Farmstead record HTC 071 - Farmstead: Dale Farm

Dale Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular courtyard U-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set side on to the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a public road in an isolated location. There has been a partial loss of working buildings with additional modern sheds on site. (S2-5)

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.

15th C timber-framed farmhouse, originally a medieval hall but with a floor inserted in the 17th C. The upper level is plastered while the lower level is red brick. This farmhouse has a thatched roof and a chimneystack which was inserted in the 17th C.

In the farmyard stands a 17th C timber-framed and weatherboarded 6 bay barn, which was originally thatched. Part of the barn was used for stabling with a hayloft above, whilst the rest was used for threshing. The barn re-uses many timbers from all periods.

At right angles to the barn is a 19th C timber-framed stable which is red brick at lower level and weatherboarded at upper level and would have originally had a slate roof. The first floor of this structure re-uses 16th C timbers which appear to have come from a high status parlour chamber.

There is also a 19th C cartlodge in the grounds. (S1)