Northern Barn To Holly Bank Farm

The Northern Barn at Holly Bank Farm is a farm outbuilding dating from the 17th century or earlier, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. It features timber framing with replacement brick walls and is topped with a corrugated iron roof. The barn has a linear layout, aligned from the north-east to the south-west.

On the north-west elevation, there are red brick exterior walls that include boarded taking-in doors at eaves level and an off-centre double doorway with vertically planked doors. There is also a doorway at the right end and a set-back lean-to against the gable wall.

Inside, the barn has a structural timber frame consisting of four cruck trusses that support a single purlin roof. The cruck blades stop above collar level and extend to the apex with supplementary principles set on the ends of the tie beams. These timbers are cross-lapped to support diagonally-set ridge purlins, and some bays feature cross-lapped, face-halved wind bracing. There are structural timbers with empty seatings indicating reuse, and substantial wall plates with empty mortices on the soffits suggest the positions of studs in now-removed wall framing. The barn is a significant example of a timber-framed vernacular building from the 17th century or earlier, with the brick walling now hiding evidence of its earlier origins, particularly the interior cruck framing.