SNN117205 - HERITAGE BUILDING RECORD: A Post Medieval Farmhouse and 19th - 20th Century Farm Buildings at Charwelton Lodge, Woodford Halse, NN11 3DH

At the end of 20I8 Mr & Mrs Morgan took possession of Charwelton Lodge with 56 acres. There was the main house, the Lodge, and a range of outbuildings. It could be determined from the ironstone remains that structures had existed on the site since the 17th Century. The house had been uninhabited for some time. Whilst attempts had been made in the past to improve its comfort due to its exposed position on the top of a hill the efforts had been unsuccessful. The external walls of the house were part brick, part damaged or missing render or painted. The roof was slated. Sash windows were rotten/non-existing. lnternally there was rampant dry and wet rot. The cellar had fallen in. As the house was not listed and it had not been categorically designated by the West Northamptonshire Council. Conversions were undertaken to bring the house to current modern standards, which are those indicated in the photographs. The outbuildings and yards comprised a large 19th Century brick threshing barn in the process of being restored, vestiges or remains of previous buildings some with stone foundations or walls, evidence of previous stables and tack rooms. ln local memory it had been a livery stable and of its more recent use as a cattle yard and hovels. Additions had been made in the 20th Century with large steel framed asbestos roofed buildings for uses which have not been precisely determined.The farm sits on the junction of an area covered by three hunts; the Pytchley, the Grafton and the Bicester. For a more detailed understanding of the farm buildings see the Nineteenth Century Farm page for Historical Background and Context.