Building record HXN 080 - Home Farm

Home Farm lies in open countryside on the western side of Eye Road approximately 1 km south-west of Hoxne village. The house was present on the parish tithe map of 1843 but the complex of farm buildings to its rear (west) were built in the 1860s or 1870s by the second baronet who served as MP for the Borough of Eye and was renowned for his support of local agriculture. The complex includes an exceptionally large single-storied shed, extending to 31 m in length by 9.3 m in width (102 ft by 30.5 ft), designed as a saw mill for the Oakley Park estate which included approximately 115 acres of woodland in Hoxne parish alone, along with a well wooded park of 96 acres immediately north of Home Farm. The first and second edition Ordnance Surveys of 1884 and 1903 clearly label the building as a saw mill and show the tracks of timber conveyors entering its south-western gable, but both the label and tracks had disappeared by the edition of 1925 indicating that it ceased to function after the break-up of the estate. While its roof structure of pre-fabricated queen-post trusses with bolted arch-braces survives intact, and is still an imposing feature, its walls were largely rebuilt in corrugated iron and cement blocks during the mid-20th century and little trace of its former purpose now remains. A small adjoining shed preserves an original fireplace and may have served as an office, but many other sheds depicted on the Ordnance Surveys have been demolished. A further shed of 19.8 m in length (64.75 ft) clad in tarred vertical boarding retains more of its original wall fabric and an identical queen-post roof but appears to have been designed as a large stable with a first-floor granary and hay loft rather than part of the saw mill (S1).