Post-medieval farm buildings at at Hunters Hall Farm, Epping Upland, Epping (EHER 82952)

The farm buildings at Hunter’s Hall represent the remnants of a farmyard development of high quality brick buildings in a courtyard alignment developed in the Victorian High Farming period, around 1900. The farm buildings form a rectangular crescent north of Hunters Hall farmhouse (EHER 3773), listed clockwise from the south-west as follows: pig pens, piggery, storage barn, store, stables/milking parlour, and stable/coach house.

2025. Building survey. PHASE 1: 1896-1920 Evidenced by the fabric and design of the buildings and the Ordnance Survey mapping between these two dates. The North Range was demolished between 1896 and 1920. The East Range is shown in place but it has been completely rebuilt following the Great Gales of 1987 and 1989. Apart from some reassembled frames none of the fabric is original. The Storage Barn, Stable and Piggery were built at the same time using the same sized 65x110x225mm red bricks – the standard Victorian brick size. The three buildings each have identical king strut trusses with machined softwood roofs. The Storage Barn and Piggery are near identical buildings except the Storage Barn is one bay longer. The Storage Barn has retained most of its softwood roof including the trusses, the purlins and the rafters. The Piggery and Stable have only the trusses and purlins and all the rest of the roof is brand new. All the buildings were badly damaged by the Great Gales of 1987 and 1989 and new roofs were added at that time. The Piggery has been identified as such because of the exterior pig pens, the Storage Barn was most likely a mix of stables and workrooms. In 1920 half of the farmyard was covered over, most likely to protect cattle, indicating the early 20th century use of the farm. PHASE 2: 1920-1973 The Stable was built as a self-contained building and then extended with the addition of the Coach House which map evidence shows was between 1920 and 1973. Prior to this there was another standalone building. The Coach House has been executed to be very similar with similar brickwork and doors and is likely from the 1920’s. There is an applied board with mild steel harness trees for enough harnesses to would have served the whole farm when horses were the main source of power. By the time of the Second World War, most of the horses would have been replaced with tractors and the need for a Coach House would be little. PHASE 3: post-1989 In 1987 and 1989 there were two countrywide hurricanes later called the Great Gales. The first was especially destructive to older farm buildings which were timber framed or with timber roofs that had been allowed to decay through decades of neglect. Many buildings were destroyed, blown flat or lost their roofs. At Hunter’s Hall the East Range was destroyed. The 1973 Ordnance Survey map shows that half the farmyard was covered with a shelter that is now lost. The roofs of all the other buildings were damaged. The most interesting feature is the reinstatement of the eastern perimeter wall using London Stock bricks. This type of brick was popularised in the 1830s as a mass produced brick used in huge building developments including railway buildings and social housing. Map evidence shows the East Range was erected between 1838 and 1876 which is a good timeframe for the use of London Stock bricks. However, the brickwork is extremely clean, lacking a polluted patina or case hardening. The pointing is interesting in that it has flint tempering but the joints are too thick and too buttered to be authentic to the mid 19th century. All the other brickwork on the site is red, early 20th century for the Stable and Coach House, Piggery and Storage Barn. The brickwork in the eastern wall of the Eastern Range is late 20th century and continues in the North Range built after the Great Gales of 1987 and 1989. The eastern wall of the south bays of the Eastern Range contains primary braced interrupted studwork made from reused much older timbers (possibly of around 1880) but they have all be re assembly at least twice. The later phase indicated by wire nails and bandsawn cladding boards. All the buildings have drained concrete floors for animal husbandry. The Eastern Range appears to have been outfitted as a milking parlour and the Stable was converted to a pump engine room. The other buildings appear to have been piggeries. Information from <1>.