Farmstead record DNN 067 - Farmstead: Dennington Hall Farm

Dennington Hall Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed OS map. The farmstead is laid out in a multi-yard complex featuring a full regular courtyard, F-plan yard, L-plan yard, linear plan ranges, and detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yards. The farmstead sits on a private road in an isolated location. There has been a significant loss of working buildings with large scale modern infrastructure on site.

This Heritage Impact Assessment has been prepared in connection with a proposals to construct a 100kWp solar PV array on land at Dennington Hall Farm, Dennington, Suffolk. The farm complex comprises the Hall, accessed via a separate spur off the access road and surrounded by landscaped grounds and a range of gault brick-built farm office buildings with a modern agricultural building to the east. A large moated platform sits to the south of the house and office range, bounded to the east by two traditional farm buildings with further modern agricultural buildings to the east and southeast. Further to the east, located in an area of permanent pasture beyond the modern agricultural buildings, is a large medieval fishpond known as The Lays. Originally 19th century the site appears to have remained essentially unaltered from the early 20th century up until the 1980’s when cartographic sources show that a range of farm buildings shown standing on the earlier maps to the east of the farm office buildings had been replaced by a modern agricultural building. Both the north and southern ranges of building situated immediately to the east of the moat have also been modified, with the range abutting the moat having been demolished and modern agricultural (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.