Barn to the North West of Queen Court Farmhouse

Barn to the North West of Queen Court Farmhouse

This rectangular barn, thought to date from the 16th century with a southern extension probably added in the 17th century, stands on a north to south alignment with Water Lane to the west and the farmyard to the east. The building comprises six bays and represents a significant example of agricultural vernacular architecture, with later modifications including 19th-century stabling and 20th-century conversion to workshop use.

The four northern bays are believed to represent the original 16th-century structure, with the two southern bays probably dating from the 17th century. A stable was installed in the southernmost bay during the 19th century. The building is now partitioned into three sections; the fourth and fifth bays were converted to workshop use in the 20th century, with the three northern bays and the southern stable bay remaining as separate functional areas.

The timber frame is clad with weatherboarding to the northern three bays, mostly modern though some older boards survive. The southern bays are clad in red brick laid in English bond. The roof is half-hipped at the north end and covered with clay tiles, with asbestos sheeting to the eastern side of the northernmost bay. Modern roof lights have been cut into the roof structure. The barn doors are replacements of varying ages. Except for the southernmost stable bay, the floors are covered with concrete.

The exterior displays opposing openings in the third bay to the north, with a tall porch to the west, the roof structure of which retains mortices for lost brackets. The lower opening to the east appears originally to have contained a narrower winnowing door rather than the current double doors. The fourth bay to the east also has an opening with double doors, positioned immediately north of the brick section. The half-hipped north end features a later pitching window. The southern end has a narrow central doorway with a window to either side and a door accessing the hayloft above, all openings having segmental-arched heads. A horizontal window below the eaves in the eastern wall lights the stable.

The three intact bays to the north demonstrate the original aisled form, with bay divisions marked by slightly jowled arcade posts having curved braces to the tie beam and arcade plate, the latter being slightly straighter. Aisle ties connect to the aisle plate. The arcade plates incorporate side-halved and bridled scarf joints above the posts. The tie beams are stop-chamfered. Downward aisle shores are trenched over the aisle ties and descend to transverse post plates, which now sit at floor level due to raising of the floor. Above the tie beams, queen struts rise to collars clasping the purlins, with short windbraces between the purlins and principal rafters. Intermediate collars exist between trusses. There has been considerable replacement of common rafters below the arcade plate. The wall framing consists of regularly placed studs between jowled wall posts, the majority of the original studs surviving. The aisles are divided by timber partitions to the lower part of the trusses, residual in places. The truss at the northern gable end has a mid-rail between the posts with curved downward braces trenched across it. In the third bay, the wall-plates of the porch structure are pegged to the arcade plate. On the opposite side, the aisle plate above the opening has empty mortices suggesting the opening has been reduced. A boarded partition with double doors separates the northern three bays from the area immediately to the south, with the truss form remaining intact.

Bays four and five are currently fitted as a workshop. An inserted ceiling prevents inspection of the roof above arcade plate and tie-beam level. The truss between these bays appears formerly to have been closed and may represent either the end of the original barn or a former partition: the posts have mortices for a mid-rail, and the aisle ties have mortices for studs with no evidence of downward shores; however, upward braces exist between post and tie beam, contrasting with the downward braces at the north end of the barn. A plain side-halved scarf joint exists over the western post. The framing to the south continues in essentially the same form, without downward shores, though some secondary bracing has been added to this area.

The southernmost bay contains 19th-century stabling with two stalls, a loose box, and harness room. The boarded partitions and posts are intact, with a barred door to the loose box and surviving fitted mangers along the north wall of the stalls and in the corner of the loose box, with timber hay racks above. The north wall is formed by the boarded partition. The floor is of brick. A fixed ladder to the south provides access to the hayloft. The pegged roof structure over the hayloft takes much the same form as that over the first three bays but without windbracing. Strengthening timbers have been added to the backs of the rafters, together with a ridge piece.