MEM15210 - Great Bradley Farm, Winsford (Building)

The farmstead is shown on the Tithe Map for Winsford as a group of buildings arranged in a square around a yard centred at SS 8584 3407. The entrance to the yard is through a gap created in the northern corner on the northeastern side, where part of the range has been set back to the northeast. It is not clear which element acted as the farmhouse. [1] By the time the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map had been surveyed, the ranges of buildings had been broken up into individual elements, resulting in a much looser farmyard consisting of a large broadly L shaped range at SS 8584 3409, another L shaped range at SS 8585 3405 and two outbuildings at SS 8582 3406 and SS 8586 3404. It is not clear how many of the original buildings survive and how much has been demolished and rebuilt. This newer layout is repeated on the 2nd Edition map. [2,3] Since the 2nd Edition map was published, most of the southeastern end of the site has been demolished and rebuilt. This includes most of the L shaped range at SS 85853405, of which only the western end appears to survive at SS 8583 3405 (although the building at SS 8585 3405 may also include a remnant of it), and the outbuilding at SS 8586 3404. These buildings appear to have been cleared to make way for a large farmhouse, the western end of which is shown on aerial photographs taken in 1946-8 by the Royal Air Force, but it is possible that this structure contains elements of the earlier L shaped range. Modern Ordnance Survey mapping labels one of the buildings within the original group of farm buildings as "Great Bradley Cottage" but it is not clear which building this label refers to and if the building's original use was domestic or if it has been converted. [4,5] The farmstead was viewed from a distance in January 1997. The house was descibed as large and probably built on the late medieval three room plan with a front wing off the high end but extensively altered in recent years. It was said to have a big glazed extension off the low end. It is not clear whether this was a reference to the newer farmhouse to the southeast or one of the original buildings within the main farm complex. The surveyor suggested the yard had been at the back, unless the house had been turned around. A rubble building to the north and separate to the house had been converted to domestic use. Of the remaining structures, there was noted to be a couple more minor rubble buildings and 20th Century garaging. N.B.: A photograph had been incorrectly matched to this farmstead in the report folder. It is not clear which of the remaining photographs may be of this site. It is feasible that the report for Great Bradley may instead relate to another farmstead, although the grid reference quoted is correct. It also makes reference to Bradley Bungalow to the north. [6]