Barn At Boxley Abbey

Barn at Boxley Abbey

This barn is a late 13th or early 14th century hospitium (guest house) belonging to Boxley Abbey, a Cistercian monastery. It is constructed of ragstone with a plain tile roof and measures 186 feet in length.

The building has gable end walls that are recessed above the tie-beam. Both gables are pierced with small, irregularly placed rectangular ventilation holes. The west gable contains three lancet-type pointed windows above the tie-beam and three below, with the central window in each group stepped above the lower two. A small later window has been punched through the coping at the left end. All original windows are morticed in the sides and tops to receive rectangular iron bars and feature chamfered reveals. Some windows and doors have since been blocked or replaced.

The south side shows significant variation in fenestration. The left section has five regularly spaced oblong windows set under the eaves, with three taller, narrower oblong windows on the ground floor below the middle three and stepped slightly to the left. At the left end, immediately below the cill level of the upper windows is a small inserted window with wooden frame, and below the left original first-floor window are two superimposed inserted windows also in wooden frames. A pointed window with a cill immediately above the level of the ground floor window tops appears in the central quarter of the wall, which is otherwise blank. The right section contains four regularly spaced narrow oblong windows well below the eaves, mirrored by similar windows on the ground floor. Inserted barn doors with wooden architraves sit below two central first-floor windows.

The east gable has one pointed window in the centre above the tie-beam and two much larger oblong windows under the tie-beam towards the centre of the wall, with two immediately beneath on the ground floor. These are the largest windows in the building.

The north side displays highly irregular fenestration. The left section has tall narrow oblong first-floor windows well below the eaves, with one at the left end opposite the south wall's end window and two further towards the centre, aligned to the right of their south side counterparts. One similar window appears on the ground floor below the second first-floor window from the left. Two arched doorheads on the ground floor are positioned one to the left of the left first-floor window and one beneath the first-floor window at the right end; the left doorhead has stone voussoirs and chamfered stone jambs with broach stops. A slightly projecting rectangular stone stack sits on the first floor on a brick relieving arch between the left first-floor window and full-height barn doors. Full-height inserted barn doors opposite those on the south side stand in the central quarter, which otherwise has inserted wooden doors on each floor. The right section contains inserted wooden doors on each floor to the right of the central quarter doors, with the upper door obscuring an original oblong window. Two smaller oblong windows sit immediately below the eaves opposite those on the south side, with a pointed window on the ground floor below the left one and a blocked oblong window below the right. A large long oblong opening under the eaves to the right of these has a wall-plate as its head, chamfered stone jambs with broach stops, and a plain cill; it is not morticed for iron bars and may have originally served as a first-floor door.