Bee-boles in Milford

Likely to be associated with the 17th-century phase of Milford House (TN007-081----), which projects to the rear of the late 18th-century block. There is a sunken walled garden (dims. c. 18m NNE-SSW; c. 14m WNW-ESE) c. 16m SSW of the house. Bee-boles are set into a purpose built walled structure (L 11.2m; total Wth 3m; rear wall Wth 0.54m; H at front 0.7m; H at rear 1.12m) which runs along the top of the sunken S wall (D 1.4m) of the garden. It is a free-standing structure, though it abuts the E wall of the sunken garden which continues southward, beyond the sunken garden. A ledge (Wth 1.7m) runs along the top of the S sunken garden wall in front of the bee-boles. There are a total of ten bee-holes built into the walled structure, with rectangular openings (H 0.41-0.51m; Wth 0.4m; D 0.17m) and rounded interiors (Wth 0.72m; D 0.5m; H 0.62m) with flat lintelled roofs. Each bee-bole would have housed one skep, probably constructed of coiled straw. Externally the bee-bole openings, which face NNE, are between 0.5m and 0.75m apart, with an average width of 0.61m apart. The bee-holes have a sloping roof of overlapping flat stones which projects slightly beyond the openings, providing the skep with extra shelter from rain. A length of walling (L 4m), towards the W end of the structure, is leaning forward (northward). A small buttress has been constructed near the W end in an attempt to halt its collapse. These bee-boles have been dated to c. 1650 by Crane (1983, 308). See attached photographs: TN007-080----_01 S wall of sunken garden and bee-boles from NNE TN007-080----_02 Sunken garden with bee-boles on top of S wall, from W TN007-080----_03 Bee-boles at E end of walled structure, from W TN007-080----_04 Interior of bee-bole TN007-080----_05 Rear of walled structure, from SW TN007-080----_06 Rear of walled structure, from SE, with 17th-century house in the background Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 30 August 2022