Farmstead record WKB 036 - Farmstead: Newhouse Farm

Newhouse Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular L-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set on the opposite side on the road. The farmstead sits on either side of a public road in an isolated location. There has been a significant loss of working buildings with additional modern sheds on site. (S2-5)

Newhouse farm is a Grade II listed Farmhouse of the 18th C. The redundant farm buildings lie on the opposite side of the road and consist of a group of traditional timber-framed and weatherboarded structures and a number of 20th C pig sties and sheds. 2 principle buildings, known as barn 1 and barn 2 are of considerable historic interest.

Barn 1: late 17th or early 18th C structure of 5 bays. It is now open to the 20th C roof but retains evidence of an ceiling and was probably designed as a stable of rare form, or possible a maltings. The floored area occupies 3 bays, which is entered by 2 ground floor doors. The remaining 2 bays resembled a normal barn with porch and threshing floor. The external walls were rendered to the upper storey and weatherboarded to the lower, as preserved within the 19th C lean-to cattle sheds against the N elevation.

Barn 2: Formally detached but now linked to barn 1 by shelter sheds of a mid-19th C cattle yard. It has two phases of construction, ostensibly of the 16th and 17th centuries, though it was been much altered and contains many re-used timbers. It is floored throughout and resembles a stable with granary and hayloft above. A secondary door lintel in the loft bears a date of 1792 alongside the name 'James Pond'. An open sided cart lodge attached to the S-E corner is of rare form and merits listing, despite its loss of ceiling and roof (S1).

2009: A chalk floor and two separate wall foundations were observed during a monitoring after the modern concrete barn floor was removed (S6).

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.