Bedford Estates Office And Adjoining Bloomsbury Stud Buildings, Forming South West Part Of Park Farm Complex

This is a complex of farm buildings, originally part of Park Farm, dating from approximately 1795 to 1797, and partly converted to offices around 1880. The farm was designed by Robert Salmon, the resident architect and “mechanist” for Francis, 5th Duke of Bedford. It forms the southwestern part of the Park Farm complex.

The buildings are predominantly red brick with coursed ironstone used for the main elevations. They have shallow pitched slate roofs. The main block is a long, low single-story structure, approximately 100 metres long, with various projecting blocks to the rear. To the west end, these rear blocks create a courtyard, and the front elevation exhibits a symmetrical arrangement, linking slightly projecting gabled blocks. Two end blocks are single-storied, while three others are two-storied. The two-storied gabled blocks have elliptical arches; the left-hand one is a carriage arch, while the two on the right have been infilled with recessed part-glazed doors and sidelights (likely added in the late 19th century). The left-hand block has round-arched two-light windows to the first floor. The right-hand block features a clock face on the first floor and is surmounted by a timber, pyramidal-roofed bellcote. Surviving early windows are casements with ornamental geometric glazing bars, probably dating to around 1830. Later, in the 19th century, these were replaced by mullioned windows within enlarged openings. Several 20th-century double stable doors are located at the east end. The building features deep eaves and verges with moulded timber cornices.

The 5th Duke of Bedford was keenly interested in estate management and agricultural innovations. Park Farm was intended to showcase new agricultural technology and was the site of the annual Woburn Sheep Shearing, which was famously depicted in George Garrard's painting and engraving of 1804. Plans for alterations from 1873 and 1879 are held at the Bedfordshire Record Office (R Box 818 bundle 18/40 and 41). Further information is provided in J M Robinson’s article “Farming on a Princely Scale: Estate buildings of the 5th and 6th Dukes of Bedford at Woburn 1787-1839,” published in the Architectural Review in November 1976.