MEM23141 - Leeford Farm, Brendon (Monument)

The farmstead is shown on the Brendon Tithe Map and labelled 'Lynford'. This shows a farmhouse running east to west, parallel to the road (which it abuts), with a range to its rear extending southwards from its southeastern corner. A further farm building range is to the west of the farmhouse at SS 7693 4819, orientated north to south, and the gap between them appears to have been infilled. [1] The 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps very similarly depict the farmstead. These appear to show that the western farm range has been demolished, with a range instead built running from the southern elevation of the southwestern end of the farmhouse at a slight angle. This may, however, be a fault in the way these maps have been georeferenced and this range may actually still be extant but while plausible (and providing a better site narrative), the evidence seems to suggest against this. [2,3] The 1946-8 Royal Air Force aerial photographs show the long western range now extant in its present location. The extension to the south of the farmhouse's southwestern end, if it ever existed, is not present. Since this date, but by the time the 1978 Ordnance Survey map was surveyed, the farmhouse and its southeastern range had been demolished and a new house built, presumably still to serve the farmstead. At this point, the farmstead has begun to expand to the west and this has continued to the present day. [4-6] The farmstead was visited in January 1997. The house was not thought to be interesting. However, the barn at the west of the site was described as long, low and old, built of stone rubble. [7] An undated photograph (probably 1930s or 1940s) of Brendon crossroads shows thatched buildings apparently at this location said to be taken before they burned down. [8]