Threshing Barn At Westrop Farm

This is an 18th-century threshing barn located at Westrop Farm in Cold Ash. The barn is timber-framed and weatherboarded, standing on a brick plinth. The base of the timber frame has been replaced or underpinned in 19th-century red and engineering brick, and spur walls internally, also primarily 19th-century but with some earlier red brick, support the aisle posts. The roof is covered in peg tiles.

The barn is aligned north-south, forming part of a farmyard. It consists of three wide bays, flanked by narrower bays at each end, with central entrances facing each other, the western entrance being taller. It has a single aisle on the eastern side, a hipped tile roof, a deep catslide roof at the north end, and a projecting gabled porch over the western entrance, which houses a pigeon loft.

The exterior is clad in horizontal weatherboarding, with some patching, and includes a small inserted entrance in the south gable plinth wall. A gable over the western entrance is supported by slender brackets. Modern, open-sided metal-framed barns attached to the western side are not considered to be of special interest.

Inside, the roof structure features two tiers of staggered purlins and tie beams with slightly curved braces. Slender struts support the collars.

The barn is designated at Grade II for its architectural interest, representing a good example of late vernacular construction, and its historic interest as part of a farmyard typical of the later 18th and early 19th centuries.