Farnham Estate
This Cavan Estate was granted to Sir Richard Waldron of Leicestershire, who called it Farnham after is bride’s familial name. In 1664 Bishop Robert Maxwell purchased Dromellan Castle in County Cavan from the Waldron family who were selling due to gambling debts. This was the beginning of the Maxwell family ties to Farnham that lasted until the start of the 21st century. Their family motto is: Je suis prêt (I am ready).
John Maxwell was ennobled in 1756 raising the status of what had now become the Farnham Estate. Many agricultural improvements were put into effect by Robert, Earl of Farnham from 1761. By 1777 the agricultural scientist Arthur Young said “…upon the whole Farnham is one of the finest places that I have ever seen in Ireland; the water wood and hill are all in great stile and abound in a variety of capabilities.” He also described the lakes as being “uncommonly beautiful; extensive and have a shore extremely varied.” There were around 100 labourers hired by Farnham estate to maintain the landscape. (from http://www.farnhamestate.ie/history)
In the early 20th century, the estate began to sell off some of the 24,000 statute acres of land. In 1921, Lord and Lady Farnham moved to England, taking the furniture to save it from the looting and burning of estate houses occurring due to the rebellion and civil war at that time. In 1923 the Land Act eliminated landlordism in Ireland; Lord Farnham had reduced the estate to the demesne lands which were still farmed intensively to keep finances in check.
Barry Owen Somerset Maxwell, 12th Baron Farnham was the last of the Maxwell family to live at Farnham House. After the Baron’s death in 2001, Farnham estate was sold to the McCabe family who developed it into a spa hotel. There are many amenities available at the hotel, from guest accommodation, day spa, restaurant, cellar bar, walking paths and a golf course.
Worker’s Cottages
At one time there were more than 100 workers on the Farnham Estate, but by the 1930’s, this number had dropped to less than half that number. The 40 workers that were left at that time lived mostly in Estate houses where the average rent was a half crown per week. This rent came with the bonus of a small plot of land for planting potatoes and vegetables and the rights to bog ground for turf cutting.
The work day was generally from 8am to 6pm for most employees; the Head Gardener rang the big bell at 8 am, noon, 1 pm and 6 pm.
In the House there was a butler, five or six maids, a cook, a laundress, and a handyman. There was also a footman who lit the fires, cleaned and polished boots and shoes. The coachman worked and lived in the coachman’s house. His duties included the ‘schooling of horses’, coach maintenance, cleaning silver and driving the coaches whenever required. There were also two saddlers, one each for the light and heavy horses. Their duties included making and repairing saddles, bridles and breechings. There was a busy blacksmith at the forge and three more workmen at the saw mill. There was a large quantity of milk being produced; the dairymaid allocated measures in two or three quarts to the estate employees.
The head gardener had a staff of six to help produce an ample supply of potatoes, vegetables, fruit and flowers. The head game keeper worked the woods and kept a close eye on the pheasant and other game to provide stock for domestic and sport purposes. There were two workers in charge of rearing the fowl from thousands of hens. (From Patrick Sheridan’s “Looking Back”, Farnham School and Its Community 1801-1996, pp.53-54)
The three-room stone cottages at Drummullan are the oldest surviving workers houses once on the Farnham Estate. These are known locally as the fourteen houses, even though the two central double storey houses are no longer there.
Newer estate worker houses were built at Sandy Row c.1830.
The cache-
There is not much of a pull in spot here, so just pull over onto the grass at GZ and you should be fine as this is the least frequented road. You may need a tool to remove the cache, but nothing too special (a twig would probably do). Make sure re-hide to the cache carefully to prevent it from being discovered by muggles. Tweezers will be useful to remove the log.
Bonus Info-
At each cache in the farnham series you can gather numbers, which you can use to find a bonus cache (GC6K5MQ Farnham Series - Bonus Cache)
On the back of the sign at GZ there is a year. What is the fourth digit in this year. Call your answer D.