Barrack Fold Farmhouse, Radcliffe North, Bury

Summary

Barrack Fold Farmhouse and barns form a group, dating to the C17 and C18, with C19 alterations, ranged around a rectangular courtyard.

Description

Owing to ongoing building works in 2011, the description of the farmhouse below has not been updated from the original designation of 1985.

MATERIALS: the farmhouse and barns are constructed of a mix of coursed sandstone and red brick. The house and stable have stone slate roofs and the barn has a Welsh slate roof.

PLAN: the house, aligned approximately east-west, faces the barn to the north across the farmyard, while the stable block runs south-north to join the barn at its western end.

FARMHOUSE: C17, with alterations and additions. Stone. 2 storeys. Main section has very narrow courses with dressed angles and massive stones to upper windows, but part of upper storey has wider courses and was probably rebuilt. This section has one 3-light splay-mullion window on ground floor and 2 windows above. Heavy flush entrance lintel has curved soffit and is inscribed '1631 RHE'. Interior has massive beams and wide boarded doors with strap hinges. Formerly also with inscriptions 'RTH 1601' and '- 1622'. To left is one-window section which has brick pantile projection. To right is cross-wing with gable projection and stone slab roof which to the front forms an outbuilding with weatherboarded upper parts and brick below. To the rear it has a multi-light window on ground floor, with continuous moulding above, and 2 windows on upper floor, enlarged, perhaps in C18.

STABLE: The stable block, which runs approximately north-south, is constructed mainly of coursed stone with large quoins. The roof is stone slate. The north gable end is buried within the adjoining barn which runs east-west. The south gable end of the stable block has one square window high up, with the stump of a central stone mullion. The east elevation has a square window to the left which also has the stump of a central stone mullion. A window high up in the centre is square with a stone cill. Two adjacent doors and flanking windows have concrete lintels and appear to be later. The west elevation has a doorway to the right with stone lintel and jambs, and a blocked window. A later C20 stone-built shippon (not of special interest) is attached to this side and the lower part of the wall of the stable is rendered.

The stable is divided internally by a stone wall with a smaller room to the north and a larger one to the south. Both have a boarded upper floor. A single truss is visible in the southern upper room, of a queen strut construction with massive hand cut beams. Purlins and a number of common rafters are also hand cut. Wooden hooks on the wall for hanging tackle indicate the building's function.

BARN: The barn, which runs approximately east-west, is constructed of a mixture of coursed stone with large quoins and red brick, with a grey slate roof. The south elevation is of stone, with narrower courses towards the top indicating that it has been raised. The north elevation has c.1 metre at the base in stone, but has been rebuilt in brick above. At the eastern end the brick extends to ground level. The west gable is rendered externally. The south elevation has a large cart entrance near the west end with a timber lintel and quoined jambs. To the east of the entrance is a single storey pent-roofed brick building, reported to be a dairy. To the east again is a doorway with a plank door, a timber-framed glazed window and a further doorway. A window in the loft space has a concrete cill and lintel. The north side has a cart entrance blocked with breeze blocks, opposite that on the south side. There are two doors and a window also on this side, and two upper windows as well as several diamond shaped vents in the brickwork. There is evidence of alteration in both the stonework and the brickwork.

Internally, the barn has an exposed roof structure of 6 machine cut, king post trusses: some of the purlins appear older and may be reused from an earlier structure. The west gable wall is stone to about half its height and brick above. The eastern end of the barn is partitioned off to form a shippon for cows, with concrete and brick stalls and a separate hay loft overhead.

A later, single storey, red brick shippon is attached to the east end of the barn; this is not of special interest.

History

The farmhouse and associated farm buildings at Barrack Fold have a complex history. The farmhouse itself has a lintel inscribed with the date 1631, another with a date of 1601 and record of a third of 1622. The house has various phases evident in its fabric and on maps. It appears in a smaller form on an estate map of 1767, as do some of the outbuildings including an L-shaped building (the barn and stable) opposite the house and other buildings to the west. The 1850 1:10560 OS map shows a similar grouping, but by 1893 most of the western buildings have disappeared. The house is shown at this date with the same footprint as currently; the barn (the longer wing of the L-shaped building) has been extended to the east and the stable arm is divided into two sections. A further extension to the east of the barn is shown on the 1910 map, equating to a brick shippon (cowhouse) added to the barn. The main barn has evidence of a high level of alteration and rebuilding, including the replacement of most of the rear (north) wall with brick, probably at the time the barn was extended in the late-C19.

Reasons for Listing

The farmhouse and barns at Barrack Fold, Ainsworth, a farmstead group dating to the C17 and C18 with later alterations, are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: the farmhouse and associated barns have their origins in the C17 and early-C18, a period when all buildings that are reasonably intact are eligible for listing
* Setting: the farmhouse with its associated agricultural buildings forms an evolved farmstead grouping which has survived since at least the C17
* Context: changes and developments in the regional farming tradition are reflected in the alterations and evolution of the farmstead

External Links

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