19th century farm at Yardley Hall, Thaxted (EHER 48560)

A group of typical 19th century farm buildings creating a quadrangle.

August 2014. Level 3 building survey. The cow byre, pig pens, and granary were all erected as timber-framed buildings with elm and reused oak frames about 1800 at the same time as the main barn (reported on separately in 2011). Built of typical primary braced nailed interrupted studwork they were built as a reaction to the Napoleonic War era demand for grain production caused by trade embargoes. The fourth building, a long open shelter, was built on the south-east side of the farmyard to complete the quadrangle between 1874 and 1897. This had a reused elm frame and a new machined softwood roof. The cow byre was reroofed with a similar design. The buildings were incrementally repaired and largely crystallised until they fell out of use in the mid 20th century. The cow byre had a room devoted to pigs, while the pig pen was used to rear game birds. The granary was converted to a small home office in the late 20th century and a workshop built in the end of the open shelter at the same time. <1>