Farmhouse and Attached Barn at Ferny Hill Farm, Cockfosters, London

Description

ENFIELD

790/0/10114 FERNY HILL
15-JAN-08 Farmhouse and attached barn at Ferny H
ill Farm

II
Farmhouse, early C19 with minor later alterations; attached to the east is a barn, late-C17 or early-C18, relocated in early-C19.

MATERIALS: The farmhouse is brick, painted and partially rendered with slate roof. The east wall is also the west wall of the timber framed barn: the barn's timber framing is partially infilled with brick, and has a weatherboarded exterior: the roof is tile and slate.

PLAN: The farmhouse is of two storeys and has a rectangular two bay plan with a porch over the front door at the east end of the north elevation. The roof is hipped, with a centrally placed chimney stack. To the east, the barn is of three bays with roof hipped at its west end where it joins the house. It is extended to the south with a lean to addition which forms a porch and a corridor linking the barn to the adjoining tea room to the east.

FARMHOUSE EXTERIOR: The front elevation contains two twelve-paned sash windows either side of a blind opening placed immediately above two twelve-paned sash windows and a front door. The impression given is one of symmetry, but the two central openings, a window with blind opening above, are placed to the east of the centre of the house. The rear elevation is symmetrical, with two twelve-paned sash windows on the ground storey, and two above. Of the windows, one in the south elevation is unhorned, while in the north elevation only one is horned.

FARMHOUSE INTERIOR: The ground floor contains an entrance hall with staircase and two living rooms. These have back to back fireplaces, and arched alcoves: neither of the fireplaces retains original surrounds or grates. The south-east room also has a built in cupboard with moulded architrave to the south of the fireplace. Its east wall is timber framed, and shared with the barn to the east: its north wall, the partition with the entrance hall, is also timber framed. The north window in the larger living room retains its folding shutters.

A winder stair rises from immediately to the west of the front door, crossing the central ground floor window. The landing rails have stick balusters, while those on the closed string staircase are turned: the newell posts are also turned. From the landing there is access to four rooms. All rooms, including hall and landing, have moulded picture rails, and all doors are four panelled with moulded architraves.

To the rear of the house a stable block has been converted into a kitchen, and is linked to the house by a modern brick flat roofed extension. These are considered as part of a separate case (163287) and are not included in this listing.

BARN EXTERIOR: The north and south walls are weatherboarded above a brick plinth. The south slope of the roof is tile, while that to the north and the roof over the lean-to attached to the south are both slate. This extension also contains three small windows and two doors, including the double doors giving direct access to the barn from the farmyard.

BARN INTERIOR: Much of the original timber framing remains intact, some pieces retaining carpenters marks. The wall posts are cut jowled, clasping wall plates and supporting tie beams. There are braces between the wall posts and tie beams. The purlins are clasped between raking struts and rafters. The rafters are pegged at the ridge, and support a ridge piece which appears to be a later insertion.

The east and west end walls are of box frame construction with substantial central post to tie beam. The west wall is infilled with brick, while the east is infilled with brick to midrail only, and weatherboarded above. The east wall is shared with the neighbouring tearoom, and there is a door placed immediately to the north of the central post. The north and south walls have evenly placed studs above and below the chamfered midrail. The lean-to extension to the south is timber framed with brick infill, with weatherboarded external wall on a brick plinth. There are no threshing doors to the south, but smaller double doors giving access into the farmyard. The threshing doors in the north wall are a modern replacement.

HISTORY: Ferny Hill Farm is associated with the Trent Park estate, established on land that previously formed part of Enfield Chase. In 1777 the Chase was enclosed by Act of Parliament, and the Trent Park estate was created soon after from land granted to Dr Richard Jebb by George III. The farm is not shown on the enclosure award map, but on stylistic grounds the house may be dated to the early C19, while the barn, with which the house shares its east wall, appears to be late-C17 or early-C18. Since it is not shown on the enclosure award map, it seems most likely that it has been moved from another location and reassembled. The farmstead may have been established in the early-C19 as a planned ensemble, an adornment to the Trent Park Estate: the OS map of 1878 shows the house attached to the north-west corner of an enclosed courtyard farm, with substantial barns to the north, and a narrow entrance to the south-east. Subsequent historic maps demonstrate that until 1935 the footprint of buildings around the farmyard remained fairly constant, but since then there have been alterations to the south and east ranges in particular, and additions to the west. The only addition to the house has been the porch over the front door, added between 1878 and 1898.

SOURCES: Wade Martins, S., The English Model Farm (2002).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The farmhouse and attached barn at Ferny Hill Farm are designated for the following principal reasons:

* The farmhouse is a largely intact late-C18 or early-C19 building retaining much of its original fabric and plan form;
* For the association between the famhouse and the earlier late-C17 or early-C18 barn which map evidence and carpenter's marks suggest has been brought from another site;
* Historic interest as part of a planned farmstead established by the newly formed Trent Park Estate following the enclosure of Enfield Chase in 1770;
* As a rural building type in what is now the edge of the metropolis illustrating the long history of farming and settlement in the English landscape.

Reasons for Listing

External Links

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