Barn at Winters Farm, Rettendon

A timber-framed barn of probable late C15 or early C16 date, with a C17 or early-C18 wagon porch, forming part of a small farmstead of which the farmhouse and a later cart lodge also survive in much-altered form.

MATERIALS The barn is formed of heavy-section timber-framing set upon a deep brick plinth, with external weatherboarding and a hipped roof with a red clay tile covering.

PLAN The barn is aligned north-east to south-west, with a wagon porch to the south-west section of the south-east elevation, forming a roughly L-shaped footprint. The footprint is obscured by the later accretions around three sides of the building.

EXTERIOR The barn is a four-bay structure with a hipped roof. There is an off-centre full-height wagon porch to the east elevation with a hipped roof and vertically-planked C20 double doors. Above the doorway is a multi-pane window and a small, single-light opening. The remaining parts of the external elevations are obscured by later, single-storey additions.

INTERIOR The barn walls are formed of principal posts between which are closely-spaced vertical studs mortised into wall and sole plates. The wall framing is stiffened in various places by diagonal external tension braces. The posts have jowled heads which support substantial tie beams, some with angle bracing. The roof structure is of collar purlin, crown-post type, the crown posts being of square section with longtitudinal up-bracing supporting the purlin. The purlins support collar beams, each of which carries a pair of common rafters. The framing to the added wagon porch is of similar form to the barn framing, but formed from less substantial timbers and with some supplementary, C20 members to the opening within the barn wall framing.