Ersham Farm Barn with attached cattle shelter and stable, Hailsham, East Sussex

Summary

A barn with an attached cattle shelter and stable, dating from the late C18 or early C19. The lean-to south-west stable extension attached to the barn is not of special interest.

Description

A barn with an attached cattle shelter and stable, dating from the late C18 or early C19. The lean-to south-west stable extension attached to the barn is not of special interest.

BARN

DATE: probably of late C18 date. The lean-to section to the south-west is later C20.

MATERIALS: of red brick in Sussex bond with grey headers on a projecting brick plinth; it has a peg-tiled mansard roof.

PLAN: a five-bay threshing barn with central cart entrances and loading doors at the ends.

EXTERIOR: the south-east end has a cambered headed loading door in the roof space with a plank door on iron hinges. Below is a two-tier cambered entrance.

The south-west side retains the original barn wall behind the later C20 extension. There is a central cambered arched cart entrance with plank doors with handmade nails and iron hinges, and there are two tiers of ventilation slits on either side. A central gable with a clock face was added in the C20.

The north-west side has a similar cambered headed central cart entrance with a ledged plank door and two tiers of ventilation slits, but most of those to the north were obscured when the later cattle shelter was constructed.

The north-east side also has a loading entrance with a wooden door in the roof space, over a two tier cambered entrance.

INTERIOR: the walls have pilasters at regular intervals supporting the tie beams, one of which is inscribed 'J I 1831'. The roof structure has softwood angled queen struts and collars also supporting angled queen struts. There is a ridge-piece, two tiers of purlins, some diagonal tension braces to the rafters and dragon ties to most of the bays. There is no evidence of a former floor despite the high loading doors at each end.

CATTLE SHELTER

DATE: early C19 in origin, extant by 1842, roof lowered slightly, probably reusing the earlier roof fabric, and re-fronted in the later C19.

MATERIALS: the north-west wall is of un-knapped flint cobbles topped by four brick courses in English bond. The south-east wall is built of handmade bricks in English bond. It has a tiled roof.

PLAN: a single-storey cattle shelter of seven bays, probably originally open fronted, later the open front on the south-east side was enclosed with entrances.

EXTERIOR: the south-east side facing the cattle yard has wide entrances defining each bay.

INTERIOR: the walls are lined in cement. The roof, essentially of similar construction to the stable, has tie beams resting on the walls; at the southern end on a timber wall plate, at the northern end, on brick. Original collar beams house clasped purlins, and the roof has a ridge piece. It is probably a re-working of the earlier roof, which is slightly lowered on the south-east side.

STABLES

DATE: probably late C18.

MATERIALS: the walls are of un-knapped flints with red brick lacing courses, quoins and a modillion cornice. The end gables are of brick in a random bond with a half-hipped tiled roof.

PLAN: the stables are of one storey and attics, and three bays, and probably originally comprised a hayloft or accommodation over stabling.

EXTERIOR: the south-east side has a multi-pane fixed sash window and a blocked cambered arched opening below. The south-west side has a modillion cornice and a blocked cambered arched window.

INTERIOR: internally is an exposed roof structure of tie beams and rafters with a ridge-piece.

This List entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 10 August 2016.

History

Historical records held at The Keep, Lewes, suggest that Ersham Farm was in origin a medieval farmstead. It is recorded as part of the Firle Estate, held by the Gage Family from the C15.

The five-bay barn and an originally free-standing stable to its north-east were the first of these farm buildings to be built and probably date from the late C18. Budgen's 1789 map appears to show two buildings in the same position although the scale is too small to be absolutely certain. The barn, stables and the later linking cattle shelter, are all shown on the 1842 Tithe Map for Hailsham and are described as a 'barn and yard' which is to the north-east of a 'cottage and garden'. The Tithe apportionment also lists a rickyard, a pond, a pond field out to pasture and a barn field in arable use; the farm was owned by James Ingram of Ades in Chailey and occupied by George Weller. The dates and initials suggest that James Ingram may be the 'J I 1831' inscribed on a tie beam of the barn's tie beam. The cottage later became a coach house.

On the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1874 the buildings are shown with a farmyard divided into two sections and the buildings are labelled Ersham Farm. The small famhouse to the south-west appears to be of mid C19 construction and is also shown on the 1874 map. There is no change on the 1898 map. The only change on the 1910 Edition is that the north bays of the cattle shed appear to be open fronted by that date. On the 1928 map the former stable building has undergone an extension, doubling it in size, but this later extension no longer exists.

An extension on the south-west side of the barn is first recorded on a 1987 aerial photograph.

Reasons for Listing

Ersham Farm Barn, a probably later C18 brick barn, an attached cattle shelter dating from the early C19 and an attached late C18 stable are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: the barn and stable may appear on Budgen's 1769 map and certainly seem to on the 1789 edition, a barn tie beam is dated 1831 and all three parts are shown on the 1842 tithe map;
* Architectural interest: a five-bay late C18 threshing barn in good quality Sussex bond brickwork with a mansard tiled roof, retaining its ventilation slits, cart doors and unusual tall end loading doors, is attached to an early C19 single storey brick cattle shelter of seven bays dating from the early C19, and a late C18 flint stable of three bays with decorative red brick lacing courses, quoins and modillion cornice;
* Rarity: mansard roofs are rare on Sussex farm buildings and the buildings are rare rural survivals of a farmstead with medieval origins in an area which has later been built up;
* Degree of survival: the barn survives with its original fabric intact and the stable and cattle shelter are substantially intact;
* Group value: although now joined together the barn, cattle shelter and stable constitute a group of farm buildings with a separate agricultural functions.

External Links

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