[fol. 27]
Sr Upminster Apr: 20 1705
I was yesterday at Orset & took as good a view of
the Farm as I could, & found it quite otherwise than I ex-
pected. I mean better. All the Land is a light sandy Soil,
but most of it is pretty good Wheatland; the particulars
whereof as they appeared to me are
1. About 3 acres pasture, & good land.
2. An acre full of straw
3. Good grass 6 acres
4. Good Clover-grass 10a
5. A Grove 1a wth many small young oakes, & some larder ones, & Elms
6. A Brown piece poor 4a
7. Ry & Wheat as good as any is 11a
8. Piece of fallow, good sort of Land, but out of heart going to be Chalked 6a
9. very good Wheat 3a & good soil.
10. Another the same of 6a
11. A Furse-field 12a gravelly soil, & how poor, but improvable
12. Very good Ry 8a
All these 12 pieces are on ye north sice
The Road to Stanford.
On the Southern Side
The Road to Stanford.
1. A Brown-piece near the cock, 11a gravelly-sort wtfew trees, & the poorest of all the Land.
2. Grass 2 1/2 a good soil, but poor land
3. Half an acre ye same
All the pieces I guess are about 85 acres.
The Land lieth well together, & is as well wooded as any
I have seen, the hedges being full of Elms every where, ex-
cept one piece yt is before taken notice of. But they are ge-
enerally trees for Lop or fire-wood. But many timber-trees
also interspersed among them all over the estate. But none
of any great size, the biggest not above 20 or 30 feet of
Timber. If the estate was mine, I should value the Timber
at 100, as it is growing; but if it was filled it would not yield
near so much. There is no water in any field, but I can scarce
think, & so the man yt went with me to show me the Land thought too, but
that is Ponds were sunk, they would hold water, although Mr Hatt is of
another opinion. They have a deep Well at the House, wch serveth the offices
thereof. The houses & Barn & air in tolerable good Repair, some of the
Barn new built, & near all of it new thatched since the storm,
only the Brew-house uncovered by the storm, wch may one way or other
cost 50d to repair it. The Dwelling house is a pretty good habitation for
a Farmer. I really think the estate much under rented. If it lay in
any parish it would be worth 40 pound or more, but there It cannot be worth
less than 30 or 35 p annum; though it would be difficult to raise to so
much from the Rent it goes at. The goodness of the Tithe is much destrusted at Orset
but your Council can best judge of that. however, As a friend, I think
it worth while to mention it to you, to excite your caution. When I
told you I thought it worth 500 I told you too little rather than too much considering the Tim-
ber wood & all things mentioned. But the present low rent & other inconve-
niences will take off from the highest valuation. I hear moreover that the
present Tenant Culverwell hath impoverished 2 or 3 Farms, out of wch he
went, therefore it will be necessary to watch him strictly towards the
later end of his Lease. But this I desire you to conceal, at least not
to discover me in. But now that I have given you this best account I can,
according to my poor judgment in these matters, I would advise you to come
your self, wch a man of skill to view it, before you buy. You shall be heartily
wellcome to my Quarters, wch, is in your way thither & I will wait upon
you thither also & shew you Tilbury Port if you desire to see it, wch is not above
2 miles off that part of Orset. If I can be any further serviceable to you in this
or any other affair, you may caome
Sr Your much obliged humble servt
Wm Derham
Derham was a Church of England clergyman and a natural philosopher, interested in nature, mathematics, and philosophy. He frequently requested medical advice from Sloane, and likely served as a physician to his family and parishioners (Marja Smolenaars, “Derham, William (1657-1735)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7528, accessed 7 June 2011]).
