Cow House, Cow Shelter And Stables About 60 Yards North North East Of Brook Farmhouse

The cow house, cow shelter, and stables located about 60 yards north-north-east of Brook Farmhouse date back to 1866, as indicated by a date inscribed in a trefoiled tablet on the central south-facing gable. This structure is part of a farmyard complex and is built of brick with tiled roofs, featuring small gabled louvred vents along the ridge.

The building is arranged in an L-plan, with the cow house and cow shelter section running roughly east to west, connecting to other farm buildings such as hop kilns, hop rooms, and a cart shed to the west. The stable section extends southwards, forming one side of the main entrance from the road into the farmyard. It is a single-storey structure.

On the south elevation, there is an advanced central gabled front with a thermal window beneath the tablet and a central ledged door. To the left, there are three openings leading to the cow house, with a ledged door flanking the middle opening. To the right, five arched openings with 4-centred heads are supported by brick piers, forming the front of the cow shelter. The west elevation of the stables has a slatted opening to the right of centre, accompanied by three doors—two to the left and one to the right. The south gable of the stables features a thermal window facing the farmyard entrance.

The north elevation of the east/west range has three gables: one in the centre and one at each end, with the right gable marking the end of the hop kiln, hop room, cow shelter, cart shed, and barn range. Inside, the trusses are mainly queen posts that carry angle struts to the principals. The cow house includes a feeding passage along the rear wall with parallel free-standing continuous racks and troughs in front of it. Notably, there is a sheep dip about four feet deep in the rear of the central gabled part, which is reputed to be one of the first designed into a farm building in Herefordshire. This structure is part of a model farmstead complex associated with Brook Farmhouse and is believed to have been built by the Eastnor Estate. It is included for its group value as a complete example.