Barn formerly to Clemsfold Farm

Barn formerly to Clemsfold Farm

This barn was built around the mid-17th to mid-18th century and stands as a substantial timber-framed structure. It was extended to the north and south during the 19th and 20th centuries, creating a complex building that reflects its long working history.

The main barn is constructed with a timber frame clad in weatherboarding, rising from a stone and brick plinth. The roof is pitched and tiled. The later additions use weatherboard cladding and brick walls with either corrugated-metal roofs (some with asbestos repairs) or pitched tile roofs.

The barn is rectangular in plan, oriented east to west, and comprises seven bays. A small lean-to is attached to the north-west corner, and a U-shaped range to the south.

On the north elevation, two full-height double doors serve the second and fifth bays, with two later windows in the first bay. A single-storey brick and timber stable with a corrugated-metal roof (partially collapsed) is attached to the west end. Taking-in doors have been inserted into both gable ends, and three windows are cut into the lower half of the west-gable end. The original south elevation is largely concealed by the 19th-century single-storey lean-to, which has a long brick south wall with two entrances and boarded-up rectangular openings. The lean-to has two wings: a 20th-century west wing of catslide and pitched-roof structures clad in weatherboarding, and a 20th-century east wing combining catslide and pitched-roof elements, the latter widened by a brick aisle with corrugated roof.

The interior reveals the barn's original structure and subsequent modifications. The main barn walls are stud-framed with wall plates, mid rails (girts), and sill beams. Bracing above and below the mid rail consists mostly of straight squared beams, with some arched braces. Six principal trusses carry the roof, featuring pairs of large posts (at least four jowled), tie-beams with braces, raked struts, clasped purlins, and diminishing principal rafters. Straight plank wind braces brace the roof at either end. Carpenters' marks are visible on some timbers. Some trusses have been reinforced with additional timbers and metal strap hinges, and a few braces appear replaced. Over bays two and three, a 20th-century ridge board has been inserted between the rafters, replacing the original bridle joints found elsewhere. Variation in wall-stud scantling and evidence of unused mortices in the main horizontal beams indicate later replacements. Diminishing principal rafters show variation in scantling, suggesting replacement or reuse; at least one pair is made of adjoining timbers. The east-end bay displays extensive evidence of timber reuse, with a different principal truss arrangement (incorporating both raked and straight struts) and purlins on a different alignment.

A hayloft has been inserted over the east-end bay. At the west end, a multi-level hayloft spans the sixth, seventh, and part of the fifth bay, accessed by a timber stairway. Below, bays six and seven have been partitioned, with raised floor level covered in blue brick. The partitioned area contains further timber walls, timber and cast-iron stalls, with matchboard-clad walls and ceilings.

The barn's original south elevation contains two large openings corresponding to the northern doors: the eastern opening is half-height and the western is boarded over. The former external weatherboard-clad south elevation is visible within the attached 19th-century lean-to, partly covered in concrete render at the bottom.

The 19th-century lean-to has a cement floor with concrete stalls and 20th-century wings on either side. An internal doorway connects the west wing to the main barn. The east wing's roof incorporates earlier timbers, including two principal trusses with raked struts. This wing first appears on early-20th-century mapping and was probably constructed using reused earlier material.