Barns, Stables And Attached Outbuildings At Waterden Farm

BARNS, STABLES AND ATTACHED OUTBUILDINGS AT WATERDEN FARM

A farm complex built between around 1700 and 1871 for the Holkham Estate. The buildings are constructed of brick used in combination with flint, with small areas of chalk and re-used medieval masonry. Roofs are covered with pantile, 20th-century plain clay tile, and slate.

The complex comprises an early 18th-century barn with a late 18th-century barn and stable added at its east end. To the north of this range sit two yards enclosed by shelter sheds and enclosed boxes. The west yard functions as a horse yard, with a stable range to the west and shelter sheds to the east side. To the south of the early 18th-century barn, cattle sheds form two enclosed yards, with those at the end built around 1800 and the central range dated 1870.

On the front (east) elevation, the late 18th-century barn appears to the right, with the rear wall of a shelter shed to the left. A double doorway to the left serves a feed store, while a central doorway provides access to a covered way into the south yard. To the right of the covered way, a double full-height doorway gives access to a brick-floored threshing bay. Further right, a square panel of honeycomb brickwork forms a decorative vent.

The south side elevation displays hipped roofs to the end shelter sheds and a gable end to the centre shed, which bears a date stone of 1871. The yard front wall is constructed of flint with brick lacing, with a former sub-dividing wall now removed. The south wall of the early 18th-century range is obscured by open lean-to shelter sheds.

The north side elevation shows the yard west boundary wall formed by the rear wall of the stables, which has a half-hipped roof and six rectangular high-level windows. The north boundary is formed by the rear wall of shelter sheds, featuring a single door off centre and a second door giving access to the cowhouse in the extreme left corner. The north wall of the early 18th-century barn is built of chalk blocks with fragments of medieval masonry removed from a nearby church. It formerly served as the main facade and retains three double doorways to former threshing floors, though it has lost a porch shown on a map of 1712. A stable was added at the west end.

Internally, the late 18th-century barn contains a seven-bay double purlin roof with staggered purlins and tie beams not aligned with the principal rafters. Single collar beams link the principal rafters. The early 18th-century barn comprises 16 bays and is now sub-divided by two internal walls of brick and flint, with a loft to the central part. Its roof carpentry matches that of the later barn. Rear doorways to threshing bays are now blocked. The stable at the west end is lofted, with a tack and chaff room at its south end. The stable range is sub-divided longitudinally, with a general stabling area along the back wall and chaff and harness rooms along the front. A central doorway opens into the horse yard, and a blocked doorway marks the centre of the rear wall.

This farmstead represents an early example of a planned 18th-century farmstead on an estate that was nationally renowned during this period. It is also an early example of a planned farm located away from the centre of a great estate. Contemporary observers were impressed by it. Arthur Young wrote in 1784 that "nothing in this style can exceed the buildings that Mr Coke has raised at Waterden. Every convenience to be imagined is thought of, and the offices so perfectly well arranged as to answer the great object, to prevent waste and to save labour". In 1818, Francis Blakie wrote that they were "perhaps the finest set of farm premises in Great Britain". Like other Holkham farms, the buildings were modified and added to in the 1870s, when cattle accommodation was substantially enlarged and improved. These changes are strongly representative of improvements effected elsewhere in this region.