Barn at Shafters Farm

This barn, likely dating from the 17th century, has undergone repairs and incorporates some newer timbers. It is constructed primarily of an oak timber frame, now clad in corrugated sheeting, but originally weatherboarded with a thatched roof. The barn is a three-bay aisled structure, oriented roughly north-south, with a central porch on the west side and a secondary entrance on the east.

The main features of the timber frame remain, including jowled corner posts, aisle posts, wall plates, braces, and much of the roof structure. The outer cill beam has been replaced, and the building sits on a concrete plinth. The roof is deeply pitched and hipped, extending over the aisles, with a half-hipped porch on the west side.

Inside, the jowled posts are cut away steeply above the braces, rather than gently rounded. Northern aisle posts sit on sole plates that extend around the perimeter of the barn, while elsewhere they rest on concrete pads. The northern half of the barn has upward-curving braces at the angles; the southern half is only braced at the end wall. Aisle posts are braced to the aisle plates and tie beams, sometimes using ogival or wany braces, and are tied to the wall plate. Trusses near the entrance bays are braced to the tie beam with upward-curving braces. The wall plate over the central bay on both the east and west sides has a pegged scarf joint. Some original studs remain in the north wall; elsewhere, studs and mid-rails have been replaced and are nailed in. The timber frame is numbered, but by individual joints rather than sequentially. The north-west section beneath the aisles is divided into storage compartments, and the area beneath the porch is clad with wide, horizontal planks.

The roof is a queen post roof with a single row of purlins and paired rafters, without a ridge piece.