Stock House 47 Metres South Of The Manor House

The stock house, dated 1828 and built for the Walpole family who owned Freethorpe in the 19th century, is a brick structure with a thatched main body and tiled outshuts. It stands approximately 47 metres south of the Manor House. The building comprises a 2-storey central block flanked by single-storey outshuts on either side. The front (west) facade features central double doors beneath a brick arch, a half-moon window above, and a date plaque in the gable. The eastern facade is similar, but the double doors have been blocked and replaced by a single width door. The north and south sides have long rectangular, slatted ventilation windows between the eaves and outshut roof line.

The north outshut has been largely rebuilt, whereas the south outshut retains its original character, featuring four doorways – one now blocked, the others stable doors leading from stock pens into the yard – and additional doorways at each end leading into yards.

Internally, the outshuts serve as aisles to the central body, originally linked by four archways. On the south side, these arches remain. Much of the north side has been rebuilt, with all but one wide arch blocked, although a narrower arch survives near the front door, possibly originally leading to a staircase to a granary. Only half of the granary floor remains accessible, but the dividing walls of two bins are visible. The roof and upper gable walls have been plastered to prevent dust from contaminating grain. The roof structure includes 4 morticed collars reinforced with iron ties, and one row of butt purlins wedged into the principal rafters. The central area has a concrete floor, while the south outshut retains its original cobbled floor. At the rear (east) end of the south aisle, three original stalls with wooden partitions and feeding troughs remain between the arches. These stalls provide standing space for two beasts each, with iron brackets for chains on each post, and a final stall accommodated one animal, suggesting a capacity for 9-10 beasts on each side.

Historically, this stock house is recognised as one of the few surviving examples of purpose-built livestock accommodation, as described by William Marshall in his Agriculture of Norfolk (1787). It represents a rare and historically significant building within the context of the agricultural revolution. It forms part of a group of buildings which includes the ham and cart shed.