Cart Lodge at Pond Farm, Stoven

Summary

A late-C18 or early-C19 cart lodge.

Reasons for Designation

The cart lodge at Pond Farm is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* for the high proportion of surviving original fabric, including the timber roof structure with carpenters’ assembly marks.

Historic interest:
* dating from the height of the Agricultural Revolution, the cart lodge illustrates an important phase in the development of English farming practice and the operation of the farmstead at Pond Farm.

Group value:
* for its strong historic functional association with the other listed structures at Pond Farm: the farmhouse, threshing barn, and waggon lodge.

History

Pond Farm was historically known as Green Farm after Middle Green (or Further Green), which lies immediately south of the farmstead.

Evidence from the fabric of the farmhouse suggests that the site has been occupied since at least the C17. However, the farmhouse was remodelled in the second half of the C18 and most of the working buildings around the farmyard date from the later C18 or early-to-mid C19.

By the C18 much of coastal Suffolk formed part of large private estates and was managed by tenant farmers with mixed farms. This was the case at Pond Farm which remained tenanted into the 2010s.

The threshing barn, the cart lodge, the waggon lodge and store were all extant by 1838, at which date they were recorded on the tithe map for the parish of Stoven. Also shown on that map was an additional outbuilding and small cattle yard between the barn and the southern pond which was demolished at some point between 1977 and 1999.

Between 1838 and 1883 a second outbuilding with a small cattle yard was constructed alongside that mentioned above. This building survives but has not been assessed as access was not possible (2024).

The cart lodge is an open-sided shed. It stands facing the principal entrance to the farmyard and provided a dry shelter for wooden carts. It was first recorded in 1838 and is likely to date to the period of major investment in the farmstead in the late-C18 and early-C19 that is reflected in the farmhouse, barn, and waggon lodge. It has undergone very little change except the creation of a concrete floor. It retains its original roof structure, including carpenters’ assembly marks.

Details

A late-C18 or early-C19 cart lodge.

MATERIALS

The walls are built of red brick laid in monk bond and the roof is covered in unglazed pantiles.

PLAN

The building is four bays long and is at right-angles to the road so that it faces south on to the access route into the farmyard.

DESCRIPTION

The windowless, single-storey cart lodge is four bays long and faces south on to the principal access route in to the farmyard. Its hipped roof is covered in unglazed pantiles. Its three walls are built of red brick laid in monk bond. Its open south side is divided by three oak posts with shoulders supporting the wall plate.

Internally the floor is undivided and covered in concrete. The roof structure is original and formed of common rafters (sawn) over tie beams (hewn). They retain their carpenters' assembly marks.

Sources

Other
Tithe map for the parish of Stoven, 1838
Ordnance Survey 25" sequence from 1883 – 1977
Google earth satellite imaging sequence from 1999 to 2019
Historic Farmsteads. Preliminary Character Statement: East of England Region. English Heritage (Historic England), 2006.

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