Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire Historic Farmstead Characterisation Project (Part of the West Midlands Farmsteads and Landscapes Project) Benjamin Morton Archaeological Information and Advice Warwickshire Museum Field Services Warwickshire County Council With contributions from Jeremy Lake English Heritage V2.1 June 2011 All images and maps are copyright Warwickshire County Council, 2010 unless otherwise specified. Ordnance Survey data Crown Copyright All Rights Reserved Licence Number 100019520 2010 Front cover image: Abbey Farm, Merevale, North Warwickshire 2 Contents: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................5 1.0 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................6 2.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE FARMSTEADS AND LANDSCAPE PROJECT.................8 2.1 AIMS ......................................................................................................................................8 2.2 OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................................................................8 2.3 PRODUCTS..............................................................................................................................8 2.4 APPLICATIONS........................................................................................................................9 3.0 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................10 3.1 INTRODUCING CHARACTERISATION .....................................................................................10 3.2 INTRODUCING HISTORIC FARMSTEAD CHARACTERISATION.................................................12 3.3 HISTORIC FARMSTEAD CHARACTER STATEMENTS...............................................................13 3.4 HISTORIC FARMSTEADS MAPPING........................................................................................14 3.4.1 Farmstead Identification ................................................................................................14 3.4.2 Farmstead Plan Form.....................................................................................................14 3.4.3 Farmstead Date ..............................................................................................................15 3.4.4 Farmstead Location........................................................................................................15 3.4.5 Farmstead Survival.........................................................................................................15 3.4.6 Modern Sheds .................................................................................................................15 4.0 FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY.....................................................................................16 4.1 LANDSCAPE AND SETTLEMENT ............................................................................................16 4.2 FARMSTEADS .......................................................................................................................16 4.3 OUTFARMS AND FIELD BARNS .............................................................................................20 4.4 SMALLHOLDINGS .................................................................................................................21 5.0 FARMSTEADS AND LANDSCAPES IN WARWICKSHIRE .........................................22 5.1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................22 5.2 LANDSCAPE AND SETTLEMENT ............................................................................................22 5.2.1 Geology and Topography ...............................................................................................22 5.2.2 Landscape Character .....................................................................................................25 5.3 HISTORICAL FARMING DEVELOPMENT.................................................................................29 5.4 FARMING REGIONS...............................................................................................................31 5.5 NATIONAL CHARACTER AREAS ...........................................................................................31 5.5.1 Arden (NCA 97)..............................................................................................................32 5.5.2 Dunsmore and Feldon (NCA 96)....................................................................................32 5.5.3 Leicestershire Vales (NCA 94) .......................................................................................33 5.5.4 Northamptonshire Uplands (NCA 95) ............................................................................33 5.5.5 Mease/Sence Lowlands (NCA 72)...................................................................................34 5.5.6 Trent Valley Washlands (NCA 96)..................................................................................34 5.5.7 Cotswolds (NCA 107) .....................................................................................................35 5.5.8 Severn and Avon Vales (NCA 106).................................................................................35 6.0 RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................36 6.1 HISTORIC FARMSTEAD RECORDS .........................................................................................36 6.2 HISTORIC FARMSTEADS: LANDSCAPE AND SETTLEMENT CONTEXT ....................................39 6.2.1 Isolated Farmsteads .......................................................................................................40 3 6.2.2 Village-based Farmsteads ..............................................................................................41 6.2.3 Shrunken Medieval Village-based Farmsteads ..............................................................42 6.2.4 Loose Farmstead Clusters ..............................................................................................43 6.2.5 Farmsteads within Parks and Designed Landscapes .....................................................46 6.2.6 Present Patterns of Settlement........................................................................................47 6.2.7 Farmsteads and Settlement Change ..............................................................................48 6.2.8 Farmsteads and Fields ...................................................................................................51 6.2.9 Farmsteads and Landscape Character Assessment........................................................56 6.3 20TH CENTURY CHANGE .......................................................................................................57 6.3.1 Change to Historic Farmstead Form..............................................................................57 6.3.2 Sheds...............................................................................................................................63 6.4 DATING EVIDENCE FOR RECORDED HISTORIC FARMSTEADS ...............................................65 6.5 DATED FARMSTEADS AND HLC...........................................................................................74 6.5.1 Case Study – Dated Historic Farmsteads and HLC .......................................................75 6.6 FARMSTEAD TYPES ..............................................................................................................78 6.6.1 The Position of the Farmhouse.......................................................................................78 6.7 FARMSTEAD PLAN TYPES.....................................................................................................86 6.8 THE PRINCIPAL FARMSTEAD TYPES .....................................................................................87 6.8.1 Loose courtyard plans ....................................................................................................91 6.8.2 Regular Courtyard Plans................................................................................................98 6.8.3 Dispersed plans ............................................................................................................111 6.8.4 Small Plan types: Linear, L-plan (house attached), Parallel and Row ........................115 6.9 FARMSTEAD SIZE ...............................................................................................................122 6.9.1 Small-scale farms .........................................................................................................123 6.9.2 Medium-scale farms .....................................................................................................125 6.9.3 Large-scale farmsteads.................................................................................................127 6.10 OUTFARMS AND FIELD BARNS ...........................................................................................129 6.11 SMALLHOLDINGS ...............................................................................................................131 7.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................133 8.0 CASE STUDY ......................................................................................................................138