Winnowing Barn at Eckington Hall Farm

This is a mid-17th century winnowing barn at Eckington Hall Farm, with minor alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of squared sandstone with stone dressings, quoins, coped gables with integral kneelers, and roofed with stone slate and Welsh slate. It is an L-shaped complex comprising a three-bay threshing barn aligned north-south, a three-bay range extending eastwards (formed from a single bay extension to the barn and a two-bay stable, now a cowhouse with a loft above), and a single-storeyed range, possibly former pig styes, extending westwards.

The west elevation has a symmetrical front with a quoined central double doorway, with flat timber lintel beneath a shallow segmental relieving arch. Flanking the doorway are shallow stacked breathers (four to each bay). The east elevation has a tall double doorway to the left-hand bay with half-hung vertically-boarded doors under a flat lintel set beneath a shallow segmental arch. A single breather is to the right. A 20th-century lean-to abuts the north gable and incorporates breathers in its apex.

The north elevation of the stable range has two quoined ground floor doorways with massive lintels and vertically-planked split doors. Each doorway is flanked by a small window with glazing bars. Above, a single loft doorway. The west gable lacks copings but has stone steps with an integral kennel leading to a quoined loft doorway with a plank door. Above this door is a wide two-light mullioned opening with a wide projecting cill, potentially a perch for a former gable dovehouse.

The south elevation has a coped gable with stacked breathers to the left and, to the right, a mainly blind wall with breathers to the barn bay and various small openings.

The interior features a double purlin roof structure supported by tie beam trusses with angle struts. Two trusses flank the threshing bay, each with wind braces to the upper purlin extending downwards. A single truss is visible in the bay of the south range, similarly detailed. Massive wall plates are set on the outer face of the wall and support tie beam bearings. This is a substantial, multi-purpose 17th-century farm outbuilding, largely unaltered and retaining original details and structural carpentry, demonstrating the region’s mixed farming traditions and their influence on vernacular building types.