Building record 1530800000 - Barns at Park Farm

C19th farm buildings, including two barns and a small farm building forming the surving N and E ranges of a formerly 4-sided farmyard with a surviving smaller barn set at right angles on the E of the main ranges. The buildings retain their form and detailing, though the site was assessed for listing and not deemed to be of sufficient merit due to the farmhouse changes, the surviving farm buildings are considered to be of aesthetic and historic interest (B1).
Park Farm is present on the 1834 OS one inch map, although the extent of the buildings at this time is not clear. On the 1880 OS map, the site consists of a fully enclosed farmyard, with a substantial building, presumably a barn, to the south. On the 1978 OS map the entire south range of the yard, and the majority of the east and west ranges, have been demolished, as have the barn and outbuildings to the south. In addition to the farmhouse, there are three other buildings. The first, forming the east range of the farmyard, is a two-storey building which adjoins the house to the south. It is constructed in brick in Flemish bond, with a slate roof. A large portion of the ground floor of the west elevation is open-fronted, supported by a timber lintel above three square brick columns with rounded corners. This area presumably functioned as a cart shed, although it may have been used for livestock. Part of this building also has a brick floor. Above there is a single timber window, with evidence of an opening for a loading door to the south, perhaps to a hay loft above, although the exact function of this level is not clear. The second building, which forms the north-west corner of the farmyard, is a single storey, L-shaped structure, with a slate roof. The central area is again open fronted, supported by a trio of distinctive circular brick piers, suggesting its use as a cart shed. The third building stands to the south-east of the farmhouse, and may have been a brew house. The north elevation has cart doors to the east bay, with a timber casement in the centre bay and a timber door to the west bay. The building is divided in two and heated by an internal stack. All three buildings appear to have similar roof structures, with waney tie beams, and short raking struts supporting the purlins and ridge pieces. The roofs would appear to be of C19 construction date, which would be consistent with the brickwork and the plan of the farmyard. The farm buildings appear to be early to mid-C19 in date. However, the surviving buildings are but a fragment of the original farmstead, where the function of the yard is no longer legible from the surviving buildings alone. Individually, none of the structures demonstrate historic or architectural interest at the national level, which is required to warrant a recommendation for listing in their own right. The farmhouse, barns and outbuildings at Park Farm, are not recommended for listing for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest - the structures do not have the required interest in their construction or function to warrant listing in their own right;
Historic interest - there are no known associations with figures or events of national importance.
Group value - the remaining structures are a fragmentary survival of the former farmstead.
CONCLUSION
Although the surviving structures have some claims to interest as examples of the local vernacular, this does not outweigh the substantial losses, nor the alterations and extensions to the farmhouse, and therefore Park Farm farmhouse and its farm buildings are not recommended for listing (B2).
NGR to N barn.