Farmstead record THD 027 - Farmstead: Church Farm

The Farmhouse is a grade II listed building of the 16th C.

The Barn is a box frame timber construction with individual studs typical of the 17th C. It contains doors of traditional opposing double door type and an entrance porch. The roof structure has a pitch of roughly 45 degrees, which usually suggests it was thatched or tiled, however the roof structure is of a recent construction and may not reflect the original pitch. It is now pantiled. The supporting roof structure is made up of modern sawn timbers. The black weatherboarding appears to be original, as does the surviving lathe and plaster on the interior of the W wall.
Both end gable walls have loft doors, suggesting a hayloft which has since been removed. The N facing door has been converted into a window, though this has been partially blocked when the barn was extended. The second door survives in tact.
The extension to the north is part red-brick part clay lump and has been weatherboarded in the same fashion as the original structure. Its roof has also been pantiled.

The barn and associated outbuildings represent a complete refurbishment of a working farm dating roughly to the late 17th / early 18th C. The refurbishment of barns, such as this, often took place during the introduction of corn law (1815-46) where cheaper foreign corn imports were ended.

Church Farm, Thorndon. 17th century farmstead and 16th century farmhouse. Regular courtyard U-shaped plan formed by working agricultural buildings. The farmhouse is set away from the yard. The farmstead is extant. Located within a village (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.