The Shire Barn At Manorhouse Farm

The Shire Barn at Manorhouse Farm

This barn dates to the 17th century with an addition from the 18th or early 19th century. It is constructed of timber frame on a brick plinth, clad in weather board, and roofed in slate.

The barn has an L-shaped plan comprising two storeys. The earlier northern section runs north-east to south-west and features a pitched roof with a catslide roof to the south. The later extension projects at right angles with its own pitched roof.

Both sections are weather boarded, recently renewed, while the brick plinth of the earlier section is also modern. The north-west elevation has double doors with double loft doors offset above. The later south-east addition has double doors adjacent to a stable door in the north-east elevation.

Internally, the 17th-century barn to the north comprises three bays over two storeys. The upper floor is supported on two pairs of arcade posts set on modern brick plinths. These posts support the crossing point of transverse and axial chamfered beams; the axial beams support transverse cogged joists. Wooden partitions for animal stalls line the south-west side and continue into the later addition, which consists of two bays with upper floor joists supported on transverse beams. Half of the later wing's floor is cobbled, with a drain running parallel to the stalls. The south-east corner of the original 17th-century barn has been subdivided by later partitions.

On the upper floor, the division between the two phases is evident. The open rafters of the 17th-century barn separate it from the later addition, although wall studs have been removed to allow access. The roof construction differs markedly between the two sections. The 17th-century barn has substantial timbers with closely placed wall studs supporting the wall plate. Its roof is of queen strut construction, with tie beams resting on the wall plate and braced to the upright. Queen struts have collars with clasped purlins and wind braces to the rafters of each bay, and there is no ridge piece. The later wing's roof trusses are lighter, consisting of pairs of raking struts attached to the sides of the tie beams, angled to clasp the purlins.

The village of Thorpe and its lands were owned by Chertsey Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries. Manorhouse Farm sits on the north-east edge of the village, comprising a series of buildings arranged around a central yard with a pond. The earliest buildings are two 17th-century barns: Shire Barn and a threshing barn, both listed Grade II, with the latter centrally placed toward the south side of the site. The farmhouse at the west end dates to the 18th century and is also listed Grade II. The farmyard layout has remained essentially unchanged since the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870, though late 19th-century additions and replacements were made. The distinctive L-shape of Shire Barn has remained consistent from 1870 to the present, though structural evidence indicates the south-east wing was added to the original 17th-century structure at a later date.