Site of post-medieval farm, 'White House Farm', Quay Reach, Wallasea Island (EHER 82567)

The site of White House Farm is marked on OS maps from 1873 close to stretches of the River Roach called Quay Reach and Whitehouse Hole, on the west side of Foulness Island. By the 1940s the farm had been removed, although faint traces of former tracks and boundaries, and some of the trees, presumably once in the garden, can be seen on aerial photographs. A probably early twentieth century building is visible, on 1946 aerial photographs, near the site of the farm, at TQ 9886 9244. However this does not correspond to the location of any of the farm buildings marked on the 1873 map.

NRHE data transfer: The site of White House Farm is marked on OS maps from 1873 close to stretches of the River Roach called Quay Reach and Whitehouse Hole, on the west side of Foulness Island. However, by the 1940s the farm has been removed, although faint traces of former tracks and boundaries, and some of the trees, presumably once in the garden, can be seen on aerial photographs. A probably early twentieth century building is visible, on 1946 aerial photographs, near the site of the farm, at TQ 9886 9244. However this does not correspond to the location of any of the farm buildings marked on the 1873 map but it does have the appearance of a small outbuilding which may relate to the last phase of use of the farm. White House was a substantial farm complex in 1873 comprising four brick and five wooden buildings with two large ponds and had a small pier or jetty for access to the river. The abandonment of White House forms part of a general pattern of loss in this area from the mid nineteenth century (Cocroft 2004, 6). White House was one of a number of scattered farms across Foulness Island. It was probably abandoned beforehand but the site was subsequently in an area owned by the government, which was used during World War II by the Armament Research Department and subsequently by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). <1> <2>