Farm Buildings, Ireley Farm

Farm buildings at Ireley Farm date to the second half of the 19th century and were built for the Toddington Estate. They are constructed of coursed squared stone with projecting ashlar quoins to the stable and barn ranges; ashlar to the front of the hackney stable; and have stone slates. The buildings enclose the main yard, almost completely surrounding it, with a further wing extending to one side. Most are single-storey with a granary loft.

The barn range, facing the farmhouse, has a projecting wing away from the road. A single bay on the right is slightly lower and narrower than the rest, with a boarded door under a stone lintel, originally for poultry. A blank wall is to the left, with quoins at each end and a boarded door leading to the granary stairs. A double boarded door, stone lintel, and rendered panel are located to the left, followed by a three-bay barn, slightly lower, featuring double boarded doors with a cambered timber lintel and slit air vents with three short cross slits on each side.

The interior of the barn range has a loft with interrupted tie-beam trusses. Access is provided through a driveway with a later opening to the barn, and a porch at the far end. The barn itself has collar and tie-beam trusses, and two pairs of purlins. An opening leads to the yard, and beyond that a lofted stable with raised quoins and a boarded door with a small window on either side, both under stone lintels. A range at right angles contains a passage, three boarded doors interspersed with windows, and glass over hit-and-miss ventilators. It originally comprised two cowhouses with a feeding passage. A return wing on the left has two pigsties with semi-circular heads to the openings, three loose boxes for horses (possibly originally a nag stable and coach house), one single and one paired stable door, and better-quality stonework with courses following the line of the ground.

A separate return wing to the barn incorporates a cowhousing with a two-bay stone front featuring alternating doors and windows. A seven-bay, partly boarded front originally featured an open arrangement for loose yard cattle. A paved causeway runs around the yard. Two further yards for loose cattle are located behind, with sheds of two periods (six and ten bays), and an original trough surviving. A cartshed adjoins the end nearest the stable; it opens away from the yard and has three bays with no front support. The trusses feature bolted gussets; tie-beams and collars; an iron queen post; and a trussed beam set back from the wallplate. This is a good, relatively unaltered set of 19th-century farm buildings, forming a group with Ireley Farmhouse.