A Snowy Trip to Farnborough Hall

A trip to Farnborough Hall with archaeologist Stephen Wass to record some details of the so-called dairy. The dairy is now used as an animal shelter. Its original purpose is unknown, but it can be seen from the house, the cascade and the terraced walk so it is thought that it is possibly a feature to do with the parkland. There is much more research to be done to establish its context in the park.

The cascade was looking magnificent in the snow

The purpose of the visit was to record some of the features of the dairy. The floor under the shelter has brick pavings and a stone channel to carry water (and other liquids) away. The brick has collapsed near to the wall, possibly into a culvert or opening below.

Stephen wanted a photographic record of the carpenter's marks on the roof timbers. It looks as though this timber has been reused a few times.

Inside the main section of the dairy in the milking parlour, the carpenter's marks take a different form. This time they're chisel marks of differing lengths to show which beams and king posts are matched

Here's an internal door with some interesting iron work.

Finally we had a look at the collapsed cricket pavilion elsewhere on the the estate. According to the head gardener, this was standing 10 years ago so it shows how quickly buildings can deteriorate when not properly maintained. This will be the subject of  a detailed survey during the coming weeks.




Loads more images can be seen in the gallery here

Stephen's website is here

Here's the National Trust's Farnborough Hall site

And there's some historical stuff here