Farmstead record LUD 036 - Farmstead: Hall Farm

Hall Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laif ouyt in a regular U-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in a loose farmstead cluster. There has been a partial loss of working buildings with the remaining converted for residential use.

The farmhouse is of early-19th century appearance and lies 50 metres west of a contemporary 4-bay cartlodge with first-floor granary which lies at the entrance to the site (cartlodge 1) and 50 metres north-west of a yard complex which includes an impressive barn with 16th or early-17th century origins (barn 2). These various buildings are of red brick and unlisted.

Cartlodge 1 is a good example of its type which preserves a series of 19th century grain bins 2 on its upper storey, while barn 2 contains at least three major phases of construction and is of considerable historic interest. It extends to 28 metres in length by 9 metres in overall width (92 feet by 30) and contains a stable and hayloft at its northern end with evidence for a demolished tack room. The majority of the barn is of late-18th or early-19th century brickwork laid in Flemish bond with cross-shaped ventilation loops and eared parapet gables with ‘tumbled-in’ decoration in a form that is highly distinctive of the Broadland region. The barn was initially thatched but in the late-19th century its walls were raised by 1.1 metres (43 inches) to their present height of 4.7 metres (15.5 feet) and its original roof replaced with the present butt-purlin roof structure of machine-sawn softwood covered with pan-tiles (the pitch of the gables was reduced accordingly, as is clearly visible in their brickwork). The stable and hayloft in their present form were inserted as part of this refurbishment as their internal partitions interrupt doorways in the earlier walls. The lower 2.2 metres (7.5 feet) of brickwork at the northern end of the barn is laid in English bond and is of 16th or early-17th century appearance, having been retained from an older barn or stable on the site. The building’s early origin and regional character are sufficient to justify listing at grade II despite its late-19th century alterations.

Recorded as part of the Farmsteads in the Suffolk Countryside Project. This is a purely desk-based study and no site visits were undertaken. These records are not intended to be a definitive assessment of these buildings. Dating reflects their presence at a point in time on historic maps and there is potential for earlier origins to buildings and farmsteads. This project highlights a potential need for a more in depth field study of farmstead to gather more specific age data.