Farmstead record SEN 061 - Farmstead: The Willows

The Willows is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular H-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. There has been a partial loss of working buildings with modern sheds to the side.

The Willows is a substantial timber-framed, listed farmhouse of late 16th/ early 17th C, with a 19th C façade.

The contemporary timber-framed and weatherboarded barn is also listed at grade II. It is now, however, under separate ownership. It consists of 2 bays of roughly equal size flanking a narrow central bay. It has evidence of an original S-E entrance door. Its oak framing is largely in tact along with its roof structure of double butt-purlins and wind braces, however the studs in the N gable have been entirely removed when the barn was extended by 6 ft in the mid-19th C. Fragments of original wattle and daub infill and external render are still surviving, though most has been replaced by 19th C tarred weatherboarding. Any evidence of an original rear door was lost when a full height door was inserted at the same time as the weatherboard.
The early structure extended 12.9m in length by 5.9m in overall width. The steeply pitched roof suggests that it was originally designed for thatch but is now covered with corrugated iron.

A 'good' red-brick stable with hayloft and mock gothic fenestration was built against the S-E gable in the 19th C and an apparent cattle yard with open sided shelters was added to the S-W.

Few original fixtures and fittings survive.

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.