Barn Opposite Brooklands House

Barn opposite Brooklands House

This is a farm building, now used as a field shelter, located at Philpot Lane in Chobham. It dates from around 1500–1550, with the lower portion replaced in brick during the early to mid-19th century, when the roof may also have been rebuilt.

The building is constructed of an oak timber frame and roof, underbuilt in soft red brick, with a hipped roof clad in plain tiles.

The plan comprises two bays aligned north-south. The northern section was floored over and partitioned from the open southern bay. Evidence of burning in the south-west corner suggests there was once a flue, although this may relate to more recent use rather than the building's original late medieval form.

The timber frame is arch-braced at the angles of each bay and features jowelled corner posts. Gable walls retain a mid-post surviving to ground level. Assembly marks are visible on the central truss. Stave slots and holes indicate wattle infilling, which would have been coated in daub. Diamond mortice holes for an unglazed window are evident on the east elevation at upper level and are said to survive on the underside of the mid-rail on the north elevation. The lower position of the girding beam in the northern bay, together with mortice holes for the former cross beam, demonstrates that the northern bay was floored. Stave holes and mortices on the tie beam indicate a former internal partition below and a closed truss above. The roof employs clasped purlin construction with diminished principal rafters. During the 19th century, the roof was rebuilt at a lower pitch to form a hipped roof but reused the main components.

Attached to the southern end of the barn are the remains of a 19th-century softwood farm building which is not of special interest.

Historical records show the building on the 1870 Ordnance Survey map as the western side of a farmyard or group of buildings, lying west of what was then marked as Brooklands Farm and north-east of Emmett's Mill. The buildings surrounding it, including what appeared to be a large barn, have since been demolished. On the east side of the lane stands Brooklands House (formerly Brooklands Farmhouse), which bears the datestone AC 1745 and is listed Grade II, adjacent to the former granary (Brooklands Cottage) and former dairy building.

Comparison with similar buildings elsewhere in the South-East suggests the building may have been constructed as a kitchen rather than a stable or farm building. Many late medieval houses had separate free-standing kitchens, though surviving examples are rare, with only a few known in Surrey. The Brooklands barn may be one such example. The presence of unglazed windows particularly supports a domestic rather than agricultural origin.

The barn is designated for its good quality timber frame dating from the early to mid-16th century, its conjectured status as a former late medieval kitchen with fabric suggesting a domestic origin, and its group value with the listed Brooklands House.