North Barns Range At Meesdenbury Farm

The North Barns Range at Meesdenbury Farm consists of two attached barns dating from the 17th century. They feature timber frames set on red brick sills and are clad in dark weatherboarding, topped with steep half-hipped roofs that are now covered in corrugated iron. The eastern part is an impressive 8-bay tall aisled barn facing south, which includes two porches with swept roofs on the south side. It has jowled posts with long straight braces connecting to the tie-beams and arcade plates. The sills extend across the aisles to support the arcade posts. The roof is constructed with clasped purlins and collar trusses, featuring curved queen-struts. The aisle purlin is supported by an upcurved brace at the back of the post, and the arcade plates have face-halved bladed scarfs. The western part is a lower 4-bay aisled barn, also facing south, with similar jowled posts and long curved braces connecting to cambered tie-beams and arcade plates. The sills again project to support the arcade posts, and it has a clasped-purlin roof with queen-struts, along with face-halved bladed scarf joints in the arcade plates over the posts.