Stocks Farmhouse, 1 Lower End, Swaffham Priory

History of Stocks Farmhouse

Listed Building

House originally a C14 open-hall of which one bay and parts of two other bays survive. Parlour wing of four bays, added c1500 with gable end to road. This gable end was remodelled in early C18. The house has recently (1983) been restored and all the external features are of that date. The open-hall C14, is timber-framed, rendered with steeply pitched, tiled roof. The gable end, parapetted, was rebuilt in C17, of red brick and the open hall shortened.

NW lived here in the 1970s. He sent this note in 2026:

We were offered Home Farm (Stocks Farm) at the bottom of Cockhill as a tied house. It was a great house for us as teenagers, loads of room. I will see if I can find some photographs of the exterior and interior for you. Certainly interesting reading the Listing. I had not realised it was C14 Hall originally. The garden side wall was thick clunch with a timber frame coming off it. The exposed beams upstairs in the SE end appeared to be old ship beams from the number of joint holes etc. The road end and side extension had some interesting drafty windows. With thin glass in leaded frames with blacksmith staples to attach them to the woodframe! It kept us healthy in the Winter, when we regularly had -10 C. I now wish I had gone up into the lofts with my camera. The main chimney stack was large; it housed a Rayburn in the kitchen, and a wide grate in the living room with airing cupboards on either side. No doubt originally it was an Inglenook type. It was deep enough for a short hall between the living room and kitchen, with a hatch up to a tack room above the living room. The main hall ran on the side opposite to the clunch wall, and adjacent to the living room was an old parlour with built in ledges around  three sides.