On the northern outskirts of Littleton along the road to Three Maids Hill, lie a collection of cottages and buildings that comprise the settlement of Lower Farm. This area is of considerable interest to local historians. Much of the ground on the fields opposite this settlement shows considerable disturbance. This indicates that there may have been other buildings in the area in past times. At present, it is impossible to make any excavations for fear that the resulting soft ground might lead to injury of the mares that graze in the Stud fields. In the future, a non-intrusive method could be used to help determine what lies below.
The origin of the Lower Farm community lies in the Enclosure Act of 1843 when the common land was enclosed and Edward Fitt created the Manor farm of 878 acres (about ¾ of the land area of Littleton parish). Manor Farm, at a later date to be discovered, became Lower Farm, The Stud & M.O.D. land.
In 1901, Littleton House was built on a plot in the middle of Lower Farm so that the farm is likely to have been included on the 'site' of the house.
The first pair of semi-detached cottages in the community, which later became one cottage, appear on the O.S. 25" map of 1871 by which time the 'Enclosure' road from the Littleton-Crawley road to Lower Farm is shown as having been extended to the top of Three Maids Hill.
The O.S. 25" map of 1909 shows the second pair of semi-detached cottages and by O.S. 25" map of 1932 the Farm House had been added on a separate plot and the area designated "Lower Farm".
In 1984 Lower Farm was bought by Mr. (now Sir) P.J.Butler from Mr. Bruce Deane. The Farm House was subsequently sold.
The above raises several interesting questions namely:-
An examination of Census Returns, the 1898 Map, Dean & Chapter records, any Edward Fitt records together with local knowledge provided by individuals may help solve some of these interesting puzzles.