Hougher Fall Farm Cruck Barn, Dutton, Lancashire

Summary

Three bay cruck-framed stone clad barn of late medieval to late C17 date, with C18/C19 cladding.

Description

Materials: timber framing of three full cruck trusses with saddles, spurs, purlins, ridge beam and wind braces, encased in stone walling, partly squared and coursed, partly random rubble, some quoins, under a Welsh slate roof.

Plan: the barn is aligned approximately north-south and has three bays plus part of a bay at the north end. The ground falls to the south and this is reflected in the ground levels within the barn.

Exterior: the east elevation has a doorway at the southern end and a cart entrance with double wooden doors immediately to the north of the southernmost cruck. There is a second door at the north end between the northern cruck and the north wall. The two small doors have stone lintels, and the south east corner of the barn has large quoins. The cart entrance has large regular quoins on the south side, and the base of the cruck lies immediately to the north, inside the entrance. The stonework is largely random rubble. The west elevation has two windows, one square, low down near the south end with a stone sill, and one four-light higher, near the centre and with a long stone lintel. The stonework is roughly squared rubble, with a change two-thirds along to the north from random strap-pointed to narrower coursed stone. The south gable end is roughly coursed squared rubble, and the north gable, where visible, is narrower coursed squared stone with a small high window. A partly blocked entrance with a heavy lintel is visible at the west side of the north gable end, and a later store with a lower roof line is attached to the gable end.

Interior: there are three crucks with two through purlins on each side and a housed ridge beam. The southern and central cruck are supported by a steel tie beam. The southern cruck is approximately 4 metres from the south wall, at the south side of the cart entrance. It has a saddle near the ridge beam, and a wind brace on each side to the upper purlin. The blades are slightly kneed at the level of the lower purlin. Spurs are pegged to a stud on the east side and are embedded in the stone wall on the west side. An additional spur is angled upwards from the wall to the cruck blade on the west side. The central cruck is approximately 4 metres to the north and is similar to the southern though more strongly kneed. Upper spurs on the east side are missing and a lower spur is embedded in the wall as is the base of the blade. The northern cruck is approximately 5 metres to the north, and one and a half metres from the north wall. The blades are straighter than the others, and have additional angled spurs on both sides and wind braces on the east side. The north gable wall has a blocked window. A modern brick wall divides the lower half of the southern bay from the rest, with a hay loft above and former cattle housing below. The floor in the northern half-bay is at a higher level.

The adjoining C20 buildings to the north and east are not of special interest and are not included in the listing.

History

The cruck barn at Hougher Fall Farm appears on the 1st edition OS 1:10,560 Map published in 1847, as does the farmhouse to the south, which is now in separate ownership and is extended and altered. The existence of three cruck trusses in the barn suggests a late medieval to late C17 date, probably with a later stone cladding of the walls. Variations in the stone work indicate a number of phases, including the probable rebuilding of the south gable end and much of the west side wall and the loss of a probably cart entrance on the west side. The positioning of the crucks, one of which is only just over one metre from the north gable end, might be the result of a change in the length of the barn, and stonework in a later attached store to the north, containing large quoins, could be re-used from the barn itself. A range of single-storey outbuildings was attached to the barn between 1912 and 1932, running from the north end eastwards. The roof covering, originally stone slate, has been renewed in Welsh slate in the last 25 years.

Hougher Fall Farm, known as Higher Fold in 1847, was part of the formerly extensive Dutton estate, and was sold off in 1947.

Reasons for Listing

The cruck barn at Hougher Fall Farm is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Date: the barn dates to between the late medieval and the late C17, a period in which any buildings that retain a significant proportion of their original material are listed
Construction: the survival of three complete crucks and other original timbers within a single building is unusual and certainly of special interest
Historic interest: the barn is a reminder of the farming practices of this part of Lancashire, and demonstrates in its fabric the history of the farm as part of the Dutton Estate.

External Links

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