Benifolds-home of FM 1971/74

[Blue Horizon]

Benifold
Large house on the south side of Headley Hill Road, built in 1899 for Edward Frinneby HUBBUCK and originally called Pinehurst – At some undetermined time, the house name changed from Pinehurst to Benifold. Described in a brochure as "a 20-roomed house with eight acres of grounds," Benifold was from 1963–1970 an Ecumenical House of prayer where ‘people of all sorts and ages’ were welcome. Initially the organisation also owned Little Benifold, just across the road, using this as a Warden’s house, but it was later sold separately. Then followed a significant culture shift, as the pop group Fleetwood Mac moved in. The group made four albums during their time here, and it is said that on the second floor there were until recently some paintings on the wall reminiscent of Christine McVIE’s artwork for the cover of the ‘Kiln House’ album. They eventually left for California in late 1974 to achieve world-wide success. In the village, they are remembered by those who were regulars down at the Wheatsheaf.

I found this snippet of info on web site http://www.headley-village.com/archive/index.html
It also mentions Headley Grange where Led Zeppelin recorded.
A few years ago (1977) I was working in the area, so I decided to have a walk round during my lunch break and I found Benifold's which is set in lovely surrounding woods and countryside. I then had my lunch in the pub just down the road (The Crown) which was the subject of a unreleased Danny Kirwan song, which if I remember correctly had the following opening line of:-

Down at the Crown everbodys going round
getting loose on the juice that was flowing.....

Having ordered a pint of beer and something to eat, I got chatting to the middle aged lady behind the bar who remembered
the various members of FM who used to spend alot of their time in this particular establishment and another Pub close by (The Wheatsheaf). She then pointed to a guy sitting on a bar stall at the other end of the bar and told me that he was the caretaker of Benifold's as FM still owned the house, despite having moved to the U.S.A. sometime ago.This guy was having a quite drink and obviously new most of the folk in the pub. I overheard him talking to the landlady saying that Mick had phoned during the night about various things to do with the house. Unfortunately I never plucked up the courage to go and talk to the guy. He had a dog in tow which looked very similar to the one featured in the photo of the gatefold sleeve LP for 'Penquin'.

A couple of days ago I was looking at an up todate map of Surrey/Hampshire and both Benifold and Headley Grange are both marked, so if any FM fans coming over to the U.K. this November for the 'Say You Will' concerts, have time for a spot of sight seeing I can recommend a day spent down in the Hampshire countryside seeking out some FM history will not be wasted.

Regards,
Blue Horizon.