High Common Farm, Wreningham, Norfolk: A Level 2 Historic Building Record

This programme of historic building recording and analysis was conducted in accordance with the specifications for Level 2 set out by Historic England in Understanding Historic Buildings (2016). The exterior and interior elevations of High Common Farm were photographed on 5th April 2024 and 21st February 2025 using a Canon EOS 800D 24.2 MP DSLR camera fitted with 10-18mm and 18-55mm lenses. All images were taken in Canon's .CR2 format and converted to .tiff for archiving purposes. The farmhouse was demolished in September 2025. Monitoring visits were undertaken on 8th, 10th, 12th and 15th September 2025, during which the demolition was subject to photographic recording and brick samples were taken from the rubble. The programme of historic building recording and analysis to Historic England Level 2 specification reported on here was undertaken in order to fulfil planning condition placed on South Norfolk Council planning permission 2023/3836, which granted permission for the demolition of the existing dwelling and its replacement with a new dwelling. The survey has produced a visual, descriptive and interpretative record of the High Common Farm prior to its demolition. The house was demolished in September 2025 and was also subject to recording. At the time of the survey, the building had been unoccupied for some time and has clearly not been well maintained for a considerable time before that. There is extensive evidence of water ingress and damp throughout the building, including throughout the concrete floor, and significant structural defects have resulted in cracking and movement in the eastern gable end and southern extension in particular. High Common Farm began as a three-bay, timber-framed cottage, which was probably constructed in the 16th century and is represented by the much-altered eastern end half of the building. This cottage stood on the southern edge of High Common and was part of strung-out group of similar farm cottages which clustered along the edge of the common. Later, a second one-and-a-half storey cottage was constructed abutting the western gable end of the original. The date at which the two buildings were combined into a single dwelling is not known. High Common was enclosed in the late 18th century, during which process the then-owner of High Common Farm greatly increased their landholdings. It seems likely the consolidation of the farmhouse may also date from this period. It is likely that the two buildings may have been variously unified and sub-divided during their history, although no evidence for this remains. Northern and southern red-brick extensions were added to the eastern end of the farmhouse in the 19th century, at which point the principal façade was enhanced and the central staircase inserted. The roof of the western range appears to have been replaced during this period, too. During the mid-20th century, most likely following the Second World War, all of the internal fixtures and features, including any staircase, were stripped out of the ground floor of the western cottage range and replaced with modern studwork partitions. The first-floor studwork was broken through to create the loft-space which survives today. It is likely that this is also the period during which the building was encased in its single skin of yellow brickwork. During the 1990s, it is apparent that the northern extension was demolished and the northern wall of the farmhouse, the eastern gable end and the first-floor of the remaining extension were extensively rebuilt, also in yellow brick. At this point, the southern side of the roof of the western half of the building was also completely replaced.