Buildings of Interest

Description

On the south side of Billinge Road in Highfield, Pemberton, the brick farmhouse was built c.1865 on land owned by Blundell family.

Leading up to the farmhouse were the stables, barn, and shippon and close by the midden and well. Along Billinge Road were the pigsty, workshop, pigeon loft, and Dutch barn. There were three hen houses. It was a mixed farm of about 50 acres. The horses, Prince and Duke, were grazed on the field behind Highfield View. 

The farm was sold c.1966 and demolished for new houses. The Ackers family, who occupied the farm for a hundred years, moved to the big detached house across the road.

I lived in Highfield View and worked on the farm with the horses and wooden carts harvesting wheat, oats, hay and potatoes, collecting eggs, and spreading muck from the midden to fertilize the fields. I sat on a three-legged stool, bent down, and tried milking a cow. I wasn't very good at that!

Derek Winstanley 2021