SOUTH EAST Regional Summary

Building Types

Characteristic building types and features include:

high numbers of pre-1750 farmstead buildings, particularly in wood-pasture areas;
aisled barns of 13th-century to 19th-century date;

A large loose courtyard farmstead with two barns
A large loose courtyard farmstead with two barns: the 16th-century aisled barn to the right and a 17th-century 10-bay aisled barn behind the farmhouse, which itself dates from the 16th century. (Hampshire Downs) Photograph ©Bob Edwards

timber-framed barns including combination barns in pastoral areas;

An aisled barn attached in-line to the farmhouse
Barns and Crop Storage in the South East Region. An aisled barn attached in-line to the farmhouse. Linear plan farmsteads are unusual in the South East Region. (High Weald)

brick and flint barns mostly dating from the late 18th century;

A 19th-century staddle barn
A typical threshing barn on the Sussex Downs constructed of flint and brick. © English Heritage

staddle barns, dating from the late 18th to early 19th century, are unusual unaisled timber-framed barns raised on staddle stones. They are found in the downland areas of west Berkshire and Hampshire (also found in east Wiltshire and Dorset);

A 19th-century staddle barn
A 19th-century staddle barn. This example has staddle stones along one side only – the side facing the yard has a conventional plinth wall.(Hampshire Downs) © Marion Brinton

detached granaries set on staddle stones, mostly 18th to 19th century in date;

Granaries in the South East Region
Granaries in the South East Region. A Free-standing timber-framed granary on staddle stones.This example is of two storeys with fitted grain bins but smaller, single-storey granaries that probably held seed corn are common. Such granaries are characteristic of the south-east of England and southern East Anglia where the timber framing is typically weatherboarded although examples are found as far west as Cornwall where the framing is often slate hung. (Thames Basin Heaths)

oast houses in and around the Weald;

Oast houses
Oast houses are a highly characteristic building of the High Weald, the Low Weald and the Wealden Greensand. Occasionally early oasts constructed within older barns survive but most have brick-built square or circular kilns, sometimes with both forms on the same range. (High Weald) © Jeremy Lake

detached stables, often brick-built;

Larger farmsteads with two stables
Larger farmsteads may have two stables: one for the working horses and one for the riding horses.This late 18th- or early 19th-century brick and flint stable with hayloft over is located close to the farmhouse and would have housed a riding horse. A larger stable for the working horses lies across the farmyard. (Hampshire Downs) © Bob Edwards

detached cart sheds;

Cart shed and granary
Cart shed and granary typical of the later 19th century. (Thames Basin Heaths) © Bob Edwards

open-fronted cattle sheds, often 19th-century additions to earlier farmsteads.

Cattle housing in the South East
Before the widespread provision of buildings for cattle, they would be sheltered in the farmyard during winter, protected from the prevailing wind by the barn which could have an open-fronted lean-to structure built against it to give some additional protection from the weather. (Thames Basin Heaths) © Bob Edwards

Regional Context Content

South East Local Character Summaries

Regional Character Summaries

Download Article

To download ‘Historic Farmsteads, Preliminary Character Statement for the South East’ please click here (PDF: 9.7MB)

©2007 English Heritage