Evaluation of farmbuildings at the west side of the farm complex have been identified by the surveyor/author as being of a very early date. He suggests that theses stone buildings are certainly pre-twelfth century and no later than the fourteenth, but they may go back as far as the eighth century. (1,2)

Also surveyed by the OAU and identified as:
This is the southern most building of the upper farmyard at Merriams Farm. It is open fronted on the southern side with the other three sides made up of ragstone walls with brick additions. Its rear wall, to the north, has a distinctive curve forming a partial bell-shaped plan. This is the retaining wall from the boardering field. The building is not shown on the 1843 Tithe map, but the wall could predate the buildings construction. The use of large ragstone blocks may imply the re-use of old stone, but it is not clear.

The building measures c.5.5m by c.3.5m with a pitched roof covered with corrugated iron and supported by 3 nailed softwood trussess. At its west end the roof ignores the curve of the rear wall. The brickwork of the astern wall confirms that the roof was a secondary addition. Several distinctive apple or hop-picking ladders, very tall with wide bases, are store within the roof spaces.(3)

<2> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2000, Archaeological Evaluation on buildings situated at Merriams Farm, Caring Lane, Leeds [Interim Report] (Unpublished document). SKE7536.

<3> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2000, Merriams Farm, Leeds, Kent: Historic Building Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE7550.