Farmstead record COM 036 - Farmstead: White House Farm

17th C timber-framed farmhouse, with a service wing dating from the 16th C. A number of the timbers used to construct the main range come from a 14th/15th C open hall house, likely to have once stood nearby. To the south of the house is a series of 3 ponds associated with a number of earthworks, suggesting a former medieval moat within which an earlier house stood (S3).

A number of 19th C buildings are associated with the farmhouse. This includes a barn constructed c.1800, which contains second hand studs and boarding which are likely to have come from an earlier farm building on this site; a number of these boards have a red distemper applied to their outer surface (S1).

The timber-framed and weatherboarded 5 bay threshing barn sits on a brick plinth and has a neathouse at one end. It uses a number of 16th C timbers and 18th C wallplates, meaning that the overall quality of the frame is fairly low. However the building still retains its original doors. The building has a number of later lean to extensions and its roof was replaced in the 20th C. Evil averting symbols have also been carved into the door of the neathouse to protect the cattle (S2).

Another barn, demolished in the 20th C, also stood and this site. At one end was a stable with a hay loft above which still survices. It incorporates an earlier yard boundary wall of clay lump (S3).

White House Farm, Combs. 19th century farmstead and 17th century farmhouse with converted buildings. 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 (S4-9).

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.