Barn At Taynton House

This is a late 17th-century barn, dated 1695 (identified by a datestone), located near Taynton House. It is constructed of irregular mixed English Garden Wall and Flemish bond brickwork with a stone slate roof. The barn is originally six bays in length, with two porches and a later single-bay extension on one side.

The front facade has a bullnosed plinth and clasping corner pilaster buttresses at each end. A plain brick string course runs halfway up the side walls, with three slit air vents below and two above on the left end. The left porch has pilaster buttresses flanking the front and double boarded doors under an elliptical brick arch, with two slit air vents in the gable above and a stone plaque with an oval owl-hole positioned higher up. The right return side features a single slit air vent on each level, while the rear has a raised string course above an elliptical-headed doorway with a rebate for a door. The central section of the barn has six slit air vents below and five above.

A lean-to was formerly attached to the right gable but was removed in the late 20th century. The second porch mirrors the first, with doors rising to a transom, with vertical boarding above the arch, and double sections. To the right of the second porch, the facade repeats the earlier design. A lean-to of a later date was constructed against the right gable, featuring a wide doorway and clasping corner buttresses, with stone copings to the gables of the extension. The left return side originally had four tiers of slit air vents, decreasing from five to two, with an oval owl-hole above.

The interior walls are 450mm thick, with the air vents splayed internally and featuring cambered brick heads. Stone-paved threshing floors are present. A low brick wall topped with timber provides a boarded platform on one side. The extreme left bay has a brick pavement raised approximately 100mm from the threshing floor, with a stone curb. A low, double-doored opening with an elliptical brick arch and two slit air vents above is present on the rear of the left threshing floor. Originally a similar opening existed on the right side, though the brickwork was later replaced with boarding on timber studs. The barn features tie-beam trusses with angle-struts, two pairs of purlins, and no ridge piece, with wind braces extending from the wall plate to the lower purlins. Latin inscriptions are displayed on plaques.

This is an important and largely unaltered late 17th century brick barn which is part of a group alongside other brick farm buildings and the main house; it represents an unusual and significant survival.