The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory in Ickham near Canterbury, Kent had been owned by the Leggatt family since the late 1950’s. It was purchased from the church as a ruined building, barely habitable. John Martin, Son in Law to Alf and Joan, remembers riding his bicycle over from Whitstable with his friends to play in the house and grounds as a child. It was a well known, play area for children with it’s multiply rooms and grounds. Over the next two decades or so, it was hobby and working project for days when the weather didn’t allow fishing, to restore the building and become a family home and many years later, a thriving business. There were originally 12 rooms that extended out to the crown of the road that were removed as they were beyond repair. Alf sold this small corner of the land to Canterbury City Council to improve the road access to the village. He sometimes regretted this decision as years later, the traffic became too busy!

The Old Rectory ... not just a historical building - it was the hub of life and a home to so many.

Family life always seemed like an adventure. Exploring the house, it’s history and hidden features. The gardens and outdoor buildings were once tended by 12 gardeners in it’s heyday. There were orchards, greenhouse and potting sheds. Alf and Joan had lived there for 6 months before they discovered some of the outhouses, they were so overgrown with brambles. The main house was occupied in thirds, originally the first “third” or wing, comprised of a large family living room, a kitchen room and upstairs, one large family bedroom which was the converted ballroom. The ballroom had a grand window of about 20 panes of glass that focussed down the length of the main garden. The ceiling in that room was about 20 foot high. It was a glorious feature of the home. Eventually, all the children had their own bedroom but of course, they shared at first. 

Hidden features such as a Priest Hole, windows and fireplaces.

The house had many hidden features including a Priest Hole, which is a hiding place for a priest. They were built into many of the principal church houses during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law.in the 15th centuary. Many great houses had a priest hole built so that the presence of a priest could be concealed when searches were made of the building. This house had a priest Hole that was accessed from a hidden panel in a fitted wardrobe. Other distinguishing features were bricked up windows, in the days when window tax was to be avoided. Also fireplaces blocked in with old coins left in the fire grate as some kind of good luck symbol or ward off evil spirits. Of course, like any period building there were a number of reports of ghosts sighted! Footsteps heard going down a certain passgae way that had a deadend and never coming back. The sighting of a Black Dog which was seen by various people over decades. With so much history attached to the house, no wonder there were so many tales.

The house gradually became more habitable. The family and extended family, son in laws, John Martin (Jill’s husband) and John Knowler (Penny’s husband) and any spare fisherman who wanted an odd day of labour, all had a hand in the restoration work that went on. Removing chimney’s, stacking bricks and roofing tiles, everyone helped including the children. Joan could turn her hand to anything, albeit up a ladder passing bricks or furnishing the rooms and making curtains and bedspreads. The house was restored room by room, wing by wing taking a total 20 years to completion. Even then, there was to be a further extension in the 1980’s

1958 Penny at 12 years old in back garden at The Old Rectory

Family, friends and parties

Having so much accommodation and ample parking, there was always a party or gathering in the offing.  As said before, Alf and Joan were natural hosts and wherever they lived, they made lifelong friends. Friends and family would gather not only for Christmas, Easter and Bank Holidays events, it was always somebodies birthday or special event. The house would be full of guests to stay for holidays and weekends. Joan would make sure everyone was always well fed and of course, alcohol involved for the adults. One Bank Holiday weekend, Joan gave an account of when she got through a whole crate of milk just on cups of tea alone, with people “popping in”. Remember these were the days when the Milk man would just leave one pint ot two on the doorstep. 

Family and friends gather in back garden for Whitsun Bank Holiday 1965

Significant photo above shows the ballroom window (just catches the base of it) Unfortunately, there weren’t many photos that show this feature off at it’s best. The two circular windows beneath were also a very rare architectural aspects of their day. 

The front drive of The Old Rectory could accomodate many cars as seen in the photo above. This was taken at the time of Jill and John Martin’s engagement party. The guests would very often stay for days at a time.  There was always entertainment, party games and antics. Children played in the gardens making camps and makeshift tents. And of course… there was always a swing or two. The garden was soley maintained by Joan and Alf at the time. It would take Joan three days to mow the lawns until Alf had the bright idea to tow a lawn mower behind his car and drive it around the garden. It would save quite a lot of time in those days until the sit on mowers became avaialble. The gardens and orchards covered just over thrr acres of land.

Always plenty of animals around the place

To say Alf and Joan had a love of animals would be an understatement. Wherever they lived or wherever they went there would be either a dog, goat or some kind of pet. The Old Rectory was the perfect and welcoming home for most. They were rescued animals, strays and orphans, exotic specious that were cast outs from zoo’s. For example “Charlie” the Peacock who was bullied by other birds at Whipsnade Zoo and needed a quiet home. A Scarlet Macaw named “Albert” that came from Howlett’s Zoo. Golden and Silver pheasants. Plus livestock of more practical kind, sheep for keeping the grass mown and chicken and ducks for their eggs. 

Penny sitting on the fence 1964 - There wer always sheep about to munch the grass.
Alf attempting to shear the sheep
Rear of building showing the rental extension built late 1960's early 1970's

The start of rental accommodation

The house had an extension built on the rear in the 1970’s when it was first converted from a family home into convertable flats. It was in 1970 when Canterbury held a Festival to mark the 800th anniversary of Thomas Becket, a major historical event and local people were asked if anyone with spare accommodation could open their homes as the organisers were expecting tourist from all over the world. Alf and Joan, having wonderful hospitality skills were soon to become proprietors of a new business that would last for generations to come.

The great swimg in the back garden. Liz Lee, family friend
Family Cousins visiting at Bank Holiday
Original Colour Slide of "Charlie" the Peacock showing his tail feathers. The house behind showing the chimney stacks that were later removed

The house had been gradually restored over the decades with most rooms made habitable. The family and extended family, son in laws, John Martin (Jill’s husband) and John Knowler (Penny’s husband) all had a hand in the restoration work that went on. Removing chimney’s, stacking bricks and roofing tiles, everyone helped. Later years when Kim and Gail were married, two more son-in-laws came into the family fold and helped with the family business. Donald Wilkinson and Nigel Morley. There was always work to be done. The maintenance upkeep and gardening relentless. 

Canterbury University Student accommodation

Following the success of The Becket Festival rental accommodation, Alf and Joan had developed links with Canterbury University who had recently expanded their campus and looking for further student housing. Having the home set up with three self-contained flats, Alf and Joan thought a lucrative enterprise but sadly they were wrong. The first years was a success but subsiquent years, three in total, the students gradually destroyed their dwelling and left without paying rent. Carpets were torn up to line their cars and rooms were stripped of their furniture. A sad lesson and Alf and Joan realised this was not the way to go. What would they do next with such a large building and all the children ready to leave home and fly the nest?

The start of The Old Rectory Residential Home

Wondering what to do next after the bad experience, taking in Students, Alf and Joan were contacted by a local resident of Ickham. Knowing that they had spare accommodation available, asked if their Mother could come and stay with them for a few weeks whilst they went away on an extended holiday. Only too happy to oblige, this elderly lady came to stay. Soon after this, yet another local resident of Ickham, telephoned Joan and said “I hear you have Mrs Jones staying at your house, would it be possible for my Aunt  to come to stay also?” Thinking it would be good company for Mrs Jones, there were shortly to become two residents staying at The Old Rectory, which soon turned into 4 residents and later became 5. Alf and Joan had started their own Residential Home for the Elderly. By this time it was begining to become a full time occupation. Alf was now considering retiring from fishing and turning his hand to cooking and looking after the Elderly. Joan would spend her time with the housekeeping and gardening. These were two full time jobs in their own right but it didn’t stop them there. There was always time for hobbies. What better things to do with all the space they had available, than look after animals.  

Hobbies - Joan Breeding Rabbits and Alf Breeding Goldfish

There were probably easier ways to make a living but Joan had the idea of breeding rabbits. After all, there was a good buck Rabbit available, Gail’s pet rabbit  named Benji. Now bearing in mind this was meant to be a hobby, a gentle pastime, before long they were over-run. There was a need to expand their habitation. They needed more hutches and this in turn meant a bigger shed at the bottom of the garden. Alf and Joan, never doing anything by halves, went out on a mission to purchase and erect an ex-army Nissan Hut. A very large building that has another story to tell to this day. This building has remained and become a very successful Spa Retreat. You can read all about this in another chapter. 

As for the breeding of Goldfish, Alf always like to dabble. His real joy was to sit and watch his pond and the life that surrounded it. Including the fish that swam in it. However, he knew he was up against it, when he had a competing Heron and Kingfishers, who also liked his fish. Alf was losing a lot of his stock. To this end, Alf decided to breed his own goldfish as his hobby was becoming quite expensive purchasing replacement fish from a retailer. So he set about building fibreglass breeding ponds, many, many of them, for hatching the fish fry and watching them develop through their cycle. Once they were of a certain size, he would load them in the beloved pond.  Well, this was the start of yet another story that ended up being worldwide news and covering all the national newspapers. You can read more about this in the Ickham Pond page here https://leggattfamily.co.uk/ickham_pond/

Alf Leggatt retires from Fishing

In 1974 when Alf Leggatt decided to finally retire from sea life, it was said that he had lost his heart. His son Barry (who was also a fisherman) had died of Cancer at the age of 28 years. The fishing indusrty had been making changes to regulations that Alf didn’t always see eye to eye and agree with the authorities. The Old Rectory Residential Home was working out very well and it was time for him to step away. He would retire from fishing life and live out his days at Ickham. Alf said, he never wanted to go out on a fishing boat ever again at that point … and he didn’t. 

Instead, he carried out his cooking duties and running the Residential Home with his wife Joan and their youngest daughter Gail. Between them for the next few years they increased the number of residents from 5 guests to 15 guests. It was a very popular establishment locally and well respected. There was always a waiting list for elderly people to live there and also for locals to work there. These were the days when guests still dressed for the evening meals and very often cocktail parties in each other’s room beforehand. 

With the Residential Home thriving and Alf and Joan feeling the need of their own personal space, it was time for them to move to the bottom of the garden. There happen to be and old prefap purchased as a fishnet store in the 1960’s that Alf no longer needed. This was to become their new home. Gail would also need her own space and was offered the Potting Shed to live in. This is where they remained living very happily for many years later. 

It was only when Gail married and had children that her sister Kim was invited by Alf to help with the family business. They too needed somewhere to live, so Joan and Alf  once again, and for the last time, gave up their home for Kim and her Family. Alf built Joan their final dwelling place which was an extention to the back of “The Rabbit Shed” and overlooking their beloved pond. An ideal tranquil beauty spot that still remains to this day as … Tor Spa Retreat.

The Old Rectory has a new extension to the home

Extension built in the 1980's originally designed as a new Nursing Wing
Alf and Joan's Golden Wedding Anniversary. They surprised the family by turning out dressed top to toe in specially designed gold outfits.
The Old Rectory taken in 2001, little had changed from the front of the building.. The extentions were built at the rear and not visible from the road.

Thriving business of The Old Rectory Residential Home

The Old Rectory Residential Home - view from the roadside

The flint stonework had been restored by Alf and Joan in the 1960’s The historical features of this this Grade 2 listed building became a landmark of the village with the large Cedar of Lebinon tree poised at the front drive.  The house had many extensions over the years and adapted to suit the periods and lifstyles. The latest extension, whilst the Leggatt Family owned the home, was in the 1980’s when the Community Care Act came in to power. This was to build a new Nursing Wing to suppliment the home.

The 3 acre Gardens of The Old Recory

The Old Rectory stood in 3 acres of Gardens. Joan loved her garden and in “olden days” she would cut the lawns with a walk behind mower which took her three days and walking 14 miles. It was many years later when they could afford a ride-on mower. There were huge dividing hedges across the garden. Some Yew hedges were 18 foot tall and 6 foot wide.  At the bottom of the garden behind this main hedge was a large naturally made pond which was known as Ickham Lake in old maps.

Conversion to Nursing Home and Spa

12th Century Norman Hall transformed

Showing the Flint Architecture of original Norman Hall dating back to the 12 Centrury

The Norman Hall had it’s original features of heavy oak beams and unique cooking range that historians reported, a junior version of the famous Hampton Court  model and quite rare. The floor above the hall had a vaulted ceiling that Alf and Joan nicknamed “The Coffin Room” This room was their own master bedroom for many years but when the Rectory became a residential home, this nickname was dropped for obvious reasons. Nobody wanted to sleep in the coffin room!

The Norman Hall upgraded to Residential Dining room. The original stove on left was a junior version of the same model at Hampton Court Palace in London

Another distinguishing feature of this Norman Hall (unfortunately this photo does not do it the justice that it deserved) is that it had four windows that faced North, South, East and West. It was said that the reason it was built this way was so that the Normans had good lookouts. The walls were at least 2 foot thick and made of flint and cob. The glass windows had lead frames with some original panes that had become sunken with age.

In 1985, when the Home and Community Care Act came into force, so many changes took place within the Family Business. The new regulations meant costly alterations needed to be made. The fire regulations upgrades alone, required that every door had to handmade custom built to meet the historical building guidelines and also be fire retardant. A lift was required to reach the first floor with various other adaptions for nursing modification. In order to pay the bill for this huge restoration, the only option was to increase the number of rentable rooms and extend the home. It was at this point, not wanting to take on the stress of a vast expansion to the business, that Alf and Joan decided to retire to the bottom of the garden and let their children take over the running of the Residential Home. 

Installing the new lift shaft, a crane pumping concrete to form the base

The Old Rectory Residential Home became a prestigious award winning home registered for 26 Elderly people. Furthermore, it was a community hub that attracted many locals to use the facilities. Clinics for Homeopathy and Chiropody along with hairdressing and beauty salons all on offer. The open style restaurant was also popular for residents guests, friends and family. 

View from rear garden adding new nursing wing 1986
Single storey extension 6 further bedroom with a conservatory
View from side garden 1987

Alf and Joan retire to live out their lives at the bottom of the garden

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View at the bottom of the garden looking at "The Prefab" where Alf and Joan Lived
Taken in the 1980's "The Prefab" with Rabbit Shed on the right-hand side
Joan lending a hand to build her new dwelling of "The lean-to"
Taken inside the Rabbit Shed the main swimming pool being excavated
The same pool a few years later still thriving after 45 years
The swimming pool was Alf's design with all the family helping with the dig

The Tor Spa Retreat as it is today

Quite a transformation over the years. The home that Alf  and Joan built and lived out their final years overlooking their beloved “pond”. The Tor Spa Retreat as it was called,  established by Kim Wilkinson Clague (Alf and Joan’s daughter) was passed on to her Son Ky Wilkinson and is still in operation today. You can see more about the business in all it’s glory here https://www.torsparetreat.com/

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