East Wantley Barn

Former threshing barn to East Wantley farm, built in around the latter half of the C17, with a late-C19 or early-C20 former coach or cart house wing added to the east; the building was converted into a dwelling in 2007.

MATERIALS: the barn is constructed of an oak timber frame with brick-infill panels, standing on a stone and brick plinth; the external walls are partially clad in weatherboarding and it is topped by a tile roof. The coach or cart house-wing is brick with a slate roof.

PLAN: the barn is on an east-west axis, and has five bays and an L-shaped footprint including an outshut on the north elevation; at the east end is the later coach-house cross wing.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey barn is topped by a half-hipped tile roof. The walls are timber-frame with brick infill panels on a brick and stone plinth. They are partially clad in waney-edge weather boarding. Thee windows and doors all date to the early C21. At the centre of the north and south elevations are large openings on either side of the barn which are most likely the location of the original threshing door openings. The northern opening has been infilled with a glazed C21 timber-frame entrance; the southern opening has a C21 pitched-roof, two-storey glazed timber-frame entrance porch. At the west end of the north elevation is a lean-to with a catslide roof. Attached at the east end is a late-C19 or early-C20 coach house. It is a single-storey wing built in brick laid in Flemish-bond and topped by a slate, pitched roof. The windows and east-side porch entrance in this wing also date to the early C21. Within the north gable end is a large former opening, framed by timber, which has been infilled with early-C21 brickwork and windows.

INTERIOR: the conversion of the barn in the early-C21 has led to the subdivision of part of the internal space. The east end of the building remains open to the roof, while in the west end partitions and a mezzanine level have been inserted. Various modern finishes have been applied including plaster, skirting and flooring. Much of the barn’s original timber-frame construction survives and is exposed. The principal gunstock-jowled posts support the wall plates and tie beams, and are reinforced by arched braces. The wall frame retains studding, sill beams, mid rails, and straight wind braces. The building is topped by a raked queen-post roof with staggered butt purlins. Some carpenter’s marks are apparent on timbers. A modern doorway in the main barn’s east end, located at the top of a set of steps, leads into the coach-house wing which has been converted into a kitchen. Most of the visible building fabric here relates to the early-C21 conversion, apart from the exposed timber of the queen strut roof which has been retained.