Farmhouse at Meesdenbury Farm is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 December 1984. Manor house.

Farmhouse at Meesdenbury Farm

WRENN ID
hollow-forge-mist
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
East Hertfordshire
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
13 December 1984
Type
Manor house
OS grid reference
TL 439 329
Coordinates
51.97594, 0.0943
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Meesdenbury Farm is a late 17th-century manor house that has been partially encased in 19th-century brick on the east and south sides. The attic floor was removed in 1947, and the north wing was extended in 1960. The building features a timber frame that is roughcast, topped with steep red tile roofs. Originally a tall double-pile house facing east, it was formerly three storeys with a cellar but has been reduced to two storeys. There is a 1.5-storey kitchen wing with an end chimney set back on the north side.

The farmhouse has an unusual transitional floor plan that includes an arched tunnel running through a shared chimney stack, allowing access from the front lobby to the stair at the rear. The rear section is slightly deeper than the front, and corner fireplaces provide heat to adjacent rooms at the southwest. The symmetrical east front features a two-storey central porch and single-storey canted bay windows. The windows are boxed sash with 6/6 panes, and the entrance has a six-panel door that is flush beaded.

Inside, the southeast drawing room has an ovolo panelled design with a moulded cornice, dado rail, and a 19th-century marble fireplace. The northeast room, also a drawing room, contains a chamfered beam with bar stops. There is a well-crafted closed string staircase with turned balusters and a balustrade at the landing. A cross window features a leaded plate casement, and there is a panelled overmantle in the chamber above the drawing room. A face-halved bladed scarf can be seen in the wallplate next to the stair.

Local climate

Farmhouse at Meesdenbury Farm sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 79% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. South Barn at Meesdenbury Farm Grade II 49 m
  2. North Barns Range at Meesdenbury Farm Grade II 70 m
  3. Church of St Mary (Church of England) Grade II* 346 m
  4. Meesden Hall Grade II 416 m
  5. Further Ford Farmhouse Grade II 913 m
  6. Sunset Cottage Grade II 1.0 km
  7. Cobblers Mead Grade II 1.0 km
  8. Three Elms Grade II 1.1 km
  9. Westley Farm Grade II 1.1 km
  10. Blackhall Grade II 1.2 km