Topcliffe Farm, Morley, West Yorkshire - Photographic and Drawn Record

CFA Archaeology Ltd was commissioned by Prospect Archaeology on behalf of their clients Capital Park to undertake a drawn and photographic recording at Topcliffe Farm to the east of Morley in West Yorkshire. A settlement was present at Topcliffe on Jeffery's map of West Yorkshire published in 1775, however, the earliest buildings forming part of the current farmstead were constructed in stone during the mid- to late- 19th century. Other buildings are brick and steel frame constructed in the mid- to late- 20th century and operated in their latter phase of use as a turkey farm. Evidence sourced from historic mapping and gathered on site, suggests that the farmhouse was rebuilt and extended to the west at the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th century and that the other earlier buildings of the site have been reused as offices, storage and preparation areas. The survey of the site when matched with the map regression shows that the stone buildings represent the earliest phase of construction. Buildings 1 and 2 at the north east corner of the site do not appear on the first edition 6" to the mile scale map of the area surveyed in 1847 but do appear on the first edition 25" to the mile scale map surveyed in 1890. It is therefore logical to assume that these buildings date from that period. The large cart entry in the south elevation of Building 1 (Photograph 1) would have been used originally to offload hay to the loft spaces on either side, now occupied by the modern office spaces (Photograph 14). These hay lofts would have been open to the entrance evidenced by the later brickwork in the partition walls. Pitching or access doors are also present in these later partitions, (Photograph 13) behind the roof trusses, this would appear to indicate that the roof trusses have been moved after the construction of the brick partitions to access a small loft space above the offices. The WSI (Appendix 2j2.13) indicate that some of the current group of buildings appear to form part of a planned farmstead in an enclosed 19th century landscape with a specialist function such as diarydairying. Building 1 with is large cart entry and former hay lofts either side may have housed cattle beneath, but no evidence of stalls could be identified internally. The aerial photograph of the site (Fig. 3) shows that some of the doorways in the west elevation of Building 2 have been altered and those towards the southern end are large enough for cattle, unfortunately because the internal faces of Building 2 were lined no early features that would hint at the spaces original function were noted. The presence however of a stable door towards the north end of the elevation does hints at this end of the building being used as stable. It is also noted that there are numerous windows in the first floor of Building 2. Cow houses needed to be well ventilated, either by slits in the walls or by windows, and these could be evidence of that purpose (Historic England 2006, 60-61). The central taking-in door on the first floor of Building 2 was likely also used to bring hay into previously existing hay lofts. A straight joint in the west face of Building 2 (Photograph 2) indicates that a doorway was once present in this elevation, the position of this close to the corner of the two buildings hints at the possibility that Building 1 is of a slightly later phase of construction than Building 2, however, because the internal walls of the buildings are lined or rendered and the intersection of the two buildings to the north is obscured by Building 7 there was no additional evidence present to support this assumption. The roof of the farmhouse (Building 3) has an off centre ridge to the gables (Photograph 34), and there is a change in the detail of the quoins between the front and back of the building.