Barn Approximately 40 Metres South West Of Manor Farmhouse

Threshing Barn at Manor Farm, Burghclere

A timber-framed threshing barn built in 1451-53 for the Bishop of Winchester, located approximately 40 metres south-west of Manor Farmhouse. Dendrochronological analysis of timber cores has confirmed that timbers were felled in the winter of 1450/51 and summer of 1451, with contemporary documentary evidence from the Hampshire Record Office describing the construction of a great barn at Old Burghclere during 1451-53.

The barn is a substantial aisled structure approximately 40 metres (131 feet) in length, comprising eight bays with aisles. The roof is large and hipped, clad in tile. The exterior is faced in horizontal weatherboarding above a plinth of brick and chalk, with corrugated sheeting applied to the upper sections. The stone post pads remain in places where original.

The main south elevation features a pair of double-cart doors protected by gabled porches, along with ventilation casements and pedestrian doors. The north elevation has a pair of double doors (the easterly one now accessed via a modern concrete ramp added in the 20th century), ventilation casements and pedestrian doors. The west elevation contains a modern roller shutter door inserted in the 20th century to allow access for farm machinery. The east elevation is blank.

The threshing floor is positioned between the entrance bays at the third and sixth bays, where opposing double-doors are located.

The timber frame comprises queen post trusses with pegged common and principal rafters. The aisles feature passing braces to a timber base plate, with some surviving studs and jowelled wall posts. There are four tiers of tenoned purlins and curved wind braces. The principal posts are slightly jowelled, with curved braces to the tie beam and the lower tier of purlins. Posts are supported on surviving original stone pads, or on brick, concrete pads or dwarf walls where the originals have been replaced.

Contemporary documentation from the Hampshire Record Office (references HRO 11M59/B1/188 and HRO 11m59/B1/189) provides detailed records of the barn's construction, naming the craftsmen employed (carpenter, tiler and mason) and describing materials and costs. The documents confirm the barn was eight bays with two porches, clad in boarding, roofed in plain tiles and underpinned in chalk with lime mortar. Materials came from nearby Hampshire settlements: freestone from Sydmonton, shingles from Earlstone and Sandford, and lime from East Woodhay. The records also note quantities of nails and tiles used, and record the provision of two new locks for the barn doors.

The barn has undergone alteration since its construction, most significantly the replacement of external weatherboarding, and replacement of some pad stones, plinth and cills in brick and concrete. A 20th-century concrete ramp now provides access to the north-eastern door, and a large entrance with roller shutter door was cut into the west end in the 20th century to accommodate modern farm machinery.

The barn has group value with the Grade II* listed early 14th-century Old Burghclere Hall.