Site of 19th century or possibly earlier farm, Little Shelford, Foulness Island (EHER 82616)

Now destroyed. Nineteenth century farm buildings, associated garden plots and outhouses are visible on 1940s aerial photographs, at Little Shelford. The farm is located on the western side of Foulness Island in an area owned by the government and used during World War II by the Armament Research Department and subsequently by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) (EHER 46720). The farmhouse was probably abandoned before or during the war and may subsequently have been used by the military for accommodation or storage. It was demolished during the establishment of AWRE and the foundations of the farmhouse can be seen on photographs taken in 1955. In 1873 Little Shelford comprised five brick built buildings and one wooden structure. Only the main farm building, within its garden was still extant in 1946. Place name evidence suggests that the settlement may have medieval origins. The area to the immediate north of the main farm buildings appears disturbed on the aerial photographs and some of this is clearly relatively recent, probably mid-twentieth century military activity. However, parts of the earthworks in this area appear to be a mix of man made and natural features some of which could relate to post medieval or possibly even medieval settlement.

NRHE data transfer: Nineteenth century farm buildings, associated garden plots and outhouses are visible on 1940s aerial photographs, at Little Shelford. The farm is located on the western side of Foulness Island in an area owned by the government and used during World War II by the Armament Research Department and subsequently by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) (EHER 46720). The farmhouse was probably abandoned before or during the war and may subsequently have been used by the military for accommodation or storage. It was demolished during the establishment of AWRE and the foundations of the farmhouse can be seen on photographs taken in 1955. In 1873 Little Shelford comprised five brick-built buildings and one wooden structure. Only the main farm building, within its garden was still extant in 1946. Place name evidence suggests that the settlement may have medieval origins (<1>). The area to the immediate north of the main farm buildings appears disturbed on the aerial photographs. Some of this is clearly relatively recent, probably mid-twentieth century military activity. However, parts of the earthworks in this area appear to be a mix of man-made and natural features some of which could relate to post-medieval or possibly even medieval settlement. This area is not clear on the available aerial photographs but parts of a ditched boundary, or drain are situated to the north-west of the farmhouse can be seen. A circular depression next to this boundary could be a pond or a bomb crater. These are both near buildings marked on the 1873 OS map. The farmhouse is centred at TQ 9800 9062. The boundary is 32m long with a possible perpendicular extension 20m long and is centred at TQ 9799 9070. The possible crater is at TQ 9801 9068. To the west of these features, there are hints of earthworks that could be traces of platforms but the photography is not clear enough to be sure. These are centred at TQ 9796 9070. The areas immediately around the farmhouse are heavily scarred and traces of possible military structures, which have been removed, can be seen in this scarring, which suggest the area may have been associated with ad hoc weapons testing. <1> <2> <3>