We have copies of a few documents relating to Taplow Hill, which was the house on the site before Cedar Chase was built.
- Conveyance of Taplow Hill from the estate of Charles Pearce Serocold to Oswald Pearce Serocold in 1914. It is a complex document, but Oswald appears to have paid £5000. This is the ‘origin of title’ document for the whole estate, and every subsequent transfer of ownership had to reference it until the title was recorded at the Land Registry.
- Agreement in 1936 between Oswald Pearce Serocold and other local landowners with Eton Rural District Council regarding the Town and Country Planning Act 1932.
- Conveyance of Taplow Hill from Oswald Pearce Serocold to the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Committee Ltd in 1942. The price paid was £5250. At this point the house became a shore-leave centre for Dutch merchant seamen displaced by the second world war.
- Abstract of Title showing the ownership of Taplow Hill by the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Committee Ltd in August 1946. This is before land registration was compulsory in this area, so proving ownership was a complex process.
- Agreement dated 28th February 1964 between the All Nations Missionary Union Incorporated and Span Developments Ltd, under which Span promised to buy the whole site for £22500 provided that they got vacant possession and consent for the sale from the Charity Commissioners and provided that Span could obtain planning permission for residential development. The sale was to be split into a 99-year lease and a freehold reversion, presumably to simplify Span’s subsequent sale of leasehold houses.
- Lease of 9th December 1964 between the All Nations Missionary Union Incorporated and Span Developments Ltd. The price paid was £25000 and the lease was to run for 99 years from 29th September 1964.
- Counterpart Lease dated 9th December 1964 between the All Nations Missionary Union Incorporated and Span Developments Limited. When Span bought the site, they actually bought a lease (for £25,000) and separately bought the freehold. There is also a typescript copy of the counterpart lease.
- Conveyance of 9th December 1964 from the All Nations Missionary Union Incorporated to SRL Investments Ltd. This transferred the Fee Simple (freehold) of Taplow Hill to Span’s holding company for £2500, thus making Span both freeholder and leaseholder of the estate.
- Cedar Chase Land Certificate dated 3rd April 1984. These certificates became obsolete in 2003, but this one provides an interesting history of the estate in the 1960s.