Planned Farmstead About 15 Yards East Of Bickley House

This is a planned farmstead, dated 1863. It is located about 15 yards east of Bickley House in Knighton on Teme. The farmstead is constructed of red brick with blue brick dressings, and has plain tiled roofs. The layout is a square plan with interconnected buildings enclosing four yards, divided by a central, cruciform range. A barn and dovecote are situated on the east side, stables to the north, cowhouses in the center, and pig sties to the south, with a large malthouse and two hop kilns at the south-east corner. The west side is enclosed by walls with central gateways. All buildings feature moulded eaves cornices and openings with cambered or round-headed arches and chamfered jambs. The barn has three bays; the central wagon bay includes a midstrey to the east side and opposed cart entries. It also features chamfered ventilation slits with pointed heads. The dovecote is prominently positioned on the center of the east side, with a square plan and a pyramidal roof with a raised apex for ventilation. It has two levels and, on the main east elevation, a large double set of doors and, on the upper level, a recessed rectangular panel containing a four-bay arcade with blue brick round arches; two archways to the left are louvred, and two to the right have been altered. The roof has small gabled dormers with six lighting holes on each elevation. The stables, cowhouse, and pig sties largely retain their original fittings, doors, floors, and drainage system. The stables include grooms’ quarters, stalls, and mangers. A boar pen with a large round archway facing south is within the pig sty area, along with a single-bay wing for animal feed preparation, which has a smoke-blackened roof. The malthouse and hop kilns are a large rectangular block with two storeys, an attic, and a cellar. Openings have blue brick cambered heads, and the windows are largely rectangular with multi-paned metal frames. The main south elevation has two windows, two doors, a set of double doors on the ground floor; first floor has three windows, one blind, and an external brick-stepped door to the right; and three gabled half-dormers, one blind, one with a loft door, and one with a multi-paned window. The two hop kilns at the east gable end have combined hipped slate roofs with square, louvred lanterns, and a pair of blind archways in the south elevation, with round, blue brick heads. Inside, the farmstead has a large, barrel-vaulted cellar. The date “1863” is inscribed within the main entrance archway. It is a complete and well-detailed example of a mid-19th century planned farmstead.