Building record 1539201000 - Snowhill Farm, Chesham Road

The Ordnance Survey map of 1887 confirms the arrangement of the pub, farmyard, farmhouse and also the surviving barn situated behind the farmhouse to the west. Of note is the fact that the footprint of the farmhouse is exactly the same as it is today and that the scale of the farm buildings is similar to the other farms in the area and in addition the Golden Eagle is virtually part of the farmstead. It is also noteable that the post office and smithy were located by The Golden Eagle in the 1898 Ordnance Survey map. This group of buildings must have been a focus for the rural community.
By the time of the 1898 Ordnance Survey map, the north side of the courtyard plan of barns has been lost and further losses are shown in the subsequent 1:2500 maps of 1925 and 1976. Today nothing survives of the farmyard and the farmhouse and barn to the rear, sit in isolation from The Golden Eagle pub. Snowhill farmhouse and its barn therefore hold historic interest as the surviving members of a once much larger group of farmstead buildings in a formerly agricultural community.
The barn to the rear is [2017] in a poor state of repair. In the Ordnance Survey maps it is shown as open sided to the south although by 1925 this was closed and it became open sided to the north. It was probably used for the storage of vehicles although this may not have been the purpose for which it was originally built. It is not possible to comment in great detail on the barn as there are no views of the interior. However, it is fair to say that it is of traditional timber framed construction with a brick plinth, old tile roof and weather boarded exterior and was in existence by 1887 (B1).
Aerial photos and Google Streetview show construction of a new link building connecting farmhouse with barn in 2018-2019, along with other renovation works to the barn in 2020.