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Summary

Sykes Farm, Croft.

Full description

Sykes Farm, Croft. Partially extant 19th century farmstead. Loose courtyard with three sides of the courtyard formed by working agricultural buildings. The farmhouse is detached from the main working complex. There has been significant loss (greater than 50%) of traditional buildings. Isolated location. Large modern sheds are located to the side of the site. {1}

The farmstead is believed to have been constructed in about 1820, with tenants known to have occupied the farm from 1825. Photographs taken of the farm buildings in the early 20th century show the buildings to have been brick-built, with pitched pantile roofs. The farm passed between several different ownerships until 1939, when it was requisitioned by the Army. It was used during the Second World War to provide accomodation for personnel manning the nearby Gibraltar Point Coastal Defence Battery (see MLI43285). This accommodation was greatly expanded after the establishment of the subsequent anti-tank artillery training range at Gibraltar Point (see MLI125932), when a large number of Nissen huts were sited around the edge of the paddock to the immediate south of the main farmstead.
The former farmhouse caught fire in 1947, possibly as a result of a stray incendiary target indicator round. It had been de-requisitioned by the Army and was unoccupied at the time, and was severely damaged by the fire. The house was largely demolished by the end of 1952, with the remaining former farm buildings falling into disrepair. These buildings included a stable range with probable attached threshing barn, and a four-bay cartshed with likely granary to the upper floor (see MLI125914).
The farmstead was purchased in 1978 by what was then the Lincolnshire Naturalists Trust (now Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust), as part of the expansion and development of the Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve. Most of the surviving farm buildings were found to be unsafe and were demolished in 1982. {2}{3}

<1> English Heritage, 2015, English Heritage Farmsteads Project, 5641 (Digital Archive). SLI15702.

<2> Dr Mike Osborne, 1999, Defence of Britain Notes, - (Unpublished Document). SLI16825.

<3> Barrie Wilkinson, 2018, The Story of Gibraltar Point, pp.49-65, 70, 74 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI17012.

Monument Types

• FARMSTEAD (Post Medieval to Modern - 1820 AD? to 2050 AD)

Sources and further reading

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