Great Park Farmhouse And Attached Shippon And Poundhouse

Great Park Farmhouse is a farmhouse with an attached shippon and poundhouse, dating primarily from the 1830s, with the agricultural buildings likely originating in the 18th century. The farmhouse is constructed of local volcanic trap stone with ashlar dressings and rusticated quoins, while a rear wing and the west return are roughcast. It has a slate roof and ridge and end stacks with brick shafts. The shippon and poundhouse are built of red cob on stone rubble footings, with a corrugated plastic roof, likely originally thatched.

The farmhouse has a T-plan, featuring a 3-room through-passage plan to the main range and a former dairy on the ground floor of the rear wing, which has been extended with a brick lean-to on the west side. The exterior has a long, asymmetrical 4-window front with regular fenestration, deep boarded eaves, and chimney shafts with blind slits in the brickwork. A panelled front door is located to the right of centre, with an overlight featuring diamond panes. The windows are iron-framed casements with small square panes and moulded mullions. The right return is similarly constructed, while the left return is roughcast. The rear dairy wing has a gable. A panelled back door opens into the through passage. The shippon and poundhouse range, attached to the rear of the farmhouse on the north-east side, features a hipped roof at the north end. The west side, facing the yard, has doorways into the poundhouse and shippon, 3 ground floor windows, and 3 loft windows. The north end has a modern doorway, a decayed window with a timber lintel, and a 2-light first floor window.

The interior of the farmhouse was not inspected but likely retains original features. The shippon and poundhouse contain an internal brick partition and a king post and strut roof dating to the early 19th century. The buildings were built for the Downes estate. The farmhouse’s plan is notable for its unusual form, resembling that of Wellparks, another Downes estate farm. It suggests either a rebuild or a late survival of a 3-room and cross-passage plan. The agricultural building dates from an earlier phase, before the planned yard to the southwest of the farmhouse was constructed, and remains a significant element within the historic farm group.