Barn to the north of Nos 143 and 145, Melton High Street

Barn to the north of Nos 143 and 145, Melton High Street

This barn dates to no later than the mid-18th century. It is constructed of coursed, squared sandstone walling with quoined corners. The roof structure is of hewn oak, traditionally jointed and pegged, and is of 17th-century or earlier date, though it is now covered with much later Welsh slates.

Exterior

The north elevation is divided into five bays with unevenly distributed openings. Offset to the east of the central bay is a livestock door of unusual form, with composite jambs supporting a segmental arch with skew-backs and a keystone, all rebated for an outward opening door. The current door is an internally hung sliding door. Above this, not quite symmetrically placed, are two stone-framed pitching windows, with a third similar window in the westernmost bay. These windows would originally have had timber shutters, as evidenced by drilled holes for pintles and catches. The central window is now blocked with later stonework and the other two have later joinery. The elevation also contains several blocked arrow slit ventilation openings and a roof window, neither of special interest.

The south elevation has a large central entrance that is a 20th-century insertion. Two single-storey extensions are also later additions of no special interest, as is another roof window. The elevation does retain two doorways of special interest, though both appear to be insertions. One, to the left of the central entrance, has a deep stone lintel and another substantial stone forming part of one jamb. A second doorway to the west provides access to the later extension.

The gable ends have ventilation slits. The west gable has a modern inserted doorway of no special interest.

Interior

At the time of inspection, the southernmost bay was inaccessible, having been partitioned off with stud walls to form an office. The remainder of the building is undivided. The ground floor is largely concrete but retains an area of regular stone flags across the centre, probably dating to the insertion of the large south doorway. The upper floor is mainly boarded with modern sheet material, supported by a floor structure of probable 19th-century date comprising sawn softwood beams and joists.

The roof structure is entirely of hewn oak. It consists of A-frame trusses supporting a clasped, diamond-set ridge beam and trenched, staggered purlins supporting common rafters, all of hewn oak and traditionally jointed and pegged. The form suggests 17th-century date, possibly earlier. Some timbers retain empty housings suggesting the roof structure was part of an earlier timber-framed building. The oak is bleached, indicating the building housed livestock. The inner faces of the stone walls are whitewashed but not plastered. The stonework is noticeably rougher than the exterior and includes some lengths of timber built into the walls, though these do not appear to be lintels for blocked openings.

History and Context

Little is known of the barn's history. From its exterior style and construction it dates to no later than the mid-18th century, but some details of the roof structure suggest it was originally a timber-framed building later encased in stonework. It has group value with 131–133 Melton High Street, which was originally a timber-framed aisled building. The barn appears on the 1855 first edition Ordnance Survey map amongst other buildings suggestive of a farm yard layout, though it is not named as a farm and may have already passed out of agricultural use by that time. West Melton's open field system was enclosed by Parliamentary Enclosure in 1814, a rationalisation of landholdings that may have prompted the change in use. The barn is known to have been used as a joiners' shop in the 20th century.