Farmhouse, Attached Barn And Threshing Barn To The South At Upper Hill Farm

Farmhouse, Attached Barn and Threshing Barn to the South at Upper Hill Farm, Breinton

This is a 17th-century timber-framed farmstead comprising a two-storey house, an attached barn, and a separate threshing barn to the south. The complex may have earlier origins and retains significant original fabric despite 18th-century and later alterations.

The Farmhouse

The main house is timber-framed with brick nogging and brick chimney stacks. The walls are partly rendered, with one section clad in slate, and the roof is a mixture of red tiles, slate, and corrugated iron sheeting.

The northern elevation features a pair of timber-framed gables at either end, separated by a slate catslide roof covering a single-storey brick extension of 19th-century date. The eastern gable shows entirely exposed timber framing, while that below the western gable is hidden by the later extension. A small gabled dormer window is inserted into the red-tiled roof between the gables. The western elevation has been entirely rendered, obscuring the timber frame detail, and includes a south-facing gable with a squat cambered window above a modern hipped porch. The southern elevation has an historic extension, part rendered and part slate clad, with an asymmetrical roof profile and a projecting brick chimney stack on the east. A small brick storey has been added at the eastern end of the building.

Inside the house, the original part displays substantial timber-frame detail: deeply chamfered beams, one with a stepped stop; wide plank doors with trap hinges; exposed timber framing throughout; a flagstone floor and wide floor boards. The roof contains deeply trenched purlins with sophisticated carpentry carried on substantial hewn trusses. The timber in the north-facing ranges is also deeply chamfered and of good quality. All fireplaces are of modern date.

The Attached Barn

This is a timber-framed, three-bayed, two-storey building with some brick nogging, stave and wattled panels, weatherboarding, and corrugated iron sheeting on walls and roof sections. The majority of the roof is covered with pantiles. The ends are part-hipped, and the western end forms valleys with the eastern gable of the house. A late 19th-century timber-framed lean-to shed, open to the north and clad in corrugated iron and weatherboard, is attached to the eastern side, though it is not of special interest.

The interior is largely open with no fixed upper-floor access. The roof structure comprises trenched, overlapping purlins supported on substantial trusses with straight raking struts above the collar beam. The collar beam is carried by another pair of struts which also support the tie-beam. The tie-beam has been cut to provide access between the bays. Substantial floor joists are set into enormous beams, some partly supported by modern brick pillars and walling. Some inserted timbers with chamfered stops show historic repairs. The Royal Commission for Historic Monuments recorded a cider mill within the building in the early 20th century.

The Threshing Barn

This is a 17th-century timber-framed, four-bay threshing barn. The walls are covered mainly with weatherboarding and the roof with corrugated iron sheeting. The timber-framed superstructure is essentially intact, standing three panels high and supporting a series of trusses. The trusses at either end are simple, with four vertical struts, whilst those in the middle have a pair of raking struts; one has straight braces below which are tied into the main posts. A pair of substantial trenched side purlins support machine-cut rafters with battens and the corrugated iron roof. Several carpenters' marks are clearly visible. A small number of timber-frame panels are filled with broad wattling. The threshing floor occupies the area between two tall, opposing doorways in the side wall, with two storage bays to the east and a single bay to the west.

Historical Context

The farmstead at Upper Hill Farm was certainly in existence by the 17th century and may have had an earlier settlement on the site. The 17th-century farmstead included a house and at least two barns, though others almost certainly existed before being replaced when the farm was modernised in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Many of the surviving courtyard buildings date to the 20th century. The barn attached to the house contained a cider mill in the early 20th century.