The Corn Barn At Cucksey'S Farm

BLETCHINGLEY

188/0/10016 SOUTH PARK LANE 18-OCT-06 The Corn Barn at Cucksey's Farm

GV II Corn barn. Early C18. Roof covering replaced in later C20. MATERIALS: Timberframed, but exterior walls of English bond brickwork with gable ends covered in corrugated iron and steeply pitched gabled roof, probably originally thatched but now covered in corrugated asbestos sheeting. PLAN: Five bay aisled barn with end aisles raised up to full bay height so that the barn is now of seven bays. EXTERIOR: Central double cart entrances to north and south with C20 double doors. The east end has setback brick buttresses and a wooden pedestrian entrance. The south side has triangular brick buttresses. There is a single storey range (early to mid-C19 in date) to the south east end. INTERIOR: The aisle posts are of reused timbers, set on padstones, some brick, some concrete. The east end gable has C18 framing to the gable with diagonal tension braces. The west end has similar framing but is obscured by a C20 internal partition. The roof is of angled queen struts with purlins. The principal rafters remain but the common rafters were removed, probably when the roof covering was altered. The east end has an inserted floor at tie beam level. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: An early C18 corn barn of an unusual type with aisles at the ends as well as the sides, retaining a significant proportion of its original fabric and part of a functionally related contemporary farm group.