Eastern Barn At Church Farm, 50 Metres South East Of Parish Church

GREAT GADDESDEN PIPERS HILL TL 01 SW (North side) 3/118 Eastern Barn at 21.2.78 Church Farm, 50m south- east of Parish Church (Formerly listed as Eastern GV Barn at Church Farm)

II*

Barn. Late medieval, probably C15, cruck framed barn, extended to L-plan by roadside S range built in 3 stages westward during C17, older E range renovated with ends rebuilt in C18. Timber frame on low brick sill walls, dark weatherboarded, with steep old red tile roofs. A 5-bays cruck-framed barn, facing W into courtyard, retaining 4 out of the original cruck frames. Full crucks with a different apex treatment in each truss. Heavy diagonally-set ridge timber. Single purlin on each side set in the plane of roofslope, trenched through backs of crucks, and splay-scarfed at each truss and each part pegged to cruck. Lap-dovetail mortice on N-face of each cruck for a collar just below or just above the level of the purlin, now missing, and spur-ties, lap-jointed to N face of cruck and to wall-post below wallplate level. Modern timbers bolted across as tie-beams probably made necessary by removal of collars. Long convex curved wind-braces overlapped at junction with back of cruck-blade. Each pair of cruck blades are the matched halves from one timber. The southernmost pair are joined a little below the apex by a small lap-jointed collar, the blades continuing, to butt against the lower faces of the ridge-beam. The next pair to N rise and cross with the ridge supported in the crotch. Another has a yoke at the apex with a short post supporting the ridge. The wallplate has squint-butted scarf joints. W end of S range a 2-bays structure with butt-purlin roof, diminished principals and angled straight queen-posts to middle truss. The cruck barn is one of the most south-easterly examples of this form of construction. Largely dismantled for reconstruction as craft shop when inspected.

Listing NGR: TL0291711221