Farmstead record BUN 183 - Farmstead: Stow Park Farm

Stow Park Farm is a farmstead visible on the 1st Ed Os map. The farmstead is laid out in a regular full plan with additional detached elements. The farmhouse is detached and set away from the yard. The farmstead sits alongside a private track in an isolated location. This farmstead survives intact.

Stow Park Farm lies on a ridge of high ground overlooking Stow Fen to the west of the parish of Bungay. The conspicuous site is of historic importance, having yielded pagan Anglo-Saxon remains and lying within the 13th century deer park of the Bigod Earls of Norfolk. The earliest part of the present farmhouse dates only from the beginning of the 17th century and represents a fragment of a larger building that was extended to both east and west in the early-19th century. This fragment appears to contain a jettied parlour of modest proportions, but precise analysis is hampered by its truncation and extensive remodelling. An impressive ‘model’ farmyard of the early-19th century lies to the south of the house, and the discovery of 13th century rib-moulded stones in its vicinity suggests, in combination with documentary evidence of medieval occupation, that the area is likely to prove rich in archaeology (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.