History in Structure

Fodder Storage Building N of former Root Shed, Leighton Farm

A Grade II* Listed Building in Forden with Leighton and Trelystan (Ffordun gyda Tre'r-llai a Threlystan), Powys

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.6398 / 52°38'23"N

Longitude: -3.1201 / 3°7'12"W

OS Eastings: 324301

OS Northings: 305256

OS Grid: SJ243052

Mapcode National: GBR B1.6VXD

Mapcode Global: WH79Q.1XJ5

Plus Code: 9C4RJVQH+WX

Entry Name: Fodder Storage Building N of former Root Shed, Leighton Farm

Listing Date: 24 December 1982

Last Amended: 20 March 1998

Grade: II*

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 8671

Building Class: Agriculture and Subsistence

ID on this website: 300008671

Location: Situated on the E side of Leighton Farm with the former Root Shed to S and minor road to E.

County: Powys

Town: Forden

Community: Forden with Leighton and Trelystan (Ffordun gyda Tre'r-llai a Threlystan)

Community: Forden with Leighton and Trelystan

Locality: Leighton Farm

Traditional County: Montgomeryshire

Tagged with: Building

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History

Built by 1849 and probably designed by the Liverpool architect W.H. Gee for John Naylor's Leighton Farm, the model farm of the Leighton Estate. John Naylor had acquired the Leighton Estate in 1846-47 and embarked on an ambitious programme of building, principally Leighton Hall, church and Farm, which was largely completed by the mid 1850s and designed by Gee. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889. His grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold the Estate in 1931, when Leighton Farm was bought by Montgomeryshire County Council.

Leighton Farm was a model farm where rational farming methods were employed using techniques derived from science and industry. It was characteristic of its period but especially notable for its scale. Apart from the rationalisation of farm design, its principal aims were to provide better shelter for livestock and fodder, the recycling of manure as fertiliser, and mechanisation, principally in the form of turbines and hydraulic rams.

The main farm complex is roughly square in plan and enclosed by perimeter roads (although important buildings were added beyond it). The farm was a piecemeal development but it is structured either side of a central E-W axis in which a threshing barn was built with hay and fodder storage buildings either side of it, all of which were linked by a broad gauge railway. On the N and S sides of this axis stockyards were built, served by 2 N-S service roads in addition to the perimeter roads. By 1849 4 small yards (Stockyard IV) had been built S of the Threshing Barn with a Stable fronting the road, these 3 elements forming the central block of buildings. On the E and W sides, fronting the road to the S, houses were built (on the W side with an office and further livestock sheds behind). After 1849 3 stockyards (Stockyards I, II, III) were built on the N side of the main axis. By 1855 there had been additions beyond the perimeter road, with the building of a Mill and Pig and Sheep houses (which enclose 2 further stockyards) on the N side and a further stock shed with yard on the W side. In the late 1850s a Sheep-Drying Shed and a further Fodder Storage Building in line with the main E-W axis had been added, followed by a Root Shed at the south-east corner of the complex in the 1860s.

The buildings were carefully designed to achieve a strong visual impact when approached from the roads to the N or W. The landscape was carefully controlled so that Leighton Farm could not be seen from the main Buttington to Forden road to W, alongside which was a mixed woodland plantation. The main entrance to the farm was intended to be from the N side where there is an imposing gateway and lodge beside the church. The pig and sheep houses in particular create a grand facade when approached from the N, but Stockyards I and II, the Fodder Storage Buildings, Stable and Poolton at the south-west corner, are all designed to impress when viewed from the outside.

Exterior

A large aisled barn with vent ridge, of brick on a random rubble stone plinth (which has a projecting slate damp proof rat-trap course), with slate roof and coped gables on moulded kneelers. Three-bay E gable end to road. The central bay is slightly advanced and has 3 stepped round-headed windows with louvres above a tall round-headed opening with stone imposts, which has a boarded gate in vertical wooden runners. In each of the aisles is a blind round-headed window. The W gable end is similar but in the outer bays are breathers in a lozenge pattern. The side walls are mostly weatherboarded; the vent ridge has louvres and glazed panels on the N side and corrugated asbestos-cement sheets on the S side.

Interior

Divided into 9 bays by open timber-framed partitions. In the central bay is a granary loft with trap door.

Reasons for Listing

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Leighton Farm is one of the principal foci of this development and is a Victorian model farm of national importance, representing the pioneering use of new technology, displaying a highly-structured layout and achieving an impressive architectural unity. Listed Grade II*, the Fodder Storage Building is an integral part of the farm complex, and is a prominently-sited and well-detailed building retaining its original character.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

Other nearby listed buildings

  • II* Former Root Shed, Leighton Farm
    Situated at the SE corner of Leighton Farm and at the corner of a junction of minor roads through Leighton. The former Root Shed has a brick wall with stone coping on its east side.
  • II* Cart Shed, Leighton Farm
    Situated within the main group of buildings at Leighton Farm. The Cart Shed stands immediately W of the former Root Shed and N of Maes-y-Gro. On its W side is a small yard with farm road.
  • II* Stockyard I, Leighton Farm
    On the E side of Leighton Farm with a farm road to N, a minor road to E, a Fodder Storage Building to S. The upper level of the W range is the Granary attached to the Threshing Barn and Mill and is t
  • II* Threshing Barn and Granary, Leighton Farm
    Situated in the centre of Leighton Farm with Stockyards I and II to NE and NW respectively, and Stockyard IV to S.
  • II* Fodder Storage Building NE of former Root Shed, Leighton Farm
    Situated on the E side of a minor road through Leighton Farm. The remaining group of farm buildings are on the opposite side of the road.
  • II Maes-y-gro
    Situated at the S end of the group of buildings comprising Leighton Farm, with a farm road and stables to W, Cart Shed to N, and former Root Shed to E.
  • II* Stockyard IV, Leighton Farm
    Situated in the centre of Leighton Farm with Threshing Barn to N and Stable to S.
  • II* Piggery and Sheep Shed, Leighton Farm
    Situated at the N end of Leighton Farm.

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