Barn And Stable, At Hownhall

This is a former barn and stable building, dating to 1723, with alterations made in the early 19th century. Originally built for livestock and a cider house, it is now used as a barn and stable. The building is constructed of irregular brick bond, partly Flemish, with a tiled roof.

The stable block is two storeys and situated near the house, with a larger barn extending beyond. It has a bullnose plinth, clasping corner pilaster buttresses, and a plain brick string course that runs around the pilasters of the entire building. The gable facing the house includes a former doorway, flanked by brick buttresses, with an elliptical brick arch above containing a stone keystone and the date 1723. This doorway has been converted into a three-light casement window. To the left of the doorway is a two-light shuttered window with a flat head and elliptical brick arch, and to the right, a taller two-light window with a similar head; the left light is bricked up, while the right is glazed. A blind first-floor opening is centrally positioned, flanked by large single-pane windows, all with elliptical brick arches. The right return has slit air vents to both levels. A boarded door features on the left, with a flat head but no lintel. To the right is a taller boarded door with a segmental brick arch above a timber lintel. There is an elliptical brick arch marking the location of a blocked opening, and above the boarded door is a stone sill for a loft. A parapet gable breaks the roof on this side only, with eaves level on both sides. The section to the right features double boarded doors leading to the threshing floor, the left door being in two halves. Weatherboarding extends to the eaves above. Part of the elliptical head of a blocked opening was cut during the insertion of a door on the right. A boarded door with an elliptical brick arch is located at the right end. The left return was originally divided into four equal parts by pilaster buttresses, although one has been lost due to the insertion of barn doors. A lean-to against the left side is not of particular architectural interest.

Inside the stable, three heavy ceiling beams remain, along with some surviving racks. Stairs leading to a loft have been inserted, and the loft walls are plastered, divided into two sections by a stud partition. The loft comprises three bays, with queen-strut roof trusses featuring an additional member from strut to tie-beam running parallel to the principal. There are two pairs of purlins, a plank ridge, and windbraces rising from the wallplate. The barn’s threshing floor is stone-paved, originally with low brick walls on either side, now largely removed. The bays to the right are also brick-paved. Internal air vents are splayed with cambered brick arches. Blocking for removed floor beams is visible along both side walls and the present loft floor beams are in different positions. The roof of the barn is five-bay, with trusses similar to those in the first section.

The building was likely originally used for horses or cattle, with a cider house attached to one end, which was later converted into a barn in the late 18th or early 19th century. It is comparable to other buildings at Taynton House. The barn and stable form a group with the nearby house and another barn.