Saturday 30th October 2004 saw the first public opening of the grounds of High House, Purfleet. Unfortunately the house itself was not open as although it has been re-roofed there is still some work to be done on the interior before the public can be allowed access. However, the collection of farm buildings that make High House so special were open. The barn housed children's story telling. The outbuildings were used for a variety of crafts including making walking sticks and children's toys as well as an area where the children could do painting. The Dovecote was opened and members of Thurrock Local History Society showed people round and explained how it worked. The R.S.P.B. also had a stall/display as did Thurrock Heritage Forum. The highlight was probably Uncle Festa pushing his pram round with his baby and imbibing gripe water from an enormous baby’s bottle.

The opening from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. during which some 250 people attended was the culmination of a lot of hard work over 2 years by the Steering Group and their volunteers ably led by Paul and Georgette Polley.

There were a number of visitors who had previously lived in High House one even brought some photographs of his family taken inside the house, which were very informative. High House is also known as "Le Vyneyard" or West Hall and is in the manor of West Thurrock.

If there is anyone who has any information about the history of High House or lived there or even wants to be involved with the project you can e-mail us and we will pass the information on to the Steering Group.