Researching the history of farm buildings
A farm is complex of dwelling and agricultural buildings. So sources for houses also apply here. Until the Georgian period most farmhouses were built in vernacular styles using local materials. For the grander houses of great estate owners see country houses.
In lowland England manors were converted in the late Saxon period into open-field communal farms. The chief farm buildings were attached to the manor house; the village for the estate workers lay close by. Since villagers could cultivate their own strips in the open fields (in return for working the lord's land) and keep livestock, their homes were farmhouses too, though on a humbler scale.
In highland Britain and in Ireland a pattern of scattered farmsteads and hamlets remained the norm. A hamlet could be formed by a cluster of farmsteads (clachlan) held by members of one family, with an infield and outfield system worked in common. In some areas cattle and sheep were moved in summer to high pastures, where temporary summerhouses were built (booley houses in Ireland, shielings in Scotland, and hafodydd in Wales), some of which were later converted into permanent farmsteads.
From the later Middle Ages to the 19th century open fields were gradually enclosed. When fairly carried out, enclosure exchanged a tenant's scattered strips in the open fields for a consolidated holding, encouraging the building of new farms away from the village. In Wales large areas of open moorland were divided amongst private owners and new farms created. The date of enclosure may therefore help to date a farm complex. To track down the date see:- Chapman, J., Guide to Parliamentary Enclosure in Wales (1992). An appendix gives a brief list of enclosure acts affecting Ireland and Scotland.
- Kain, R. J. P., Chapman, J., and Oliver, R.R., The Enclosure Maps of England and Wales, 1595-1918 : online catalogue and accompanying printed publication (Cambridge University Press, 2004).
- Tate, W.E., Domesday of English Enclosure Acts and Awards (1978).
Meanwhile the wealthier manorial lords built ever grander houses on their favourite manors, often distanced from the smells of the manor farm. In some cases the old manor house and farm in the village was leased, while the lord moved to a new mansion set in parkland. In other cases the farm or even the whole village was moved away from the grand house.
Yet some Georgian landowners were at the forefront of the agricultural revolution, turning their home farms and/or tenant farms into model farms, built on a courtyard plan. Some were designed by notable architects. Books of plans were published in the 18th and 19th centuries (see Eileen Harris for the 18th-century ones).
Studies and gazetteers
- Brown, R.J., English Farmhouses (1982) provides a guide to types and plans, materials and features, with a bibliography and glossary.
- Brunskill, R.W.,Traditional Farm Buildings of England and Wales, revised edn (1987).
- Fowler, P., Farms in England: Prehistoric to Present (1979). Illustrations from the National Monuments Record photographic archive.
- Glendinning, M. and Martins, S.W., Buildings of the Land: Scotland's Farms 1750-2000 (2009).
- Journal of the Historic Farm Buildings Group. Annual journal.
- Lake, J., Historic Farm Buildings: An introduction and guide (1989).
- Martins, S.W., Historic Farm Buildings (1991). Includes a Norfolk study.
- Robinson, J.M., Georgian Model Farms: a study of decorative and model farm building in the age of improvement 1700-1846 (1983). Includes sourced gazetteer for England, Scotland and Wales.
- The University of Gloucestershire, English Heritage and The Countryside Agency, Historic Farmsteads: Preliminary Characterisation (2006): series of booklets by English region, which can be downloaded from ADS or from HELM in pdf format.
Primary sources
- For sources for ownership/occupation see houses, deeds and property taxation and valuation records. For monastic farms see granges.
- Tithe maps and the accompanying schedules are particularly helpful in identifying the location and use of farm buildings in the mid-19th century: see maps.
- The 1910-15 Valuation Office Maps and associated Field Books provide details of ownership and occupation and sometimes additional information: see maps.
- Churchill commissioned the National Farm Surveys of England and Wales, 1940-1943 to assess the ability of British farms to produce food for the duration of the war. The records include details of produce, labour, tenure and occupation. They are in the National Archives.
- Farm buildings of various types and periods can be seen at building museums around the country.
- Also see images.