Description

BEAFORD
SS 51 NW
7/34 Former service range approximately
- 5 metres to north-west of Woolleigh
Barton

GV II

Service range, now store, shippons and hayloft. Circa 1500, altered and enlarged in
the C17. Uncoursed stone rubble with stone cob to first floor at front (possibly
formerly all cob and since mostly rebuilt), extended in the C17 in squared and
coursed stone with one granite window. Corrugated-asbestos roof (probably formerly
thatched), gable-ended to left and hipped to right. Welsh-slate and corrugated-iron
lean-to roofs over rear outshut.
Plan and development: Long service range enclosing small service court to rear of
Woolleigh Barton (q.v.), parallel with the hall range of the house and adjoining the
rear corner of the cross wing. Facing north-west (ground falls to right). Circa
1500 part to left formerly open to the roof (see smoke-blackened 5-bay roof),
possibly a former separate kitchen and service block to Woolleigh Barton (q.v.). The
C17 alterations probably included the insertion of the first floor, and the division
into 2 rooms by the insertion of a stone cross wall (see straight joints).
Probably inserted integral lateral stack to rear of the late Medieval part and
integral end stack to left hand end (both now truncated at eaves level). Large C17
addition to the right (doubling the length of the range), possibly for service or
domestic use but latterly probably stables. Probable former coach-house doors
inserted in left-hand end, probably in the C17 or C18. Minor late C19 lean-to
additions at rear. The range is currently (December 1987) used as a store to left
and as a hayloft over shippons to right. It would seem unlikely that there would be
2 Medieval houses so close together but the range obviously served some domestic
function. Whether the Medieval part of this range was formerly either a kitchen
block or even a separate house it is not clear when it ceased to serve either of
these functions and was converted into outbuildings. Two storeys with one-storey
outshuts.
Exterior: Two loft doorways with small loft opening between them and small loft
opening to left. Four ground-floor boarded doors with wooden lintels to right (the
left-hand one with very large window) and small ground-floor 2-light window with
wooden lintel to their left. Pair of large double boarded doors with wooden lintel
to left, probably former coach-house doorway. Blocked doorway between double doors
and window (see straight joints and wooden lintel). Right-hand front corner is
angled back (possibly formerly square but later rebuilt, see straight joint in right-
hand end wall). Right-hand return front has blocked loft window (see straight joint)
and ground-floor small C17 double hollow-chamfered granite window, formerly with
central mullion and with holes in cill for former stanchions. First-floor boarded
door in left-hand gable end, approached by external steps. Doorway in rear of left-
hand end, with boarded door and wooden lintel. Blocked doorway at rear of right-hand
end. Continuous C19 lean-to addition at rear, open fronted to centre.
Interior: Left-hand ground-floor room (latterly coach house) of Medieval part has
cross beams and right-hand room has roughly chamfered spine beam. Late Medieval 5-
bay smoke-blackened roof over left-hand part. Three side-pegged jointed cruck
trusses to left (right-hand one incorporated in later cross wall) with mortice and
tenoned apices. Pairs of threaded purlins and diagonally-set ridge-piece. Two
trusses to right of cross wall with straight principals (possibly formerly jointed
crucks but later cut back at base), mortice and tenoned cranked collars and mortice
and tenoned apices. Pairs of threaded purlins and diagonally-set ridge-pieces
(present ridge probably a later replacement). Some old blackened purlins survive in
this part of the roof too. Right-hand truss probably formerly closed (but is
blackened on both sides), with 2 blackened studs above the collar and 4 mortices in
underside of collar (probably for 4 former studs below the collar). C17 roof over
right-hand end has trusses with straight principals and halved lapped collars.
The exact original function of this building is not clear, although it was obviously
open to the roof and heated by an open hearth fire, and the chronology of the later
developments is also uncertain. It requires further investigation (partly hampered
by straw bales in the loft at time of survey - December 1987) and study.

Listing NGR: SS5317316883

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26612048

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

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)