Mid 19th century piggery and 20th century outshots at Lower Barn Farm, Hungerdown Lane (EHER 80508)

A brick-built piggery composed of four rooms divided by brick walls under one continuous roof. It was designed with two shelters, open fronted to the south, and a closed central stable. It has been heavily altered in the 20th century to suit the needs of the farm. Two 20th century outshots on its north elevation provide extra store and a workshop.

April 2010. Heritage assessment. A brick-built piggery composed of four rooms divided by brick walls under one continuous roof. It was designed with two shelters, open fronted to the South, and a closed central stable. The first, westernmost room, was probably originally open to the West, and likely served as the manure store. This elevation is now closed with timber framing and the brickwork may have also been extended to the west at some point before its enclosure, evidenced by a vertical joining seam. It is now used as a store. It is a peculiar design obviously built for a purpose. The open fronted shelters would have served just as well for cattle or horses and there was provision for mangers to be fixed to the brick walls. The Easternmost shelter has been closed off with a combination of early 20th century blockwork and machined softwood studs, whilst the west one has been closed with a timber frame clad in corrugated iron. It is also now used as a store. The central stable has been divided into three large pig pens using more medium density blocks, and the same layout has been applied to the Easternmost room, with the addition of a refuge pen at the rear for piglets. The floors are all concrete. The roof was clad in pantiles and there were many glass tiles to allow light in from the roof. Blockwork pens extend from the building to the South. Built up against the north elevation are two 20th century outshots. The larger of the two is roughly the same dimensions as Room 2 (the west in-filled shelter) but is off-set slightly to the east. It is of timber frame construction with a mixture of 20th century corrugated steel and timber cladding and has a mon-pitched corrugated steel clad roof. It is accessed via a door in its west end (a second doorway has also been knocked through into Room 2) and is used as a workshop. Abutting this face of the outshot is the second lean-to structure of similar construction which is open to the West and used as a store. The piggery was built by 'JP' at the same time as the cart lodge, in 1851, and both carry date bricks. The building was ‘blessed’ by inscribing daisy wheels and saltire crosses. <1>