MEM15280 - Horner Farm (Building)

The farm is shown on the Luccombe Tithe Map with many of the present buildings. Other buildings are shown at SS 89885 45430 and SS 89918 45429 which may or may not be related to the farm. [1] The farm is shown with several alterations on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [2,3] An archaeological survey of the farmstead was undertaken in 2009 for management purposes. [4,5] The farm consists of a complex of buildings of which some surviving elements have been dated to the 16th to 17th Century. A watching brief was undertaken to the south and east of the building sited at SS 8988 4545, during groundworks associated with the excavation of a water pipe trench. This was stated to be the site of the Old House that was largely demolished during the 19th Century to allow access into the yard to the west and re-built to the east as a store, but has some of its earlier fabric retained in the later structure. The monitoring of the water pipe trench exposed no archaeological features or deposits. The southern portion of the trench cut through deposits that suggested the presence of a former rough yard surface of probable recent date. To the east of the building, the exposed concentration of mixed stone rubble inclusions within the topsoil may have related to the modification of the adjacent building that replaced the Old House, with this deposit perhaps associated with its demolition and subsequent rebuilding. [6]