Cruck Barn At Mere House

A pre-1700 cruck barn with later modifications, located in Baschurch, Shropshire.

Structure and Materials

The oak cruck structure is encased in red brick and supported with cast iron straps. Red sandstone cills and walls match an adjoining sandstone cart shed. The threshing floor is partially covered in slate, and the hayloft is constructed of timber. The roof is covered in clay tile.

Plan and Layout

The barn is arranged as a three-bay structure on a north-south alignment with two cruck trusses, each 7.5 metres tall, positioned either side of a central threshing bay. The south bay contains an inserted hay loft with trap door and timber ground floor covering. The north bay has a 20th-century water tower at upper level. An additional two-storey bay is attached to the south, and a single-storey cart shed is attached to the north.

Exterior

The brick elevations feature a series of ventilation panels and agricultural openings, with a dentil eaves cornice facing the farmyard to the east. Opposing double doors open to the threshing bay, with further agricultural openings across the east elevation. The west wall is characterised by threshing doors and a sandstone block section of wall. The southern attached bay is of red brick with a slightly taller profile and slate roof. The northern attachment is a single-storey sandstone building with cart entranceway. The roof slope is steep in profile with the cruck trusses, and the 20th-century water tower is prominent in the north end of the roof.

Interior

Two 7.5 metre tall cruck trusses stand either side of the threshing floor, mainly covered in slate. The timber frame is pegged and features cambered collars, arch braces, curved wind braces, trenched purlins, wall plates and ridge beams. Slot holes and mortices for wind braces and former timber-framed walls are visible in the north ends of the purlins and wall plates. The north truss has notable blocking pieces between the blades and purlins. The south truss displays visible 17th-century carpenter's marks. Both trusses are reinforced with iron straps supporting the pegged junctions of the blades and collars, and at the feet of the cruck blades. Each blade bears a prop mark on the inside of the elbow. The bases of the cruck blades are embedded in the brick walls approximately one metre above ground level, with some remaining tooled sandstone plinths at ground level.

History and Context

A farm has likely occupied or stood close to this site since at least early medieval times. The farm lies south of The Berth, an Iron Age fort, and Berth Pool, a glacial lake or mere. The pool provided fishing rights for tenants from pre-Conquest times and gave its name to the de la Mere family of landowners. A deed of circa 1316 refers to a town of Meare, which may have occupied The Berth. The Mere estate came into the ownership of the Warde family from 1470 for many centuries. A document of 1731–2 documents a dispute over fishing rights in the mere, then called "Burghe Pool or Mere", when it appears to have been under the ownership of nearby Boreatton Hall. The farm has evolved through the centuries and currently contains a cruck barn of possibly late-medieval origin alongside later farm buildings. Cruck buildings were constructed in Shropshire from at least the 13th century but were most popular during the 15th century before declining in the 16th century. The farmhouse is 19th century in date.

The cruck barn is rare in Shropshire, one of the most important centres of cruck construction, and notable for its size, quality, and unusual features such as the prop marks. The cruck frame is largely intact, although the end trusses have been replaced. The barn may have been moved and re-erected around 1700.