Field House Farm, Hepscott, Northumberland: archaeological building recording

The objective of the work was to provide a record of the buildings that will be demolished or altered, and to deposit a report on the findings as a permanent archive. The updated regional research framework North-East Regional Research Framework for the Historic Environment (NERRF 2.0) (https://researchframeworks.org/nerf/ accessed 11-09-2025) contains an agenda for archaeological research in the region. The scheme of works was designed to address agenda item PMviii: Industrial intensification 1790-1830, MOiii: Agriculture and Pmed19: Industrialisation - intensification 1790-1830. Field House Farm was founded in the first half of the 1820s. The early farm buildings were laid out to a linear plan, with an east-west range incorporating a threshing barn and a granary, and a farmhouse and probable workers' cottage at the east end. A dovecote was located at the west end of the first floor of the threshing barn. A detached cart shed and cottage lay to the west of the main range, and a gin gang was added on to the north side of the barn. These structures demonstrate that arable farming was the main focus of the early farm. The east-west range has been heavily altered, and while the threshing barn and granary are still extant, the original farmhouse and the eastern cottage only survive as fragments. The cottage and cart shed are largely unaltered, although the cottage has experienced a period of abandonment and is in a poor state internally. During the mid-19th century the farm underwent a major reorganisation, with a shift to incorporate pastoral farming. The gin gang was abandoned, and hemmel arches were inserted into the south face of the threshing barn and the granary to provide shelter for livestock. A third hemmel was added to the west of the threshing barn. All of the hemmel arches feature rounded stone piers supporting brick arches, indicating a single programme of construction. Three fold yards were created to the south of the hemmels, and buildings housing a turnip house, a byre and a stables were constructed to divide each yard up. The byre retains the original wooden stalls at the south end of the building. By the end of the 19th century a new farmhouse (which is still occupied) had been constructed to the east of the historic core of the farm, although the original farmhouse remained extant. The farm also moved back towards arable farming, with the gin gang re-established and the hemmel in the threshing barn reverting to use for crop processing. The probable workers' cottage to the east of the original farmhouse was replaced with a hen house and implement shed. By the 1920s the farm had seen further alterations. The eastern and western fold yards were partially roofed over, and stone and concrete troughs were added to allow the spaces to serve as feeding courts. A barn was constructed to the north-east of the main range of buildings and is still in use. A pair of workers' cottages were constructed on the west side of the farm, and are still extant. A 1919 sale catalogue indicates that the original farmhouse was by that time uninhabitable: subsequent alterations removed the internal floors and subdivisions, and reduced the walls to ground floor level. The farm has largely retained its 19th century layout.