Barn immedately to the east of Whitwood Farmhouse

Barn immediately to the east of Whitwood Farmhouse, Bailiff Bridge, Whitwood Lane

This is an aisled barn dated to 1445 by dendrochronology, aligned approximately north-south to the east of a trackway and forming part of a farmstead.

The barn is timber framed, later encased in roughly coursed shaped stone rubble with some brick infill and a corrugated sheeting roof. It comprises seven bays with a separate lower section at the north end that has a single aisle on the eastern side.

Cart entries are positioned on the west side in the third and fifth bays, with smaller openings in the first and seventh bays. The east side has openings in the first, third (blocked), fifth and seventh bays, and two openings in the south end with the eastern one blocked. The northern extension, built in brick, stone and breezeblock, is single storey with substantially lighter construction and a lower roof line.

Internally, the main barn is divided into two sections alongside the third truss by a later internal brick wall, probably relating to the division of the associated farmhouse into two units. The first and sixth bays contain timber upper floors with dividing walls at ground floor level. At the southern end, this wall is pierced by a door and a lower opening into the main barn area; at the north end there is a door, a series of five small ground floor openings, and a doorway leading to the upper floor.

The roof structure comprises wall plates, an arcade plate, two through purlins and a ridge piece with pegged joints. Carpenters' marks are visible on some timbers, and some timbers show evidence of reuse in the form of unfilled sockets. The trusses display various construction methods: the first truss has a king post with a west-side strut and aisle support on a pier rising from the upper floor; the second has queen strut construction with a short king post on an upper tie-beam and full height aisle post; the third and fourth are similar with additional bracing to the aisle post and a tie-beam in the aisle of the third; the fifth is similar without the brace but with a stone pier replacing the aisle post; the sixth has king post construction with bracing and tie-beam on the aisle post. Timbers at the northern end show decay and poor condition, with brick infill evidence suggesting a slight raising of the roof at the north end on the west side.

A settlement at Whitwood is recorded as early as 1329, with deeds referring to lands at Whytwood in 1592. Surviving earthwork remains indicate a settlement site including a trackway between the farmhouse and barn. Dendrochronological analysis dates the barn to 1445 and, less certainly, the house to the mid-16th century. The barn was later encased in stone, probably in the 16th or 17th century. Whitwood Farm is mentioned in the 18th century, and the barn appears on the Ordnance Survey 1:10560 map published in 1854. By 1893 it had acquired a small extension at its northern end.