Farmstead record THB 043 - Farmstead: West House Farm

West House Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular U-plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. There has been a partial loss of working buildings with some modern sheds on site.

The site consists of an unusually large pond which is now much overgrown with a grade II-listed 17th century farmhouse to the south and a U-shaped single-storied range of mid-19th century red-brick and pantiled farm buildings to the east. This range extends to an impressive 43.7 m in length (143 ft) and is divided into a total of 14 separate compartments. Although it was extended and adapted to house cattle in the mid-20th century it was built in the 1860s or 70s as a stable range for the large number of working horses a farm of this scale required. 19th century maps show a horse yard adjoining a timber-framed barn on the west with another series of yards that probably accommodated cattle beyond. An opensided shelter-shed lay to the north of the stable range with a loose box, tack room, stable and probably another loose box to the south, while the southern wing contained a cart shed and a second stable along with two further loose boxes or feed stores. The main building was open to its roof structure of prefabricated softwood but the southern stable and cart shed were provided with a hay loft. The smaller northern wing contained a further pair of feed stores or loose boxes but is a later addition of circa 1910, as distinguished by a string course of gault brick. The interior has been largely stripped of historic fixtures and fittings, but most of the original louvered windows survive along with some half-hung doors, a fine series of octagonal arcade posts to the shelter-shed and various remains of wooden hay racks and harness hooks. Despite these losses it remains of considerable historic interest as it was initially part of a new ‘model’ farm in the latest fashion of Victorian High Farming and illustrates the sophisticated, industrial nature of the period’s agricultural buildings, particularly on one of the County’s most important estates such as this (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.