Wimpole Hall, home farm

Soane’s plan of 1796 incporporated a large barn, cow stalls, stables for the worked horses, pigsties, cart sheds, a slaughter area and a dairy. A series of deer pens were built as the herd at Wimpole suffered a rare disease in 1794. In 1860 an octagonal dairy and farm-house were built.

Although the layout as proposed by Soane was not built to his plan, and several individual buildings have been demolished, what remains gives a good impression of a model farm located within the park.

The byre and fold yards represent the need for shelter for cows. But as more cows were kept, a middle range was built and the rick yard was made into fold yards for the cattle. The cartsheds are open fronted and built for eight carts and two waggons, but by 1834 space for 15 carts was required. The barn was completed in 1796.

The barn now houses the museum, and is thatched with double entrances opening on to threshing floors. The stables for the 15 working horses were also used for ploughs and cart traces. The fields immediately around the Home Farm are now used for grazing rare breeds of farm animals, which are in danger of extinction.