Barrack Fold Farmhouse

Barrack Fold Farmhouse

This is a 17th-century farmhouse with associated farm buildings, set around a farmyard. The complex comprises the farmhouse aligned approximately east-west, a stable block running south-north, and a barn running east-west. The farmhouse and barns are constructed of a mix of coursed sandstone and red brick. The house and stable have stone slate roofs, while the barn has a Welsh slate roof.

The farmhouse dates from the 17th century with alterations and additions. It is built of stone and has two storeys. The main section features very narrow courses with dressed angles and massive stones to the upper windows, though part of the upper storey has wider courses and was probably rebuilt. This main section has one 3-light splay-mullion window on the ground floor and two windows above. The heavy flush entrance lintel has a curved soffit and is inscribed '1631 RHE'. The interior contains massive beams and wide boarded doors with strap hinges. The interior formerly also bore inscriptions 'RTH 1601' and '— 1622'. To the left of the main section is a one-window section with a brick pantile projection. To the right is a cross-wing with a gable projection and stone slab roof, which to the front forms an outbuilding with weatherboarded upper parts and brick below. To the rear it has a multi-light window on the ground floor with continuous moulding above, and two windows on the upper floor, which were enlarged, perhaps in the 18th century.

The stable block runs approximately north-south and is constructed mainly of coursed stone with large quoins, with a stone slate roof. The north gable end is buried within the adjoining barn. The south gable end has one square window set high up, with the stump of a central stone mullion. The east elevation has a square window to the left, also with the stump of a central stone mullion, and a square window high up in the centre with a stone cill. Two adjacent doors with flanking windows have concrete lintels and appear to be later additions. The west elevation has a doorway to the right with stone lintel and jambs, and a blocked window. A later 20th-century stone-built shippon is attached to this side, and the lower part of the stable wall is rendered.

Internally, the stable is divided by a stone wall into a smaller room to the north and a larger room to the south. Both have a boarded upper floor. A single truss is visible in the southern upper room, of queen strut construction with massive hand-cut beams. Purlins and a number of common rafters are also hand-cut. Wooden hooks on the wall indicate the building's original function for hanging tackle.

The barn runs approximately east-west and is constructed of a mixture of coursed stone with large quoins and red brick, with a grey slate roof. The south elevation is of stone, with narrower courses towards the top indicating that it has been raised. The north elevation has approximately one metre of stone at the base but has been rebuilt in brick above; at the eastern end the brick extends to ground level. The west gable is rendered externally. The south elevation has a large cart entrance near the west end with a timber lintel and quoined jambs. To the east of the entrance is a single-storey pent-roofed brick building, reported to be a dairy. Further east is a doorway with a plank door, a timber-framed glazed window, and another doorway. A window in the loft space has a concrete cill and lintel. The north side has a cart entrance that is now blocked with breeze blocks, opposite to the one on the south side. There are two doors and a window on this side, as well as two upper windows and several diamond-shaped vents in the brickwork. Evidence of alteration is visible in both the stonework and brickwork.

Internally, the barn has an exposed roof structure of six machine-cut king post trusses; some of the purlins appear older and may be reused from an earlier structure. The west gable wall is stone to about half its height and brick above. The eastern end is partitioned off to form a shippon for cows, with concrete and brick stalls and a separate hay loft overhead.

A later single-storey red brick shippon is attached to the east end of the barn.

Note: The description below has not been updated from the original 1985 designation owing to ongoing building works in 2011.