Listed Building record MDO17205 - Higher Loop Farm House, Lytchett Matravers

SY 945966. Higher Loop Farmhouse, of two storeys with walls mainly of brick covered with stucco is of the second quarter
of the 19th century. <2>

Farmhouse - linked to farm buildings. Mainly mid C19 - but probably of earlier origin. Brick walls with some burnt header decoration, tiled roof, brick stacks on ridge. One storey and attics. Gabled porch with ledged door. Ground floor has 2 C20 casement windows with glazing bars. Attic has 3 gabled tile-hung dormers with casements with glazing bars. At south end, a C20 extension, with garage doors, and casement window over. At north end, a single-storey range, with ironstone walls, tiled roof and C20 casement windows with glazing bars. Internally, main ground floor room has large open fireplace with timber, lintol. Under repair, following fire damage, at time of survey (1983). Entry for farmhouse LB number 108395.

Detached barn. Probably C18. Walls part brick, buttressed, part weather-boarded and timber framed. Rear wall rebuilt in concrete blocks. ½-hipped slate roof. Projecting hipped cart porch. Projecting wing at north end - timber framed with corrugated iron cladding and slate ½-hipped roof. Lean-to at south end, with ironstone walls (roof stripped). Roof structure has trusses with tie and collar beams and some windbracing. Included for group value. Entry for barn LB number 108396. <3>

When listed (re-survey) the building was described thus:

`Detached stable block. Probably C18. Ironstone walls repaired in brick. Roof originally tiled, but stripped in course of repairs at time of survey. 2 storeys. Stable door with loft door over. 2 windows with glazing bars on ground floor. Extension at east end, at lower level, of similar construction. Included for group value.'

Since listing, the building has been substantially altered by the 1980s¿ conversion. The shell of the original structure remains, although with some rebuilding, and remains a three bay building of two storeys. In front of the central doorway is a large red brick porch, which obscures the, presumably in-filled, loft door above. To either side of the porch the windows mentioned in the description have been replaced, but look to be in their original cambered-headed openings. The roof has been replaced and now has three large dormer windows to the front at first floor. The stables have been extended to the rear and this two-storey extension, although of similar construction to the original, is of considerable size, effectively doubling the footprint of the original building. The extension mentioned in the list description is the link block to the farmhouse, shown on the OS first edition (1888), this has been rebuilt in a similar fashion to the stables.

For buildings dating to between 1700 and 1840 architectural distinction and intactness are key considerations when assessing the suitability for listing. The stables at Higher Loop Farm were considered to have sufficient special architectural interest when listed in the mid-1970s as a good example of this type of building with typical attic hayloft and a central door between two windows to ground floor. However, since being listed, and reassessed during resurvey in the early 1980s, the extent of original surviving fabric has been lessened considerably. The conversion to domestic use has necessitated a new roof with a series of dormers; new windows, some in new openings; the rebuilding of parts of the walls; a large rear extension and prominent brick porch. These changes have dramatically altered the historic character of the building and it can now no longer be read as an agricultural building. Although an internal inspection was not conducted for this case it is highly likely that internal features of note - such as cobbled or brick flooring, drainage channels, stalls, mangers etc - that may have survived to the 1970s have since been removed.

Further to this the stables were listed on the strength of their group value with the other farm buildings. These have also been converted, rebuilt and altered in a similar fashion, and subsequently de-listed. Thus the architectural and historic interest of the entire agricultural complex has been undermined as a result of residential conversion, further diminishing the individual significance of the stable block.

Decisions to recommend the removal of a building from the statutory list are never taken lightly, but despite the fact that the conversion was carried out with Listed Building Consent, the nature of the changes to the stables has diminished their special interest to such an extent that it is no longer appropriate to retain the building on the Statutory List. <4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 945966) Higher Loop Farm (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 156 (Monograph). SDO148.

'(5) HIGHER LOOP FARM, house (945966), of two storeys with walls mainly of brick covered with stucco and tiled roofs, is of the second quarter of the 19th century. Outbuildings include a Barn, built probably as a stable in the early 18th century, with rubble walls later heightened in brick and with a tiled roof, and a second Barn, mainly of brick with a slated roof, of the late 18th century.'

<3> DOE (HRR), 23 Mar 1983, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Purbeck amendment 1983 (Scheduling record). SWX3310.

<4> English Heritage, English Heritage Listing File (Scheduling record). SDO17502.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457344 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 20 2023 10:55AM