| Summary: | This report presents the results of a heritage impact assessment carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) for Hackhams Farmhouse, in advance of a proposed planning submission for the conversion of the attached barn into an accommodation annexe and for alterations to the garden room and utility room structures.
Hackhams Farmhouse is a Grade II Listed linear range. The Listing text records it as 17th century or earlier but the house retains smoke-blackened cruck trusses and therefore has a medieval origin as an Open Hall. The house survives with several post-medieval phases of build and some fine interior features such as fireplaces and carpentry. The building has however received significant modernisation in the later 20th and early 21st centuries, by a previous owner, removing some of the post-medieval features of the building, seemingly in an attempt to return it to a more obvious medieval aesthetic which has harmed its overall authenticity and the chronological narrative.
The impact of the conversion of a historic agricultural building is inherently negative to some extent, due to the loss of fittings, and inevitable effects on authenticity and character. However it is felt due to the poor state of the barn’s cob structural elements, that conversion is a sustainable way to ensure the survival of this building which has suffered in the recent past from a lack of maintenance. The utility room is an early-mid 20th century extension which replaced a dairy building in the rear, north yard of the farmhouse; it is felt its adaption could improve the visuals of the building, particularly reflecting the importance of the medieval surviving cross-passage door. The garden room is a late 20th or even early 21st century structure which is fairly recessive in its current visuals but does not contribute positively to the building in any way. |
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