Barn at Wheelwrights

Barn at Wheelwrights

This barn dates from the mid- to second half of the 16th century and was very likely originally a dwelling.

The structure has a substantial timber frame clad in 20th-century weatherboarding, set on a stone rubble base with an upper tile course. The roof is covered in plain tiles, though it was previously thatched. The building is three bays in plan, aligned roughly north-south, and stands to the west of the current house. A later, lower single-storey lean-to bay connects it to the roadside workshop range and garage.

The exterior features opposing entrances in the central bays: a 20th-century pedestrian part-glazed door on the east elevation and a pair of full-height part-glazed doors on the west elevation. Small 20th-century windows have been inserted in the gable end walls. The roof is tall and hipped with small gablets at each end.

The exposed timber frame reveals substantial posts with tapering jowls, a mid-rail running through the frame, and curved tension braces in some places with intermediary studs. Some studs below the mid-rail are later insertions or replacements. The southern wall plate appears altered, possibly to accommodate the southern lean-to. Circular stave holes typical of wattle and daub infill are clearly visible on the lateral walls and partly hidden on the north wall, which also shows empty mortices for former studs. The posts framing the central bay are arch-braced and on their inner faces have cut-off ties or mortices for ties at mid-rail height, indicating these were closed trusses that created partitioned rooms. The underside of the tie beams and collars above also bear stave holes for wattle and daub partition walls, with stave holes in places aligning with tie beam braces. This evidence of internal partitions strongly suggests the building was originally domestic rather than agricultural. Any early window openings are obscured by later cladding. The western entrance, created with reused material, partly obscures the original frame. The barn has a concrete floor.

The roof is three-bay with clasped purlins, queen struts rising to pegged collars set high in the roof, and rafters pegged at the apex; there is no ridge piece. Extensive soot staining suggests the building was formerly heated—probably by a smoke hood given its date and lack of evidence of a stack. This, combined with evidence of internal partitions, indicates it functioned as a dwelling and may have been the precursor of the current house. The outer bays may have been floored to provide upper-level accommodation or storage. Wooden cleats and pegs relate to its later agricultural use.

A small, later single-storey timber-framed lean-to with a tiled roof is built against the southern wall and is structurally linked to the barn, though it does not itself contribute to its special interest.