Two Barns And Loose Box, Taddington Manor

Two barns and a loose box at Taddington Manor date from 1632, with later alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The main barn is constructed of coursed, squared stone, while the smaller barn is made of squared rubble, both topped with a stone slate roof, though the back slopes are tiled. The larger barn features five bays and has a central porch on one side, while the smaller barn on the right end has three bays and includes a projecting loose box.

The main barn, facing the house, has a plinth and a 2-light mullion window on the left. It has a deep porch with the front wall extending on each side as a buttress, and it features double sheet metal doors with chamfered arris, plain impost blocks, and a 4-centred arch with a dated keystone. Inside, there is a timber lintel just below the crown of the arch. The barn has a parapet gable with a cross-gablet apex topped by a fleur-de-lys finial.

The right wall of the main barn is obscured by a lean-to that is not of special interest. Both barns have parapet gables and cross-gablet apices. The slightly lower barn on the right has a small boarded door with a stone lintel that blocks the threshing-floor doors. There is a projecting wing on the right with a boarded stable door in the gable and a square opening above, both featuring stone lintels.

Inside the main barn, there are tie beam trusses with angled struts to collars, two pairs of butt purlins, and curved wind braces over the threshing floor, although some elements were missing as of 1986. The porch is two bays long with queen-strut trusses. There are dates and scratch markings on the stonework near the inner end of the porch, along with a cupboard recess. The bays are filled with silos, and the smaller barn has inserted lofts at both ends, with one removed before 1986. It also features queen strut trusses and two pairs of purlins, along with a plank ridge. This group of buildings is associated with the house and is said to contain a reset 12th-century window.