Buxlow Farm

Buxlow Farm

Lyn Jones kindly provided the photographs of the Buxlow Farm buildings

It seems reasonable to speculate that the name Buxlow was most likely  linked to the Anglo-Saxon chieftain Bucca, who also gave his name to Buckingham.

Haymaking c1918 at Buxlow Farm.

Buxlow was awarded to William Deverell at Enclosure, but the Pre-enclosure map of 1762 shows no  farm  or  buildings  on the modern site of the farmhouse.    So it seems quite likely that William Deverell originally lived in the village.  The  farmhouse has the character, however, of  a 17th Century house.

So it would appear to have been moved  piecemeal from some another site most likely within the village and re-erected post-enclosure.

This theory is supported by a mortgage describing  the post enclosure house as ‘new’ (Reading, 1993).   Building materials were very costly, but labour very cheap.

The Turnpike Road can still be traced where it once passed  south of the farmhouse.  William Woodhead sold to the Fremantle family in 1828 for his relative Elizabeth Deverell, the widow of William .

An examination of the frame timbers contained within the Buxlow structure helps to confirm that the farm building was probably derived from a previous, older building most likely from within Swanbourne village.

Neptune Farm (above) is nearby, with mature scots pines either side.

The other side of Buxlow Farm as it is today.

Seventeenth century oak timers in Buxlow Farm may have been moved from their original site in Swanbourne.

17th Century timbers in Buxlow Farm

Mature Scots pine trees close to Buxlow may be linked to the proximity both to the Old Holkham Beer Hall as well as the Neptune pub, suggesting that they may be derived from pines planted by Drovers.  This was a frequent practice in the 18th Century, designed to indicate Drovers Roads with Inn stops.

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