Lydd Farmhouse

Lydd Farmhouse is a 17th-century barn converted to domestic use in the mid-to-late 19th century. The barn was originally four bays, aligned north-east/south-west, with opposing full-height double doorways in the south-west of the central threshing floor. During the 19th century, the north-eastern two bays were converted into a two-room house facing north-west, incorporating a central front doorway, a staircase, and stacks at each end. The house is two storeys high, while the barn retains an open roof.

The barn’s structure is timber-framed and clad in weatherboarding, with a small section of the house underbuilt with brick. It has 19th-century brick stacks and chimneyshafts, and a peg-tile roof. The converted farmhouse section has an irregular two-window front. The first-floor windows are mid-to-late 19th-century horizontal sliding sash windows; similar windows are located on the rear first floor. Ground-floor casements, the front door, and a monopitch-roofed porch are 20th-century additions. To the right of the farmhouse are full-height double plank doors, characteristic of the original barn. Further doors are located close to the right end and beyond into a secondary lean-to outshot at that end. The roof is gable-ended.

The barn’s interior remains largely intact, with bays defined by full-height wall posts which support tie-beam trusses with clasped side purlins, diminishing principals, and queen struts. Most of the common rafter couples are original, and the centre two bays feature curving windbraces. One end bay of the barn has been sealed off and appears to have been used as a granary, with a sloping wall over the tie sloping towards the end.

Lydd Farmhouse represents an interesting early barn conversion, and contributes to the picturesque character of the Victorian farmyard it occupies.