Botley Hill Farmhouse stands on land that is owned by the Titsey Foundation, a charitable trust set up in 1979. The properly owned by the foundation comprises the Mansion House and it's contents and more than 1800 acres of farm and woodland together with 26 cottages and farmhouses and is in an area designated as "an area of outstanding natural beauty" The Titsey estate was purchased by John Gresham in the early 1500's from Lord Berners who had been granted the estate by Henry VIII. In 1537 John Became sheriff of London and was also knighted. He was admitted as a member of the Mercer's Company and became a merchant adventurer.
Probably the most famous of the Greshams was John's nephew Sir Thomas Gresham, he was not only a successful merchant but also acted for the Crown by arranging loans on the continent. These dealings were carried out in Antwerp in a building known as a bourse where men guaranteed credit, raised loans and negotiated financial support; real tangible goods gave way to bills of exchange. In London no such building existed and so Sir Thomas offered to build at his own expense a bourse or exchange for London's merchants on land provided by the City Corporation. On 23rd January 1571 Queen Elizabeth I visited the finished building and proclaimed that henceforth it would be known as The Royal Exchange. On top of the building was placed a golden grasshopper, which was the family crest of the Gresham family. This is the significance of the grasshopper in this locality. Tatsfield Parish Council's coat of arms features a grasshopper mounted on the top, as does our own pub house sign. The farmhouse was purchased in 1546, take a moment to look at the magnificent fireplace, inscriptions on this and on the flagstones in the floor are believed to be of Turkish origin and it is thought that these stones were brought to this country as ballast in the hold of one of Sir John Gresham's merchant ships in the early sixteenth century.
In more recent times the farmhouse was well known as a tea-rooms run by Molly Fewsdale and Betty Jell. When they finally retired in 1990 after over half a century, the building lay empty and derelict for over 3 years until the present hands on owners took on the daunting task of restoring the building and grounds and turning it into the beautiful pub and restaurant that you see today.