Dairy was sold to Mr J.S. Anthony. He and his family became residents of long-standing and his daughter married Mr Whitby Roberts. Mr Anthony managed the Home Farm for the receiver and eventually sold his dairy interest to United Dairies. The bottling plant became Richings Motors in about 1936.

The Estate office was originally in the small corner shop between the dairy and the bakery and had its petrol pump outside. After 1928 the office moved to the bungalow at 1 Syke Ings. The estate agent Mr Alfred King was appointed, having previously been a property manager near the Company's Regent St office. He occupied the end premises by the railway, now the home of a finance company. He was succeeded by his son Donald King. Many remember the illuminated sign high on the side of the building visible from the railway.

The row of shops along Bathurst Walk towards Thorney Lane was never completed and the fireplaces and

flues intended to be incorporated into a further building can still be seen. Similar remnant fireplaces can be seen on the end of the parade of shops by Buckfield Court, although it is not clear what was intended to stand here as the adjacent plot was early on sold to Barclays bank.

Hearth and Home

Churches

St Leonard's Church has strong links to the Richings estate. The building, originally called Thorney Chapel, dates from 1839/40 and was probably given by Mr Sullivan of Richings Lodge to serve as a school or small chapel, licensed for worship for workers on

the estate and nearby farms. In 1874 the building was reopened, enlarged and renovated by Mrs Charlotte Meeking of Richings Lodge in memory of her husband Charles. A chancel was added and the porch moved from the east end to the west end. When Mrs Meeking died in 1889, the building was closed by her son Col Charles Meeking and not reopened until 1910. When Miss Meeking (later Lady Apsley) sold the estate to the Sykes brothers in 1922 she made it clear that the land on which Thorney Chapel stood was not included in the sale.

As a result of the Richings Park development, the chapel (a daughter church to St Peter's Iver) was found to be too small for the influx of families and in 1930 an appeal was launched for funds to enlarge 'The Chapel of Ease on the Richings Estate'. On 15th June 1931 the foundation stone for the extension of Thorney Chapel was laid by Mrs Lewis Hall (formerly Meeking). The plaque can