Farmstead record RBY 045 - Farmstead: Lower Farm (Mulberry Farm)

Mulberry Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a dispersed plan and sits alongside a public road in a hamlet location. There has been a significant loss of working buildings with the remaininf converted for residential use. (S3-6)

The grade II-listed granary and cart lodge lies in close proximity to three other listed buildings: the farmhouse to which the granary formerly belonged, a 16th C aisled barn and Dove Cottage. The granary is shown as twice its present length on the enclosure map of 1802 and is likely to have been newly built at this time. Empty mortises in the western gable demonstrate that it was originally attached to a lower range that has since been demolished. The timber-framed building contains a grain floor on its upper storey, reached by an internal stair with an open-sided cart lodge and an enclosed shed on the ground floor. The cart lodge was initially open to the front and rear but was enclosed by a flint-rubble wall to the rear when a new cart-shed was added to the east. The roof-plates contain unusual splayed scarf joints that are normally found only in medieval structures. Although largely stripped of its original plaster, both inside and out, most of the frame is intact and the building is of historic interest as it illustrates the nature of local farmsteads during the agricultural revolution of the late-C18th and early-C19th (S1). The 16th C barn incorporates elements from an earlier barn at the site (S2)

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.