Building record 678/3/1 - Sulby Abbey Farmhouse & Attached Barns

Farmhouse and attached barns. Mid C18. Brick and squared coursed lias with original plain-tile roof.

{1} Farmhouse and attached barns. Mid C18. Brick and squared coursed lias with original plain-tile roof. 3-unit plan. 2 storeys with attic. 3-window range of casements with glazing bars, under shallow brick arches. C19 French doors to far left and C20 casement to far right. Raised brick string course between storeys. Dentilled brick cornice and brick gable parapets. Brick stacks at ridge and end; that to far right rises from an externally projecting open fireplace. Rear is similar with lean-to with leaded-light window and a C19 panelled door. Gable to left of rear elevations has four C19 sashes with glazing bars. C19 two-storey brick barns attached at right angles to left of main front have some chequered patterning to brickwork and casement windows with glazing bars. Interior not inspected but centre room and room to left noted as having open fireplaces and chamfered ceiling beams. The building may incorporate masonry from Sulby Abbey, the site of which is nearby.

{3} Only a shepherd's cottage was left by 1719.

{4} Abbey House is first mentioned in 1615. It was acquired by Christopher Hatton before The Civil War. Only a shepherd's cottage was left by 1719, bearing resemblance to the stone part of the present house. A second storey was added in the C18th by the Lovell family. The present farmhouse buildings are C18/19th but contain fragments of worked and moulded stone.

{5} Standing building at Abbey Farm. It has stone walls 2ft thick, and a projection at the north-east corner. There is a C17th chamfered spine beam. It was formerly a shepherd's cottage, adapted from an earlier building, possibly the Hatton residence. It in turn was possibly adapted from a monastic building.

{6} An archaeological watching brief was undertaken at Sulby Abbey during the building of a new conservatory to the south and east of the existing kitchen. There wa an undated wall to the south of, but on the same alignment as the 18th century farmhouse extension and an undated trackway to the south. The features were sealed by a sterile levelling layer. A single worked stone fragment as well as the occasional Collyweston roof slate fragments and two ceramic tiles, one of which could be dated to the post-medieval period were found.

{7} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/104 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G03 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<4> 1988, Supplementary File, (unchecked) (Letter). SNN51805.

<5> HALL D.N., 1980, Oral Report To SMR, (unchecked) (Oral Report). SNN53038.

<6> Atkins R., 2000, Archaeological Watching Brief, Sulby Abbey, Welford, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN100496.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Sulby (Photographs). SNN113447.

Record last edited

May 18 2022 11:20AM