There were no buildings on White Hill, which was then called Coldharbour, and the lower part of it was known by the name of the Bowling Alley. Along High Street, past South View to the Common on the left, stood only one building, Haircombe Farm House, belonging to Sir J. Shelley, Bart. On the opposite side was a long narrow thatched building, divided into compartments. This belonged to the parish, and was connected with the Poor House then existing at Rotherfield. It was used as a dwelling for the aged poor, and being built of slabs of wood, went by the name of Slab Castle. The ground around this building, consisting of several acres, also belonged to the parish.

The next building on this side of the way was placed where there are several fine yew trees. These trees still thrive, and are magnificent specimens of their species.

A very old thatched building yet remains near these trees. It marks the spot where the ancestor of one of the Crowborough families, between 200 and 300 years ago, first pitched his tent. He came from the North, and selecting this spot for his encampment, proceeded to cut down trees to build a wooden hut, which, on completing, he called Collier's Lodge. All around this spot was a thick wood, which, as he was a charcoal burner, supplied him with material for his work. The charcoal he sold to the ironmasters in the neighbourhood for their furnaces, and sometimes carried it to the London market.

There seems to have been no objection made by the Lord of the Manor at this period to anyone using the wood or settling upon the Forest, but at certain times the bailiff came round and demanded a small quit-rent as an acknowledgement of the Lord's manorial rights from those who had established themselves on the forest land. Subsequently, however, settlers, whenever they attempted to locate themselves on this waste ground, were summarily dislodged.

There appears to be little doubt that Crowborough Hill was well wooded at one period, and that the trees were all felled to make charcoal for the numerous furnaces in the vicinity. An old inhabitant recollects her father stating that he had seen seven furnaces at work at the same time around Crowborough, and that he remembered an oak tree being dug out of the Broom Bog, near Broom Farm, which was as black as the bog in which it was found. Her father was born in 1780, but there are also traditions from the grandfather and others going far back in time, and some of my statements are made from these traditions.