Farm Buildings at Bettisfield Park Home Farm

Farm Buildings at Bettisfield Park Home Farm

These farm buildings comprise a complex arranged around a sloping yard, built in brick with slate roofs. The layout is organised around a central yard space, with upper and lower levels created by the natural slope of the ground.

The main feature is a two-storey range on the south side of the yard, built into the slope so that the upper storey stabling has direct ground-level access from the rear. This range is brick with a nogged eaves cornice and slate roof. At ground floor level facing the yard are a series of doorways, some with flanking windows, all with basket-arched single-ring brick heads and stone blocks for hinges. The doors are boarded, some with grilles. Towards each end one doorway is contained in an advanced section of walling, and towards the right-hand end one doorway is of greater height. The upper storey has windows towards each end only, with a series of small vents between them.

A rear wing at upper level also serves as stabling and links to an accommodation block incorporating a pigeon tower. The pigeon tower is an octagonal brick structure with a steep, swept pointed roof with leaded angles over nogged eaves. The accommodation block faces north in brick with some pale headers and a slate roof with generous eaves overhang and an octagonal axial chimney. It has simplified gothic detail with painted arched heads to lower openings and painted drop-ended hood-moulds above. The block has a doorway to the right with two windows on each floor in the main elevation and similar windows in the gable end facing the drive.

The west range is stepped to accommodate the sloping ground. The lower section facing the yard is brick with a corrugated sheet roof and formed the shire stables, with a high and wide doorway. At the break in height stands an advanced polygonal horse-engine house with stepped arched recesses containing high-level windows in outward-facing walls and a wide entrance across one face.

A smithy adjoins the lower west range, entered from the west elevation facing the drive. It retains a forge with bellows. Beyond this, at the junction of lower and upper ranges, is an advanced polygonal horse-engine house with stepped arched recesses and high-level windows.

The upper west range has a stepped arched doorway with a window alongside and an oculus over. To its right is a short single-storey block with altered openings.

Adjacent to the west is a further range incorporating the accommodation block and pigeon tower described above. Behind this block and to the left of the tower was the former slaughter house, with two doorways each with a window alongside, all with stepped arched heads, and three windows above. The interior retains a block and hook at ground level and a round-section beam for hoisting.

Advanced to the right of the accommodation block is the wide gable end of a stable range that adjoins the upper storey stables and encloses an upper level yard. This is brick with a slate roof and nogged eaves. The ground floor has three doors and windows with wedge lintels. The return elevation facing the upper yard has a blocked original doorway to the left with an arched rubbed brick head, a wide inserted opening at centre, and then two stable doors each with a window alongside with simple wedge lintels.

Beyond this, the upper storey of the main storeyed range runs east-west at the north of the upper yard. It is brick with a slate roof on generously overhanging eaves and forms a long row of stables. A series of doorways of variable heights and some windows mark this range. The higher status of the upper yard is marked by finer detail: all openings have arched rubbed brick heads, and a stone carved coat of arms appears at the centre. Some wider inserted openings are visible.

The lower storey of the main range includes a series of brick vaulted chambers described as sweating boxes for cows, though not fully inspected.