The Great Barn

SU 29 SE 4/94

GREAT COXWELL The Great Barn

(Formerly listed as "Great Barn, Court House Farm".)

21/11/66

GV I Tithe barn. Circa early C13 for the Cistercian monks of Beaulieu Abbey, Hants, who owned the manor. Restored in 1868 when many of roof trusses and tie beams were either strengthened or replaced by deal beams, and again in 1960-62 by the National Trust when the barn was re-roofed in stone slates on new rafters and some timbers were replaced by oak beams. Rubble stone with dressed stone buttresses and openings, gabled stone tiled roofs with dressed stone copings and decayed stone finials to gable ends. Cruciform in plan, 152ft 2ins x 43ft 10ins x 48ft to the ridge.

The exterior walls have shallow buttresses with set-off and splays at their bases and there are segmental-headed archways in each transept with two continuous chamfers. The tall entrances to north and south gable ends are C18. The seven bay interior is divided into nave and aisles by massive roof-supporting trusses carried on 7ft stone piers topped by oak templates. Heavy bracing struts project from the trusses to support huge tie beams and further tension braces spring from the plain and carved corbels on the side walls to support aisle tie beams. The east transept is approximately 14ft x 4ft, but that to the west is three times as large and has a pointed headed doorway with steps up to the right of the entrance from the nave and was originally the double storied office of the monastic official. Dated before 1250 by William Morris and dated circa 1230 by recent historians on the stylistic similarity of the wall corbels to other dated examples, particularly those at Rievaulx Abbey.

Listing NGR: SU2689794027