Concrete Barn

This is a substantial concrete barn, likely dating from around 1880. It began as a warehouse and was later used as a barn.

The walls are constructed from mass concrete, a technique using concrete without fine aggregates. The roof structure, a queen post roof, and the suspended first floor and other structural timbers are of pine.

The building appears to have an open internal plan across both storeys. It was originally designed for goods to be loaded on the south side at first floor level and distributed to a railway via a ramp on the north side. A single internal staircase at the north of the building provides access between the floors.

The south elevation, which is un-rendered, has a central entrance at ground floor level, set beneath a wide segmental concrete arch. Flanking the entrance are two window openings, two of which are now blocked, also framed by segmental concrete arches. At first floor level, there are three square windows beneath flat timber lintels, interspersed by two large loading doors. Surviving fixings suggest that sliding doors once hung from rails at the entrance and loading doors.

The west elevation is also un-rendered. It is blank at ground floor level except for a blocked central window and a surviving window opening on the right-hand side. The east elevation is covered in cement render and has a central window opening at first floor level.

The north elevation, which borders the railway line and could not be fully inspected, has two window openings at ground floor level, and a blocked central loading door. The base of this door is just below the level of the first floor, rising to the height of the eaves. Fragments of the building’s original cast iron window framing remain in some of the openings.

The ground floor is divided along its length by an arcade of seven shallow, rendered arches that support the pine joists of the first floor. A concrete wall supports the underside of the access ramp leading to the north loading door, and also a staircase leading to the first floor. The first floor has no ceiling or internal walls, and many original joists and floorboards remain. Centrally, on the north side, the access ramp is incorporated into the floor and passes between an H-framed timber structure, designed to relieve weight from the supporting tie beam above the loading bay.