Farmstead record FNM 019 - Farmstead: Mollett's Farm

Mollet's Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed OS map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular L-plan with the farmhouse detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead is set alongside a private track in an isolated location. This farmstead survives intact with modern sheds to the side.

Mollett's Farm is not listed but preserves an early-17th century timber-framed parlour bay with chamfered ceiling joists and a clasped-purlin roof structure and contemporary axial chimney. The rest of the original house is reputed to have been destroyed by fire in the 1800s. At the time of the tithe survey in 1841 the farm was a modest tenanted holding of approximately 20 acres. The barn to the west of the farmhouse is shown on the tithe map and retains at least one bay of early-17th century timber-framing to the north, but has otherwise been extensively rebuilt and largely converted for semi-domestic purposes in recent years. Its thatched roof structure has been entirely replaced with softwood and corrugated sheeting. Much of the building's historic character has accordingly been lost, and analysis of its fabric and development is hampered by this. The single-storied shed adjoining its southern gable is a relatively late addition c.1879 and had also been largely dismantled by the time of inspection. The chief interest of the site lies in the relationship of the early-17th century barn to the surviving parlour bay of the contemporary farmhouse, which indicates the latter faced a southern courtyard flanked by the barn on the west in the typical manner of the period. The barn is also of interest as its northern gable adjoins the Benhall parish boundary and may preserve archaeological evidence of the banks and ditches often associated with features that in many instances can be shown to pre-date the Norman conquest (S1).

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.