Grove Farmhouse And Attached Barn Range

Farmhouse. Dating from the mid to late 17th century, with alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries, Grove Farmhouse and its attached barn range were likely developed for the Windham family of Felbrigg Hall. The farmhouse is constructed of flint with red brick dressings and dentilled eaves, with a rendered section. It has a pantile roof with coped gables, a brick central ridge, and brick end stacks. The building follows a four-unit plan.

Externally, the farmhouse presents a two-storey facade with a four-window range of wooden mullion and transom windows. It features a three-light window with a two-light window above the front door centrally to the left, and a four-light window with a three-light window to the right on the ground floor. A gabled porch with a part-glazed door provides access. The rear elevation features a six-panel door with a hood, similar two-light windows under cambered brick arches, and two-light casements to the first floor.

Inside, the ground floor includes stop-chamfered bridging beams, those in the left unit displaying sunk-quadrant moulding and jewelled stops, indicating an early to mid 17th-century origin. A stick baluster staircase and several six-panel doors are also present. Massive stacks with visible 17th-century brickwork are found within the roof space. The roof itself dates to the mid 18th century, featuring principals with collars, two tiers of butt purlins, and coupled rafters. A single-storey larder, washroom, and pantry extension on the north end, dated 1853, bears the initials WHW for William Howe Windham.

The attached barn range is set at right angles to the farmhouse and incorporates similar materials, with a pantile roof facing the house and triple Roman tiles to the rear. Originally two storeys, it appears to have been a 17th-century stable range converted to a barn in the late 18th century. A central double door provides access. Various blocked windows are visible, and a single-storey former cartshed projects forward to face the house, with various doors and windows. Outshots to the rear of the barn are partly under a catslide roof, with further double doors.

The barn’s interior features a probably late 18th or early 19th century six-bay softwood collar truss roof with two tiers of butt purlins; the tie beams may have been added later. Formerly part of the Felbrigg estate, possibly since the 17th century, both the farmhouse and barn range demonstrate careful estate improvements over an extended period, particularly during the mid 19th century.