Farmstead record BRK 165 - Bungeon's Farm

Grade II-listed timber-framed and rendered building. In its present form the layout of the picturesquely thatched house is typical of the mid-17th century, with a central hall flanked on the south by a spacious parlour with an axial chimney and on the north by a cross-entry with a service bay and a single-storied kitchen beyond. However, this standard arrangement was achieved by dramatically extending a much smaller and far less normal building of the early-16th century which possesses a plain crown-post roof. The original building contained only two bays lit by exceptionally narrow diamond-mullion windows and extended to just 26 feet in length. It almost certainly formed the detached bake-house and brew-house of a medieval hall on the site of the present garden to the east, and represents a rare and historically important survival. The larger of its two ground-floor chambers was probably wholly or partly open to the roof timbers which are stained with smoke. Detailed analysis is unfortunately hampered by the extent to which key areas of the original timber frame are hidden by plaster, while other features were lost to the insertion of a new staircase and other recent alterations by a previous owner. The bake-house was converted into a farmhouse by adding a chimney bay and parlour to its southern gable and so doubling its length. A 17th century timber-framed barn of five bays to the west of the adjoining farmyard has lost its roof but contains evidence of an original stable at one end and is broadly contemporary with the ‘new’ house (S1).

Bungeon's Farm, Barking. 19th century farmstead and 16th century farmhouse with converted buildings.Regular courtyard E-shaped plan formed by working agricultural buildings. The farmhouse is detached facing side on to the yard. Only the farmhouse survives. Located within an isolated position (S2-6).

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.