| Summary: | Kigbeare Farm may well occupy a site much older than the 18th/19th century date suggested by the present farm buildings which appear to reflect those depicted on the Tithe Map. The farmhouse lies at the northern end of the main rectangular courtyard, with a cottage and barn with horse-engine house to the west, a possible barn and open-fronted building to the south, and a linhay to the east. There are additional buildings, including a cottage, around a small courtyard to the north.
Kigbeare is first documented in the Domesday Survey as Cacheberge when it was held by Baldwin the Sheriff and underlet to his house steward, Rainer. It had previously been held by the Saxon Saewin. The manor descended to the de Langford family who held it into the 15th century when in passed into the Deviock family and then by marriage into the Cary family around 1520. The manor was subsequently taken over by the Rattenburys. In 1674 Thomas Rattenbury paid on nine hearths, the highest legible figure in that year's hearth tax. A sale notice of 1799 describes the "Manor or Lordship" of "Kigbeer" as "a capital Messuage and Farm, Corn and Grist Mills, and Tenements, with upwards of 400 Acres of Land, divided into several Tenements". The manor appears to have been purchased by John Newton in about 1806 and the following year in an advert for the tenancy the property was described as "consisting of a good farm-house, with necessary barns and outbuildings, and upwards of 300 acres of arable, meadow and pasture land; with an unlimited right upon Kigbeare commons, containing upwards of 200 acres". The tithe survey of around 1840 provides the most detailed picture of the site, then owned by John Gubbins Newton. The major part, including the farmhouse, was occupied by John Banbury. By 1881 John Banbury has been succeeded by Henry Newcombe and the family continued in ocupation until at least 1910. There is less information available for the 20th century. See report for more details.
A number of archaeological sites of interest have been identified within the assessment area including boundaries, trackways and the possible site of Kigbeare Mill. Three areas have also been identified where peat deposits may survive. However, the most significant site is the deserted medieval settlement of Kigbeare visible as platforms and other earthworks in a field named "Old Town Mead". This has been dated by excavation to the 13th/14th century, after which time it appears to have been abandoned. It is likely, therefore, that references to Kigbeare hamlet continuing into the 19th century are used to mean a separate administrative division. The field is adjoined by another called "Chapel Meadow" but no documentary references to a chapel at Kigbeare have been located. The presence of a chapel would, however, suggest that Kigbeare was a more substantial settlement in medieval times, such as a hamlet or small village, and has since shrunk to a single farmstead. |
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