Birks And Barn

This is an early 18th-century building complex comprising a house, barn, and former cottage, subsequently incorporated into the barn. The construction is primarily of millstone grit, hammer-dressed stone, and rubble, with a pitched stone slate roof. An old ashlar chimney with tabling is located on the east side of the barn.

The south-east elevation of the house features a ground-floor window with four lights and stone mullions (two mullions have been removed) and a first-floor window with five lights, likely dating to the early 19th century. A blocked door with a large lintel is visible on the north-west elevation, alongside a pitched, single-story extension.

The south-east side of the barn, which was originally a cottage, has a door with a large chamfered lintel, possibly original, with water drainage channels on the sill. A modern barn door and a four-light stone mullioned window (double chamfered) are also present. The south-west elevation displays a ground-floor window and an attic window, each with two lights and stone mullions; the ground-floor window is blocked and partly concealed below ground level. The north-west elevation has a six-light stone mullioned window, with two lights blocked and two mullions removed.

The barn's interior is of cruck construction, featuring a single cruck truss with pegged joints. One cruck blade rests on a stone footing, while the other is set into the wall. The tie beam has been removed, but a collar, two large purlins, and a ridge beam remain. A notable chimney stands at the east gable of the barn, boasting a monolithic chamfered lintel, stone quoins, and a stepped breast. This suggests the cruck building may have originally served domestic purposes. The south-west barn has a small door with a large lintel and a barn door with quoins and rounded corbels supporting a large lintel. A lean-to addition on the west side includes small first-floor windows with tabled sills. Numerous small holes drilled into quoins along the south elevation of the building facilitated wool drying, a process known as “Wuzzing.”