Farmstead record PLY 048 - Farmstead: Hill Farm

Hill Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a multi-yard plan. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. There has been a significant loss of working buildings with modern sheds on site.

The large early-19th century threshing barn of five bays to the east of the site is a rare aisled structure of a kind more usually found in Western Suffolk that was probably built by Arthur Biddell (who originated in Rougham) in conjunction with his landlord. It appears to be depicted on a sketch map of circa 1810 by Isaac Johnson and was almost certainly designed to supplement an older barn when cereal production increased in response to the high grain prices of the Napoleonic wars. The older barn was demolished after 1970. The imposing aisled structure is largely intact, retaining almost all its tie-beam and arcade-plate braces, but the original roof was replaced in the 20th century and its low external walls raised in height. A remarkable aisled shed or covered yard was added to the front wall in the mid-19th century, supported by a series of massive tree-trunks beneath a ridge-beam. This dramatic vernacular building is unique in my experience, and is also likely to be the work of Arthur Biddell. An open-sided shelter-shed of similar construction was added to the barn’s back wall at much the same time. Despite their undoubted historic interest all three of these striking buildings have lost their original rafters (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.