taken over by Zebedee Price, who it would seem was a man of many parts.  He was not only the landlord of the Bruce Arms, but also some years before had followed in the family tradition of managing a local coach run from Lavington to Hungerford.

At the time of the 1929 Savernake estate sale, the land was being rented by Harry Collins. Conygre farmland now consisted of around 152 acres and was sold, including the farmhouse and the Breach cottages, for £3,700 to Herbert William Pocock of Marlborough.   

Tom Curnick was the next recorded owner of Conygre, although he lived at Bowden Farm in Burbage which he rented from the estate. In the late 1960’s, Tom knocked down the old farmhouse at Conygre and built a new bungalow planning to retire there, but his ill health meant he had to sell up before those plans were fulfilled. 

By 1972 the farm had considerably increased in acreage and was bought by Jim Brook. The cottages were sold to Mr and Mrs Edward Beggs who converted them into Breach House.

Jim started out with a beef unit and cereals. The cattle were eventually replaced by sheep, increasing to a flock of 650, but after the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, the farm became totally arable. Jim retired, his son Francis took over and with his wife Gaye, diversified their interests by converting some of the farm buildings into holiday homes and business units.

Topographical map of 1773

Conygre Farm 1929

Breach Cottages