Details
TAVISTOCK HAMLETS
1818/3/134
23-JAN-87
Range of Farm Buildings in Planned Farmyard including Threshing Barn with
Waterwheel and Granary,Cow House with Dung Pit, Linhay with Enclosed Yard
and Subsidary Buildings about 100 metres east of Kilworthy, Tavistock
GV II*
Range of farm buildings in planned farmyard including threshing barn with waterwheel and granary, cow house with dung pit, linhay with enclosed yard and subsidiary buildings including smithy. Dated 1851, part of the Duke of Bedford's estate. Granite rubble with granite dressings, Hurdwick stone dressings to west side of blacksmith's workshop; slate roofs, hipped over barn, which has slate-hung front, gable end stacks and stack on front slope.
The buildings form an unusally advanced plan covering all functions of the farm for dairy and arable. Barn to east of 2 storeys has water wheel about 5 metres in diameter in launder to front, so that grain could be ground and then stored in the same building; large cow house attached to west, in parallel ranges, with a large underground dung pit. Further range to west in L-plan with additional building enclosing small yard, has blacksmith's workshop and store sheds. To north west, linhay with enclosed yard. Barn (converted for living accommodation) has 3 windows, all margin light sashes. Granary in gable end front range attached to left, of 3 storeys with 2 windows on all floors and datestone in gable with crown and lion's head; upper storey of this building used as granary. Large overshot water wheel in launder set in angle between threshing barn and granary block, gearing taken from wheel, not central spindle. Interior of granary has granite steps down to water wheel, pulleys and gear mechanism remaining for lifting grain to upper granary, also pump worked by water wheel to take water to reservoir to north of farmyard; this also served a main carried around the yard with marked fire points on all buildings. Cow house attached to west, has row of ventilation slits at upper level, 4 segmental arched entrances at lower ground level giving access to dung pit below. The dung pit is of triple depth, each bay with 2 aisles, carried on granite monoliths, the floor
above of granite slabs; each aisle is served by chutes at each side of the building, taking manure from inside the cow house and from the yard to rear, central corridors gave access for removal of dung, 2 probably original wooden trolleys still remaining from this process. Left side of cow house has 3 gable ends (giving triple depth), central one narrower with calf pens to rear, outer ones for cows; these have 8-bay king post roofs with loading door in each gable end, original door openings altered, gable end bay to left has 2 original doors with granite lintels remaining. Interiors of cow houses have central feeding passage with granite feeding troughs, standings have chute holes with cast iron surrounds, chute holes and feeding troughs with flat covers. Single storey blacksmith's workshop and attached tack rooms, has open-fronted cart shed of 5 bays with granite piers (infilled with brick) forming L-plan; this is enclosed to form a smaller subsidiary yard by a further single storey building of uncertain function, probably stores. The rear of the smithy range faces Kilworthy House (qv) and so has a decorative front of 5 bays with arched windows with imposts, moulded surrounds and mask keystones in Hurdwick stone, said to have come from Tavistock Abbey, similar arched window in gable end to south, single ridge stack with moulded cornice. Linhay, partly demolished, to north west, with rubble walled yard, with granite coping to walls about 1 metre high and enclosing an area about 10 metres square. An unusually large and complete example of a planned farmyard. The cattle sheds over the underground dung pit are of exceptional interest and form interesting comparison with the planned farmyard of much simpler design at Crowndale (qv), also part of the Duke of Bedford's estate.
Listing NGR: SX4826676994
