Remains of an Aisled Barn at Crown Street Motors

The remains of a timber-framed aisled barn, likely dating to the 16th century or earlier, stand within a larger motor engineering and sales complex between Crown Street and Dove Street in Lowestoft. The barn is constructed of timber framing with a pantile roof, and incorporates brick and flint walling.

The barn's plan is linear, aligned north-south, and is situated between remodeled buildings which occupy areas where sections of the original timber frame have been removed. The east side of the timber-framed structure features brick walling with scattered flintwork, painted externally and incorporating a short section of low stone plinth, possibly related to removed wall framing. This walling extends southwards to meet the gable of the front building and the rear wall of a former smithy. A blocked window opening with a shallow-arched head is visible on this wall, beyond which the material is predominantly flint rubble. The west side of the barn is open, with arcade posts marking the extent of the remaining historic fabric. The north and south ends of the timber frame are supported by masonry walls belonging to a former forge (north) and works office (south), which are not considered to be of special interest.

Internally, the timber frame extends for three bays but appears to have originally been a five-bay aisled building. Carpenter's marks suggest this original configuration, with numbering sequences visible in the north bay. Surviving elements include arcade posts, arcade plates, tie beams, and spur ties connecting the eastern arcade posts to the east aisle wall plate. The west aisle is now absent, though three arcade posts remain, with the fourth having been removed when the building was truncated and the works office constructed. Braces, a mix of arched and straight (the latter likely replacements), support the plates and beams. Empty mortices indicate missing braces, and pairs of mortices in the western arcade posts of the central bay may show the location of a former porch to a threshing bay. Original frame components or roof timbers are present above the arcade plate level. The roof structure dates to the late 19th or 20th century, and a floor of similar age has been inserted into the north end bay.