South Barn And Adjoining Stables At Priory Farm House (60 Metres South Of House)

The South Barn and adjoining stables at Priory Farm House, located 60 meters south of the house in Widford village, date back to the early 18th century and were extended and reroofed in the 19th century. The structure is timber-framed and covered with black weatherboarding, resting on a low red brick sill. It features a very steep gabled roof now covered in corrugated grey tiles. Originally, it was a symmetrical three-bay barn with double doors at the center on the south side and a low winnowing door in a projecting bay that serves as a small aisle on the north side. The barn has unjowled posts with long curved braces connecting to the tie beams, and the joints are numbered and pegged. The thin clasped purlin roof was reconstructed when the barn was extended by one bay to the west to create a trap-house, which has double doors on the south side and a small pitching door leading to the loft above. A dividing wall has been removed, and lean-to outshuts have been added on the north side, to the west of the original aisle. A pigeon cote with perching ledges is located at the apex of the east gable. The early 19th-century stable range, which is also timber-framed and black weatherboarded, has a hipped slate roof with vent gaps and extends north from the eastern part of the barn, enclosing the yard. This group of historic timber-framed farm buildings is significant as part of a larger group with the West Barn and the house, and it plays an important role in the views within the Conservation Area.