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Summary

Post-medieval farmstead (with 16th or 17th century farmhouse), now largely replaced with modern farm buildings

Monument Types

• FARMSTEAD (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

Manor Farm is shown on the 1847 tithe map <1> in some detail, as a trapezoidal arrangement of barns and other buildings around a compartmented yard with the centre division lined on both sides with smaller sheds, and the farmhouse [1914] to the east, surrounded on the north and east sides with ranges of buildings. Access was from the lane to the north, between the farmstead and the house, but the arrangement is of a single complex with the range north of the house in line with the north barns of the farmstead. The same layout appears on the 1877 OS map, with a few scattered buildings north of the lane, and several pumps providing water. The house is named 'Manor House' in lettering depicting an antiquity.
On the 1898 map <3> all the buildings on the west side of the farmstead are shown in outline, as if derelict or unroofed, but much of the northern line of buildings remained with buildings, some open-fronted, perpendicular to this range in a row along the roadside. By 1924 <4> the farmyard on the 19th century maps had become an orchard, leaving the house and the roadside buildings, with new structures north of the lane. This layout is also shown on the 1937 map <5>. Later in the 20th century most of the farm buildings on both sides of the lane were replaced with modern structures.

There is (or was) also a dovecote <6>.

The farmstead shown on the 19th century maps had a typical post-medieval layout, with some possibly recent elements and compartmentation in accordance with current agricultural practices. Some of the barns are likely to have been 17th century or even 16th century in date, contemporary with the house [1914]. Some of the smaller pre-20th century buildings survive.

<1> Tithe map and award, Bygrave, 1847 (map) (Cartographic material). SHT1377.

<2> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1877 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

<3> OS 25 inch map, 2nd edition (1897-1901), 1898 (Cartographic material). SHT8113.

<4> OS 25 inch map, 3rd edition (1913-1925), 1922-24 (Cartographic material). SHT5271.

<5> OS 25 inch map, 4th edition (1932-47), 1937 (Cartographic material). SHT8092.

<6> Wittering, W O, 1974, Dovecotes and pigeon lofts of Hertfordshire: a comprehensive account; Herts Countryside no.177, vol.29 (Jan 1974), 41-4 (Article in serial). SHT4625.

Sources and further reading

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