Barn to the North of Queen Court Farmhouse

Barn to the North of Queen Court Farmhouse

This barn is thought to date from the 15th century, with two bays added in the late 17th or early 18th century. An attached granary of similar late 17th or early 18th-century date stands to the south, connected to the barn by a link block. The entire building is listed at Grade II* as being of more than special interest, with the principal focus on the 15th-century part, whilst the link block between barn and granary is of lesser interest.

The original part of the barn is timber-framed on a brick plinth of varying heights. The walls are weatherboarded, mostly in modern softwood, with some surviving oak or elm boards. The eastern section is also timber-framed on a taller brick wall accommodating the fall in ground level, with the eastern end built entirely of red brick in English bond. The roof was originally hipped to the west and half-hipped to the east; the thatch has been replaced with corrugated metal. The floors are concrete.

The rectangular barn stands on an east-west alignment, measuring approximately 33 metres by 11 metres. It is thought to have originally comprised five bays, aisled on both sides, but now consists of six bays of approximately equal length, with the western bay as a terminal outshot and two later bays to the east. The granary stands to the south on a north-south alignment, joined to the barn by an externally projecting link block from the centre of the barn's south elevation.

The south elevation features a wide wagon opening in the second bay, fitted with a replacement gabled porch thought to date from the 17th or 18th century, though the doors are later. A smaller pedestrian entrance is adjacent to the east. The westernmost bay has a modern entrance with double doors. The third bay is obscured by the projecting granary. At the eastern end of the original fourth bay, the brick plinth appears to have been at least partially rebuilt. The fifth and sixth bays represent the later barn section, with a tall opening to the fifth bay containing modern doors. The eastern end is entirely of brickwork with late 17th or early 18th-century character, generously provided with ventilation slits in two rows to north and south and three rows to the gable end, mostly now bricked up internally, with an offset plinth. On the north elevation, a 20th-century lean-to stands against the east end, though the brickwork remains visible within, the lower part painted. To the west, the tall brick plinth reflects the ground fall to the north, the brickwork apparently reconstructed in the 19th century. Beneath the eaves towards the west end is an opening, possibly originally a pitching door or reduced winnowing opening.

The interior of the original aisled barn comprises four bays, with the westernmost comprising a cantilevered half bay and terminal outshot. The frame is regular, with bay divisions marked by slightly jowled arcade posts having curved braces to the tie beam and arcade plate, and aisle ties to the aisle plate. Downward aisle shores are trenched over the aisle ties and descend to transverse post plates on brick sill walls. At the west end, an axial post with aisle shore supports a terminal tie beam carried on the ends of the arcade plates. The roof is supported by crown posts, each with downward braces to the tie beam and upward braces to the collar purlin. There are ten common collar-rafter couples to each bay. Shores at the centres of bays, thought to be a later insertion possibly contemporary with the eastern rebuilding, provide additional strength; these are straighter than the aisle shores, tied into the aisle plate with short spur ties but apparently only bird-mouthed into the arcade plate, with metal plates added at this position. The intermediate shores support a slender purlin, absent in places, also supported by the aisle shores with an added short tie; the purlin possibly intended to provide extra support to the rafters over the aisles. There is no intermediate shore in the third bay on the south side. The arcade plates are scarfed directly over the posts with side-halved and bridled joints. Wall framing consists of regularly spaced studs between jowled wall posts. The vast majority of the timber frame survives, though there has been some replacement in softwood. Metal reinforcement, braces nailed to the underside of common rafters, and some reinforcement to the sill beam have been added. In the entrance bay, the braces from the arcade posts to the arcade plate are notably cranked, allowing greater room for wagons. The later gabled porch has been tied into the main structure with a reused collar.

The division between the original barn and the lower late 17th or early 18th-century section to the east is marked by the fourth truss. The crown post of this truss has been compromised, with later straight downward braces and a new upward brace to the west. The fifth truss has raking struts in place of the crown post; the braces from the posts are straight, and there are downward braces to the aisle plate rather than shores. The aisle plate or wall plate continues round the gable wall, resting on an offset in the brickwork. Timbers in this part are more slender than in the earlier part and are nailed rather than pegged, with considerable adjustment and reinforcement to the structure. The tall portal to the south has an integral slot on each side designed for planking to retain grain during threshing.

The attached granary to the south is timber-framed on a flint wall, accommodating the drop in level to the east. The framing is clad in weatherboarding. A central doorway faces west. To the east, the building may originally have been open-fronted, supported on timber posts at ground-floor level; these are now infilled with cement blockwork containing two door openings. The roof is covered with asphalt. The building has two cells at ground-floor level within which jowled posts, roughly chamfered transverse beams with run-out stops, and joists are exposed. The first floor was not inspected, but the timber frame is understood to be visible, with shaped jowled posts and tie-beams supporting a collar-rafter roof with a single purlin and no ridge board. Evidence of internal grain bins remains, some retaining elm boards.

The link block between barn and granary has an irregularly bonded brick wall to the west; the flint to the lower part is visible from within the building to the east. This wall is probably 19th century. The eastern wall, apparently 20th century, is weatherboarded with a 20th-century mono-pitched roof.