Samuel Ayling and his wife Elizabeth (Leeves) duly inherited Hurst from her mother but, perhaps because Samuel came from Petworth in Sussex, they leased part of their property, described as "Great Hurst", to Worplesdon farmers. This comprised 60 acres and appears to correspond to the old Russell house and lands.

The first tenant was William Wells, who then moved to Queen Hythe Farm and was followed in 1762 by Joseph Cobbett who signed a lease for 21 years at an annual rental of £50. This document provides a fine example of legal detail in a clause which committed him to "Sufficiently hedge ditch Fence Scower Gripe Cleanse mend maintain and keep All and every the hedges ditches posts pales Rails Gates Stiles Gripes Fences and Inclosures belonging to the said Demised premisses". There were also clauses defining the manner in which he was to make and use compost, and the condition in which a portion of the ground was to be left at the end of the lease.

The lease was apparently extended beyond its specified termination in 1783 because he continued to be recorded as the occupier right up to his death in 1795, when he was described as "Farmer, Burgham aged 74 years." His place was taken by his son John who farmed the property even after the deaths of Samuel Ayling and then of the widowed Elizabeth Ayling in the early years of the nineteenth century. The death of the latter marked the end of the association of the Crosse family with Hurst.

In 1823 Christopher & John Greenwood published their excellent one-inch/mile map of Surrey which names Hurst Farm and places Jacobs Well at the crossroads. This map was accompanied by a book charmingly entitled:- "Surrey Described, being an Enumeration of the Seats and Residences of the Nobility, Clergy and Gentry of the County." In this Hurst-Farm is described as "a good house and farm, the residence of James Smallpeice".

In 1826 the heirs of Mr and Mrs Ayling sold Hurst Farm to Richard Sparkes, but James Smallpeice continued as tenant. It is intriguing to speculate whether he was remotely related to Peter of Hurst's sister Elenor Russell who had married John Smallpeace in 1616.

The Tithe Act. In 1836 the Tithe Act was passed to commute tithes in kind (ie produce) into money payments. To do this a survey of every parish was undertaken, including a large scale map denoting every plot and building. The only properties actually named on the Burpham portion of the Worplesdon map are "Hurst Farms" and "Queen Hive Farm" (sic) and there is no mention of Jacobs Well, although in the accompanying tithe apportionment five small plots are described as "in Jacobs Well field/meadow" (north-east of the crossroads).

In the apportionment John (not James) Smallpiece is identified as the owner of Hurst Farm Homestall, west of the road, together with just over 57 acres, while Richard Sparkes remains the owner of the house, yard and buildings and 116 acres east of the road. However by this time the occupant of both properties was George Burt.

George Burt. The apportionment was completed in May1838 and confirmed in March 1841. This was census year, and it was the first census to include names and other personal details. From this we find that six families, including that of George Burt, were recorded as living at Hurst. Ten years later the census was even more explicit and George Burt was described as "Farmer, 200 acres, 8 labourers" living at Hurst Farm. Five other families were listed as living at Hurst, ie in the old Crosse house which had been converted into tenements, but the heads of the households were not all farm workers. One man was a bricklayer and another was on Parish Relief, aged 67, while his wife was described as a pauper.

Subsequent census returns show that George Burt continued to live and farm at Hurst until 1871. However at some date, probably around 1856, his landlord became William Bovill,QC who was Member of Parliament for Guildford from 1857 until 1866. After Bovill's death in 1873 it was some time before the trustees of his will decided to dispose of Hurst Farm and his other properties nearby.

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