Hazells Farm Barn and attached oast

Hazells Farm Barn and attached oast is a barn of unusual design, likely dating to the 18th century. It is constructed of pine, possibly Baltic or North American, on a stock brick plinth, with a slate roof. The attached oast houses are of stock brick in Flemish bond, also with slate roofs.

The barn’s plan is distinctive, featuring two floors originally divided into three open-sided compartments on the ground floor for cattle shelter or storage of carts and implements. Threshing floors are situated between these compartments, and the upper floor was used for crop storage. The barn is 13 bays in total, with the central three bays wider than the end bays on either side, and linked by two wider threshing bays. In the mid-20th century, slatted onion floors were added to the upper floor.

The west side of the barn has an overhanging roof supported on wooden brackets. The central three bays of the lower floor are open fronted and supported by wooden posts set into padstones. A section of the northern side, originally open, was infilled with stock brick in the later 19th century. The upper floor has three blocked windows, and there are two cart entrances with divided doors, rising almost to the full height of the building, on pintle hinges. The east side is similar, but the ground floor, formerly open, has been enclosed with weatherboarding. The south gable end features projecting thin wooden eaves, an owl hole, a loading door to the upper floor, and the lower floor has been enclosed in concrete blocks dated 1957. The north gable end has similar eaves and an owl hole, along with a shuttered window opening, a loading door to the upper floor, a pedestrian entrance, and a casement window on the lower floor.

The two circular oast houses are attached to the barn on the northwest side. They are built of stock brick in Flemish bond with conical slate roofs, timber cowl and fantails.

The ground floor of the barn retains timber piers, some set on padstones. An iron belt drive remains for food preparation machines. There are two threshing floors with side walls. The wall frame consists of thin studs with diagonal braces. The roof structure is of kingpost construction with purlins and dragon ties at the corners. The northern part of the upper floor was later used for hop stowage and contained a hop press, at which point some window openings were blocked. The oast houses retain their slatted drying floors.