Farmstead record AKE 036 - The Farm Buildings, Rise Hall, Akenham

Rise Hall is a grade II-listed brick and slate farmhouse of 1826 which is believed to occupy the site the medieval manor of Rous or Rice Hall 120 metres south-west of Akenham parish church and 1 km north of the modern conurbation of Ipswich. The present house replaced a substantial mansion in a walled garden which is reputed to have been built in the 1660s and is shown on an estate map of 1729. The red-brick threshing barn immediately behind the house is a large example of the late-17th or early-18th century which extends to 26 metres in length by 7 metres in width (86 ft by 23 ft) and contains a stable in a contemporary cross-wing to the west. Both the barn and stable preserve a number of original hooded ventilation slits beneath their eaves. The 1729 map shows a second cross-wing to the east, but this was demolished in a major refurbishment that almost certainly occurred in 1826 when the present house replaced the old: the original roof structure of clasped and butt-purlins was replaced in softwood, leaving only a small section intact in the eastern half of the barn, and the upper walls were rebuilt in the western half of the barn and the eastern elevation of the stable. The barn was re-roofed in slate and the stable in peg tiles, but the relatively steep pitch of the original roof structure suggests it was designed for thatch (S1).

Hill Farm, Akenham. 18th century farmstead and 18th century listed farmhouse. Regular courtyard U-shaped plan formed by working agricultural buildings with additional detached buildings. The farmhouse is set away from the yard. The farmstead is extant. Located within a loose farmhouse cluster (S2-7).

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.