Farmhouse at Finches Farm is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 November 1966. Farmhouse. 1 related planning application.

Farmhouse at Finches Farm

WRENN ID
grey-landing-equinox
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
East Hertfordshire
Constituency
North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
24 November 1966
Type
Farmhouse
Address
Farmhouse at Finches Farm, Town Lane, Benington, SG2 7LA
OS grid reference
TL 305 233
Coordinates
51.89327, -0.10414
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

Finches Farm is a farmhouse that dates back to the early to mid-17th century, with a later 18th-century brick wing added to the north. The older section is timber-framed and features red brick extensions at the front and rear, topped with a steep catslide old tile roof that is half-hipped at the south end. The north wing is constructed of red brick with grey brick flat gauged arches, while the front of this section has grey brick with red brick gauged arches. The roof of the newer part is an old red tile gambrel roof, hipped at the rear.

Originally, the farmhouse was designed as a three-cell structure with a central chimney, facing east and featuring a winding stair next to the chimney. The building has two storeys and attics, with chamfered axial beams. The northern parlour end was removed when the 18th-century wing was built, which created a new entrance hall and stair, along with two spacious rooms and attics above.

The symmetrical east front of the newer section has two large Venetian sash windows on each floor and a central entrance. The entrance features a six-panel moulded door set within a mutular Doric pilastered doorcase, and there is a small flat-topped dormer behind the parapet. A small window has been unfortunately inserted above the door. There are two red brick chimneys on the north end, flanked by blind recesses with gauged brick flat arches.

The older part of the farmhouse includes three casement windows and a large red brick chimney that rises through the rear roofslope. Inside the older section, there are chamfered beams, one with a bar stop on the first floor, a chamfered and stopped doorframe on the ground floor, and a bolection moulded door leading to the stair, which features an ogee finial on the newel at attic level. The vertically moulded plank doors have H-hinges. In the newer north wing, there is a simple stair, a raised and fielded panelled corner cupboard with a fretted frieze in the office to the left of the entrance, and a glazed corner cupboard with shaped shelves and a hemicycle head, painted with a delicate romantic landscape scene featuring archers and stags.

Local climate

Farmhouse at Finches Farm sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 78% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% 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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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Granary South of Farmhouse at Finches Farm Grade II 14 m
  2. 105, Town Lane Grade II 70 m
  3. 102, Town Lane Grade II 217 m
  4. Benington Park Grade II 438 m
  5. 44, Burns Green Grade II 664 m
  6. The Bell Public House Grade II* 669 m
  7. 9 and 11, Town Lane Grade II 673 m
  8. Numbers 5 and 7 (Old Joiners) Grade II 697 m
  9. The Croft Grade II 708 m
  10. 11, Burns Green Grade II 729 m