Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 2149: summary

Historic building recording at Fairfields Farm, Mowden Hall Lane, Hatfield Peverel, Essex CM3 2NT
by Xander Smith

Date report completed:
Location: Fairfields Farm, Mowden Hall Lane, Hatfield Peverel, Essex CM3 2NT
Map reference(s): TL 78545 10111
File size: 22.286 kb
Project type: Historic building recording
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. A programme of historic building recording was carried out by Colchester Archaeological Trust at Fairfields Farm, Mowden Hall Lane, Hatfield Peverel, Essex on the 6th of February 2025. The structures recorded in this report comprise two threshing barns with a number of outbuildings, (henceforth, threshing barn A and B, linking shed, brick shed and stable), the oldest of which is the five-bay threshing barn B. The combination of pegged studs, a technique which faded in the 17th century, with through-bracing, a technique which emerged around the same time, suggest an origin in the latter 17th century. The earliest cartographic evidence of buildings at Fairfields Farm is the 1777 Champman & André. The lack of detail in the map makes it difficult to state with any certainty which buildings are present, but it is plausible to suggest that part of threshing barn B is represented. Cartographic evidence indicates that throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the structures at Fairfields Farm were repeatedly altered, rebuilt (built) or extended. This is indicative of a working farmstead that was expanding and shrinking to keep up with changing demands of the farming industry