Home Farm

Home Farm, Culford

This is a model farm of 18th-century origin, substantially developed with additions and alterations in 1830 for the Reverend Benyon and again in 1890 for Lord Cadogan, with further late 20th-century alterations. The earliest part is timber-framed on a brick and flint plinth, while later sections are constructed of yellow brick incorporating flint walling. The roofs are covered in Welsh slate.

The farm comprises a central complex of buildings primarily for cattle, with ancillary detached buildings serving other functions. The central complex consists of a barn to the south-west and a stable block to the north-west. Behind the barn runs a multi-gabled range aligned north-west to south-east, beginning at the north-west end with a covered yard, followed by shelter sheds, loose boxes and cow stalls. At the south-east end of this range is a former cutting house, stables and cartshed building, with a waterwheel house and root house, and a granary above at the south-west end, running across the south-east gable of the barn. North-east of the access way is an L-shaped range of pig sties with an enclosed yard and an attached feed house, which connects with a wide range to the south-east. This wide range comprises back-to-back cart sheds incorporating stables and a gig house. Further south-east stands a small detached range of stables that formed the horse hospital.

On the south-west elevation, the barn has a weather-boarded front with three pairs of double doors to the threshing floors. At the right-hand end is a water wheel house extension set back from the main line. Beyond the left-hand end is a single-storey stable of flint with brick dressings, featuring a single doorway and flanking windows beneath segmental brick arches. Further left and set back within enclosure walling stands a single-storey stable block with a central two-storey tower and altered openings to the left-hand part.

The south-east elevation returns against the gable with doorways to the ground floor and granary above. A hoist arm projects above the upper doorway. An advanced weather-boarded gable at the left end has a brick chimney added at the front and a timber stair to the loft doorway. To the right is the former cutting house with an altered doorway, followed by a double boarded doorway and a 20th-century infill to a former cart shed arcade. Two louvred ventilators serve the ridge.

The north-east elevation comprises a series of gables to buildings enclosing open yards, cattle stalls and the covered yard. A brick gable at the left end bears a datestone of 1890 and the Cadogan family crest set in the gable apex, with two doorways and a hit and miss ventilator below. To the right is a yard with later shelter shed infill and a flint gable to a further cattle shed with a louvred ridge ventilator. Beyond this is a yard now containing an inserted 20th-century shed, followed by the former bullock and cow house with a wide gable housing a double doorway, windows with iron frames and three circular vents above, and a long partially-glazed ridge ventilator. The furthest right section is the double-gabled end of the covered yard with weatherboarded margins to the apexes.

Internally, the 18th-century barn contains 13 bays with wall posts and knee braces carrying tie beams. Pegged collars clasp purlins that are not aligned with the tie beams. Two weather-boarded timber partitions and doorways lead into a contemporary framed lean-to. This space now houses part of a tramway system which delivered feedstuff prepared within the barn to the cattle sheds and covered yard, with turntables positioned at the end of each of these areas adjacent to the barn and running the length of the buildings at right angles to the barn.

The wheel house attached to the barn retains a metal curved bucket low breast wheel with integral gearing and drive shaft with bevel gearing, which formerly provided power to line shafting and a water pumping system within the complex, much of which remains in situ. The granary above contains later grain bins and a wooden hoist wheel. The covered yard features a central arcade of braced timber posts supporting king-post trusses with metal tension rods. The former bullock and cow house retains some cast-iron stalls and glazed tiling.

The ancillary buildings include pig sties and a yard with cast-iron fronts and feed chutes to individual enclosures set back within a braced arcaded front. A feed house with a chimney is linked to a wide cart shed with gig house, where the cart bays are arranged within timber arcades and back-to-back with central arcade posts set on a low spine wall. Enclosed bays at the south-west end formerly served as a manure house and (at the end) a men's room. Across a small yard to the south-east, three former stables each with roof louvres comprised the horse hospital.

This is a multi-period farmstead representing the final phase of development to house Lord Cadogan's prize dairy herd. It forms a unique summary of the aspirations of the High Farming era, with carefully planned provision for the efficiency of cattle management, including mechanised feed preparation and delivery, alongside thoughtful provision for horses and pigs. The transformation of the barn's function from a crop processing and storage centre to a feed preparation and storage area is graphically demonstrated on the site. The survival of a near-complete tramway system and water wheel-driven power system is particularly rare and significantly enhances the importance of this notable 19th-century model farm.