Farmbuildings Forming The Farmyard To The North Of Week Farmhouse

The farm buildings forming the farmyard to the north of Week farmhouse were likely built around 1865 for the Duke of Bedford. They are constructed from stone rubble with greenstone dressings and feature slate roofs that are gabled at the ends. The layout is a complete planned farmyard organized around a central dunghouse, with an overshot water wheel serving as the power source.

The west range includes a shippon with five entrances under cut stone arches, and a cartshed at the south end that has four entrances between ashlar stone piers. The north range features a single-storey calf-house with a gable end entrance and ventilation slits, alongside a two-storey building that contains a threshing barn with a loft above and a rear granary next to the water wheel. The east range is likely a fattening house with lofts above, built into the slope of the land to provide direct access to the lofts at the rear.

The south range consists of a small single-storey block with a small yard in front, which is said to have housed dogs, and a larger single-storey building that also has a walled yard. In the center of the yard is a dung house with a hipped roof, connected to the east range by a covered roof leading to a fattening shed, which also has a hipped roof. The leat supplying water to the wheel is carried in a timber trough supported on brick piers.

This farmyard is notably complete, showcasing several characteristic features of the Bedford Estate, including timber linings on most of the slate roofs. Week represents the most complete 19th-century Bedford Estate farmyard in the parish. The 7th Duke of Bedford was recognized as a dedicated improver of the farms on the Tavistock Estate, with his policies and practices documented in David Spring's book, "The English Landed Estate in the Nineteenth Century" published in 1963.