Summary

A stone threshing barn of C18 date with C19 alterations.

Description

A threshing barn of C18 date, extended in the C19.

MATERIALS: rubble stone with limestone quoins and dressings, and timber roof structure.

DESCRIPTION: constructed on a north-south axis, the barn is of five bays. At the north end is an enclosed, lofted, single-bay section, once used as a granary. The main barn has opposing threshing doors and a full-size cart doorway. The posts of two side-pegged jointed cruck trusses survive in the west wall on either side of the rear threshing door. There is a mortise on one for a screen wall. The threshing floor is intact. The half-hipped C20 roof has tie beam trusses and king ties, with bolted lap-jointed collars and three sets of trenched purlins. The north end is divided by a stone rubble wall to loft height and a boarded loft wall with a door at first-floor level. The loft has timber corn bins. The roof is covered in corrugated iron.

History

There is evidence of Romano-British occupation in the vicinity of Membury Court (qv), and a villa site was excavated in the field to the north of the Cider Barn/ Chapel (qv) in 2014. At Domesday (1086), Membury Court was the manor house of the Manor of Membury, and was given to Goldcliff Priory in Monmouthshire by owner Robert de Chandos in 1113. The earliest surviving fabric within Membury Court, parts of the medieval hall house roof, probably dates to the late C14 or early C15. The major rebuilding of the house took place in c.1580-1650, and further alterations were carried out in the C18 and C19, and later.

The earliest farm building on the site is the linhay (qv), which is probably partly medieval in origin. The threshing barn was built in the C18 and a 1745 survey describes it as having four bays. It was altered in the C19 and extended by one bay. It was re-roofed in 1926. In the C20 the north end was floored and partitioned off for a granary, and the barn was used as a cattle shed.
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Reasons for Listing

The barn approximately 50 yards west of Membury Court, Membury, Devon is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a well-articulated threshing barn with stone quoins;
* Historic interest: for its association with the early medieval Manor House site at Membury, associated with Goldcliff Priory, and later the Duke of Warwick, Abbey of Tewkesbury and Dean and Chapter of Windsor. Membury Court has a long and rich history with significant associations of historic note;
* Intactness: relatively unaltered with an intact threshing floor and doors, and earlier structural fabric in the form of cruck posts embedded in the side walls;
* Group value: an important historic farmstead, including a medieval hall house, an early-C14 chapel and possibly one of the earliest farm buildings in Devon.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26464404

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6