Farms
Southside Farm built in C18 of brick with a tiled roof and lattice timbered porch. To the rear of the building you will find The Granary. In the photograph below, you can just see behind the wheelbarrow, a staddle (mushroom shape). The barn was raised on these and used to store grain. The interior would have been divided into bays for this use. We believe this to be a 17th or 18th century building.
Geologically, the village is located on a gravel plateau of glacial origin overlying the Oxford Clays, approximately 212 ft. above sea level. Westwards of the centre, the land falls away gently to the Ouzel valley. The presence of ground water and the lighter nature of the soil were doubtless prime factors influencing the location of the earliest settlements. The farms within the village were a mix of arable and dairy.

Mr Brian Egan recalls the time the men from the Ministry came to check the prize bull belonging to the Macbeths' farm. He said that 'the men arrived wearing their new fangled black plastic macintosh's. The bull took one look and went berserk. Eventually the pole attached to the bull broke, and I had no option but to stick the remaining piece in to the ground. The only way to calm the animal was for the men to remove their coats, once this was done the bull was quite happy!'.

Brook Farm was built in C18 but largely remodelled in the early C19. It was one of five farms in the village.
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