Farmstead record MTN 058 - Farmstead: Decoy Farm

Decoy Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a full regular courtyard with the farmhouse detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a public road in an isolated location. There has been a partial loss of working buildings with modern sheds on site.

Decoy Farm occupies an isolated site on the western slope of the Deben valley approximately 150 metres west of old St Andrew's church and 200 metres from the river. The name of the farm derives from a rectangular pond 100 metres to the east which is shown as a 'Coye' or decoy pond on a rare early-17th century map. The pond was formerly divided into three separate areas and may represent a series of medieval fish ponds belonging to a lost manor house or settlement in the vicinity of the church. The grade II-listed farmhouse is depicted with adjoining barns on both the 17th century map and another of 1725, but the present red-brick farm buildings date only from the mid-19th century. These buildings formed a cattle yard to the east and a horse yard to the west of a central barn, and until recent years would have represented a good example of a small High Victorian 'model' farm. A probable granary in the western yard is now in separate ownership, and the only recognisable historic structure in the development area is a former stable which has been stripped of its original roof covering, ceiling and hay rack.

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.