The Barns is a Grade II listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 July 1964. House.
The Barns
- WRENN ID
- lunar-copper-primrose
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- Bedford MP: Mohammad Yasin (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 July 1964
- Type
- House
- Address
- The Barns, High Street, Kempston, MK42 7BP
- OS grid reference
- TL 024 472
- Coordinates
- 52.11445, -0.50592
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Barns is a house dating from the 17th century, with alterations made in the 19th century. The original part of the building is timber framed, while the later additions are made of brick, all covered in roughcast and colourwashed. It has a clay tile roof and consists of a four-bay, two-storey block that was extended in the 19th century by one bay to the west and by a two-storey block at a right angle to the rear, creating an overall L-shaped plan.
On the north elevation, there are four 19th-century three-light windows on each floor, all featuring mullions and transoms, with four-centred arched heads and diamond leaded lights. There is also a smaller two-light window in a similar style on the first floor. A yellow brick ridge stack with four linked octagonal flues is present.
The west elevation features two two-storey canted bays, both with sash windows. Above the doorway, there are broad sash windows on the first floor. The building has a tiled gabled porch with part-glazed double doors and pierced wavy-edged bargeboards on the gables. There are red brick paired octagonal stacks. Additionally, there is a one-storey and attic lean-to addition at the rear, constructed of coursed rubble, along with a 20th-century addition to the south block.
Local climate
The Barns sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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