See also Church Farm. The names Church Farm, Church Row Farm and the farm at Church Row appear to have been used indiscriminately in the past and it has been difficult to determine which records are referring to which site.
[Extract from History of Some of the Old Buildings in Rode by Dawna Pine, second edition]:
2 Frome Road (Church Row Farm). Built in the 17th century, it was probably originally the Rectory for St. Lawrence Church. Major land and property owner, Henry B. Pooll owned the farm in 1839 and Samuel Hiscocks, a farmer, was living here in 1841. By 1853 Joseph Job Carter and his wife, Jane nee Pickard, were occupying the farm. Jane was only 28 when she died in 1858. Joseph remarried and continued at the farm until 1903. He was a member and Deacon of Rode Baptist Chapel and is buried there. George Kirwan Joyce came to Rode in 1908 and rented Church Row Farm from the Batten-Poolls. He had 11 children and his son bought the farm from Capt. Walter Stewart Batten-Pooll in 1934. Indeed, the panelling now in the drawing room at the farm was originally from Rode Manor. The residents told me (DP) that during WWII, the family had German Prisoners of War to help them put in a path in the back garden. While doing so, they discovered an underground tunnel leading from their garden to the church.
Information from phone call from a Joyce (Chapman?) to Peter Harris 2/12/2013: Her grandfather, who had 11 children, came to Rode in 1908 and rented Church Row farm from the Batten Poolls. Her father bought the farm from Capt. Batten Pooll in 1934.