Stables (Building 5) at Newlands Farm, Southwick and Widley, Hampshire

Summary

Stables, built in the early to mid-C19, with later modifications.

Description

Stables, built in the early to mid-C19, with later modifications.

MATERIALS: brick walls and a slate roof, the slates are most likely a later re-covering.

PLAN: rectangular footprint on a north-south axis, located at the north-west corner of the farmyard.

EXTERIOR: a two-storey brick building which is topped by a half-hipped slate roof. Most of the stable windows and hatches are topped by external header-course brickwork. There is evidence that some of the openings have been modified or are later insertions. The east elevation includes a central doorway with a timber stable door; the surrounding brickwork shows signs of modification. The door is flanked by a pair of windows and above is a hay loft hatch. There is a pair of hay-loft hatches on the north elevation, the brickwork around the lower hatch shows signs of it being a later insertion. There is a large hole in the south-east corner which has been infilled with concrete block. A later ground-floor door has also been inserted into the south end.

INTERIOR: the ground floor includes three timber half-height stall partitions with simple round posts and timber troughs in between. The floor has been covered in concrete with a drainage channel. Above is a hay shoot running along the west side of the building. The east doorway is flanked by a pair of narrow niches. A ladder leads up to the hay loft. The roof consists of trusses with queen struts topped by small king posts at the apex, as well as a pair of purlins. Some of the roof timbers are later replacements, including several of the rafters and battens.

History

There is documentary evidence since at least mid-C13 which refers to the site of Newlands Farm, also known as La Niweland and Newland Farm, as part of the estate of the Augustinian Southwick Priory (founded in 1122). The site may have formed a manor or grange farm, held by the Priory. In 1546, following the Dissolution, the Priory and its lands, including Newland, were granted to John White as part of the Southwick Estate. The former farmhouse at Newlands Farm (Grade II) has a three-bay timber-frame core which appears to be of mid to late-C17 origins, with later extensions. In the early C21, the farmhouse and the attached outbuildings were sold into separate ownership, while the agricultural buildings to the south remained part of the Southwick Estate.

The agricultural buildings, arranged around a central farmyard, are of various dates. There is a threshing barn which is the earliest structure in the group. The historic map and plan evidence indicate that the barn was built or expanded between the late C18 and early C19. The other agricultural buildings, including the stables in the north-west corner of the farmyard, were constructed between the early and late C19.

A marginal plan accompanying the 1790 lease for Newlands Farm shows a building on the site of the farmhouse, and to the south, the farmyard is shown with a long building range spanning its east edge. Another building is shown on the south edge in the location of the threshing barn; however, with a seemingly smaller footprint. The accompanying lease records a house, barns, stables and yard garden. The Map of Hampshire surveyed by Thomas Milne (1791, 1 inch to 1 mile) depicts a group of three buildings marked as’ Newlands’. The Map of Hampshire surveyed by C and J Greenwood (1826, 1 inch to 1 mile) depicts the farm with buildings along the south, east and west sides of the farmyard. The earliest detailed map of the farm is the Parish of Southwick Tithe Map (1839) is the first map to show the stable building in its present location. The map depicts the farmyard surrounded on three sides by buildings, including the long threshing barn with two northern porches, a building on the site of the stables in the north-west corner, and two further buildings on the east side of the farmyard. By the First Edition Ordnance Survey (OS) Map (1870, 1:10560) the granary had been added to the north-east of the main farmyard, and an additional building had been added in the vicinity of what would become an open-fronted shelter near the north side of the farmyard. The First Edition OS Map (1879, 1:2500) depicts two buildings on the north side of the farmyard; the eastern building is shown with attached walled enclosures (no longer extant). An open-front shelter had also been shown added between the threshing barn and the stables. By the Second Edition OS Map (1897,1:2500) the range of buildings on the east side of the farmyard had been rebuilt on a slightly different alignment, extending from the north-east corner of the threshing barn.

Reasons for Listing

The stables (Building 5), part of Newlands Farm, Newlands Lane, Waterlooville are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* its brick envelope survives well and it retains a significant amount of its half-hipped timber-roof structure including the principal trusses, despite later modifications;
* the internal survival of C19 fabric including a substantial hay loft level, and timber stalls and troughs, further contribute to the legibility of the building's historic function.

Historic interest:

* this is a modest yet characteristic example of an early to mid-C19 stable building dating to an important period of farm building development in England.

Group value:

* it has a strong historic functional relationship with the adjacent Newlands Farmhouse (Grade II), and the granary (Grade II).

External Links

Historic England Listing

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.