Farmstead record HEP 028 - Farmstead: Grange Farm

Grange Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farm is laid out in a regular E-plan 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 significant loss of working buildings with large modern sheds on the side. (S1-4)

The barn is a mid-18th century timber-framed structure in four bays which originally contained a three-bay open barn with a central threshing floor and a rear (northern) aisle, with a single-bay stable to the east. A photograph of circa 1950 shows a thatched and weatherboarded building of traditional appearance, but soon afterwards the roof structure was replaced, the entrance blocked and the exterior was rendered in cement (bearing the dates 1951 and 1952). At the same time the eastern gable was rebuilt in brick to contain vehicle doors, but the internal partition had already been removed as part of a major mid-19th century refurbishment which included the insertion of bolted knee-braces to replace the original arch-braces and the rebuilding of the rear wall in brick. The original studwork with diagonal primary-bracing now survives only to the south and west, and of the original 10 arcade-plate and tie-beam braces (all pegged and tenoned in the medieval tradition) only a single arcade-brace now remains (S5)
2012: Monitoring of several foundation trenches within a barn, in order to convert it into accommodation, was carried out at Grange Farm, Hepworth, in Suffolk. This recorded no archaeological features or finds, despite revealing a seemingly preserved soil profile (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.