Description

HEALING WELLS ROAD
TA 10 NE
(north-west side, off)
6/6 Farm range on north side of
Healing Wells Farm

26.3.87 II

Multifunctional farm building (stable, granary, dovecote, store), late C18 or early C19. Centre section rebuilt, probably mid C19. Red brick mainly in Flemish bond, English Garden Wall bond to rear and rebuilt centre section. Pantile roofs.

PLAN
Two storey central section of two wide bays flanked by single bay end towers of three storeys, all above a full cellar that has vaulted openings through to the south east, the cellar being at the ground level of the adjacent former farm yard.

EXTERIOR
End towers:
The towers are capped by shallow pitched pyramidal roofs. The towers feature full height, round arched, recessed panels to the end and front elevations, with a two course brick band just below the impost level of the arches. Each panel has a central, round arched opening on each floor, with the arches being formed with brick headers and the sills being two courses of projecting brickwork. The height of the openings decrease upwards, thus the second floor openings are lunettes, those to the first floor are windows and to the ground floor they are doorway sized. However a number of the openings are blind, mostly blocked with brickwork that appears to be original (with the exception of the doorway to each end elevation which appear to be more recently blocked). Each end elevation also has a wide, segmentally arched opening to the cellar.

The rear (north west) elevation of the towers are plain. The south west tower has just a single square opening at first floor level that has been inserted. The north east tower has a first floor doorway with a timber lintel below a segmental, brick, relieving arch; the doorway being served by an external flight of steps.

Central section:
This is constructed with thicker bricks than those employed for the towers. The south east elevation is blind except for an inserted doorway with a timber lintel, but has a central section that is slightly broken forward. The north west elevation has two round arched openings to the first floor, that to the left being blind. The ground floor has two doorways with timber lintels, the doorways being offset outwards from the first floor openings. The pantiled pitched roof of the central section was largely collapsed at the time of the re-inspection.

INTERIOR
The above ground interior was not inspected.

The farm range is built on a low rise and has a full cellar that is at the same level as the former farmyard to the south east. (At the time of the inspection, this former farmyard was covered in C20 farm buildings and not accessible). The cellar is tunnel vaulted of elliptical cross section with groined cross vaults associated with side openings, all constructed from gauged brickwork. The south east side has three cart openings, the central one retaining doors to a vaulted tunnel through to the former farm yard. The flanking openings have been blocked with brickwork, but probably originally connected with the ground floors of the original farm ranges which flanked the yard. The north east side has narrow openings, possibly originally chutes, which have also been blocked with brickwork.

HISTORY
The building is dated on stylistic grounds (both its brickwork and architecture) to the late C18 or early C19, with the central section being a later rebuild, probably mid C19. The parish retained its open fields into the C19, being enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1853. The farm range is interpreted as an example of a multifunctional farm building incorporating ground floor stabling, first floor granary and other storage with dovecots occupying the top floors of the two towers. The large cellar may have been used for livestock housing or possibly feed processing. English agriculture led the world in the late C18 and into the C19, with investment in new forms of farm buildings, often enlivened with an architectural treatment, becoming fashionable with the landed gentry. Reaching the height of sophistication with model farms which were typically large and complex establishments, the farm range at Healing Wells is a good example of the same approach employed on a smaller scale.

SOURCES
Wade Martins, S 2002 "The English Model Farm"

REASON FOR DESIGNATION
The farm range at Healing Wells Farm is designated at grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architecture: As a good example of a principal farm building designed to be pleasing to the eye as well as being functional, employing architectural devices such as good quality brickwork and blind openings to preserve symmetry.
* Design: As a good example of farming technology employed in the early C19, organising several functions (including stabling, storage and dove-housing) into a single building.

Listing NGR: TA1989009802

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26630465

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)