Farmstead record BAR 077 - Farmstead: Barningham Park

Barningham Park is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular multi yard with U-plan and E-plan ranges and further detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. This farmstead survives intact though some buildings have fallen into disuse. (S1-4)

The two barn complexes have been labelled Barn 1 and Barn 2 for planning purposes, and are located to the N-E and S-W of the early-19th C, Grade II listed farmhouse. Each complex consists of a threshing barn with attached animal yards and sheds.

Barn 1: The main barn to the N of the farmhouse is a timber-framed and weatherboarded structure of three bays. It stands on a tall brick plinth and its roof structure consists of 2 tiers of staggered butt-purlins with nailed collars and fully hipped gables. The structure also contains tenoned braces, unusual for a building post-dating the first quarter of the 19th C, where bolted knee-braces are more common. Apart from this, the timber-frame is typical of its period. Retains good threshing floor in its central bay. Its appearance has changed very little since its construction in c.1850 and represents one of the best complexes of its kind in the county. Its combination of flint and glazed pantiles is particularly characteristic of the Breckland region and reflects the final phase of enclosure of ancient medieval heath in the area during the 19th C. as such it is of considerable historic interest, but may not meet the strict EH criteria for listing due to its relatively late date and the removal of its original fixtures and fittings.

Barn 2: The oldest building on the site. It is timber-framed structure atop a brick plinth with a steeply pitched roof - originally thatched but now covered in corrugated asbestos. This roof structure consists of 2 tiers of linier butt-purlins. The original building remains largely intact. It forms an impressively large and unusually complete 'Napoleonic' example, which retains its full complement of its original tie-beam braces and much of its distinctive 'two tier' external cladding of render and weatherboarding. It Illustrates an important period of agricultural history in the region, when the local medieval 'sheep walk' was enclosed and ploughed for the first time and has considerable historic interest accordingly. Various sheds are additions which illustrate a second dramatic change in the local agricultural landscape: the introduction of Victorian High Farming. Despite the loss of thatch, the barn is deserving of its listing at Grade II (S5).

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.