Farmstead record THD 028 - Farmstead: The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory lies within an unusually sophisticated complex of moats that reflects the importance of the site in Middle Ages, when Thorndon Rectory formed a small manor in its own right. The present house is a grade II-listed Gault brick building of circa 1820 with a 16th century timber-framed rear wing. By 1840 the majority of the 78 acres of glebe land was leased but the Rector held a small arable farm of 25 acres in hand. The barn to the west of the site is an early-19th century timber-framed and pantiled structure which may well be contemporary with the late-Georgian refurbishment of the house, although many timbers show evidence of re-use. Its unusually sophisticated layout combines a normal three-bay barn which adjoined the Rector's fields to the west with a coach house and granary facing his Rectory to the east. The building was provided with its own separate access track from the High Street, approximately 250 metres south of All Saints church.

The open barn contained a threshing floor in its central bay but this has been removed in recent years and the northern entrance blocked. A lean-to against its rear, southern elevation incorporates a loose box that adjoined an enclosed cattle yard shown on 19th century maps. The eastern wing of the L-shaped building contains an original ceiling with two vehicle sheds divided by a narrow tack room on the ground storey and two granary lofts above. The tack room has been altered to create a passage to the barn and much of the interior had been stripped of its original cladding at the time of inspection. The exterior was initially rendered and the appearance of the eastern facade is largely original despite the replacement of its shed doors in the 20th century. Areas of clay daub also survive to the south but much of barn is now weatherboarded. The timber frame remains largely intact, including its butt-purlin roof structure with bolted knee-braces, but no historic fixtures or fittings survive and although of some historic interest the building is neither sufficiently well preserved nor of sufficient age to merit listing in its own right (S1).

The Old Rectory, Thorndon. 19th century farmstead and rectory with converted builidngs. Loose courtyard four-sided plan formed by working agricultural buildings. The farmhouse is set away from the yard. Significant loss (over 50%) of the traditional farm buildings. 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.