Farmbuildings at White House Farm

Details

TF70SW
530/10/10002

OXBOROUGH
Farmbuildings at White Farm

II

Farmbuildings. Early-mid C19. Brick with some chalk clunch, including clunch to internal walls; dog-tooth cornicing to barn and lean-to, dentilled cornicing to shelter sheds; traditional tumbling-in to gable ends, with brick finials. Pantile roofs.
PLAN: north rick yard separated by east-west aligned barn from south-facing stock yard. The rick yard is surrounded by a clunch wall to the north and west, and an east-facing cartshed with granary over.
CARTSHED WITH GRANARY: 6 bays, the posts on brick and reused stone bases, with granary over 4 bays divided by chalk wall with loading hatch from two northern bays open to roof. Wide wooden stair to southernmost bay of granary, with bottom treads of blue brick, with book-keeper's hatch (an unusual survival). Granary interior has had grain bins removed (only back panels survive), plastered ceiling and roof with collars morticed into principal rafters, queen struts and single row of butt-wedged purlins; king-post truss in northern loading bay.
BARN: two threshing bays, with full-height doors to north (planked with thresh holds to east) for loaded waggons from rick yard and lower arched doorways for exit of empty waggons into fold yard. Later brick lean-to to centre of north wall, probably built to house oil engine, open-fronted with brick pillars to north with belting hole to barn. Integral lean-to in centre of south wall, probably built as stables with later loose box, which has central spilt door and loading hatches at each end: to the east of this is a later wooden lean-to open with wooden posts to south.
Interior: barn lined with chalk clunch and divided in half by later chalk wall, with stone threshing floor surviving to east. Shafting for barn machinery along south wall, probably installed by 1870s. King-post roof with pegged joints
STABLE: situated to east of barn, with lean-to hipped roof, of chalk clunch with brick dressings. Louvred lunette windows flank central door to south elevation. The stable projects north from the barn, this part having chaff room (with arched opening for pitching-in chaff) and harness room. Interior: fittings removed, but lantern alcoves either side of door.
EASTERN SHELTER SHEDS RANGE: open shelter sheds supported on four brick pillars down its length (with later C19 infill to create loose boxes) and two loose boxes to north end.
WESTERN RANGE: in two sections divided by a later C19 covered entrance way, probably built as stock sheds with pitching door on west side into south range but with double doors on west side to northern trap house adjoining barn.
Interior: altered with most collars removed from roof.
SOUTH WALL: of brick encloses fold yard to south.
HISTORY: White House Farm, which was part of the Bedingfield estate until it was sold in the 1950s, stood on the edge of rough open grazing at the west end of the parish prior to the enclosure and drainage of the pastures in the early C19. The C17 house is shown, with farmbuildings to the west, in Faden's map of 1797. The barn, with its brick lean-to, is the earliest structure on the farm, indicative with its two threshing bays of the increasing importance of grain in what had been a sheep producing area. The other farmbuildings can be dated on typological evidence to the first half of the C19, although tithe map evidence suggests that they were not built until after 1845, representing increasing commercialisation and the fattening of stock. These farmbuildings are an unusual survival of an early-to-mid C19 farmstead of this type dating from the enclosure of near-by commons, built to a text-hook plan with the rick yard bounded by an east-facing cartshed separated from the south-facing foldyard: the use of local brick and clunch is a late example in the vernacular tradition.

Listing NGR: TF7246000845

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

469608

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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