Tickerage Mill Barn and cart shed, Framfield, East Sussex

Summary

A late C17 timber-framed barn and cart shed with some earlier timbers. Barn extended to the south and west in the early C19, and converted to a house in the early C21.

Description

A late C17 timber-framed barn and cart shed with some earlier timbers. Barn extended to the south and west in the early C19, and converted to a house in the early C21.

MATERIALS: oak timber-frame and weather-boarding, limestone foundations, mixed-stock brick, clay-tile roof, timber and metal windows.

PLAN: the rectangular barn has principal elevations to the south-east and north-west (now simplified to south and north). There are two former cart entrances; to the north (now a glazed entrance) and a lower example to the south (now internal). To the side of the former threshing area there is a two-bay area to the east, and single bay area to the west. These former storage areas now have inserted timber-framed rooms on the ground floor with a mezzanine above. There is an outshut to the west which is divided into smaller domestic rooms. The longer and narrower outshut to the south contains a kitchen and study.

EXTERIOR: the barn is half-hipped to the east and west ends, and has a catslide roof to the south and west which descends to cover the outshuts. The northern elevation has timber-cladding formed of long oak boards, above a shallow ashlar faced limestone foundation of regular blocks. The original central cart entrance has a tall C21 metal-framed glazed door, with similar glazed panels either side, and three glazed lights above. The southern elevation is dominated by the catslide roof. Under the low eaves there is a run of C21 rectangular metal windows either side of a C21 metal framed glazed door with matching windows to either side. Below the windows there is a low brick supporting wall of mixed stock brick in an English garden wall bond. The eastern elevation has four timber casement windows and is clad with oak boards above ashlar faced limestone and brick foundations. The western elevation has a catslide which descends lower in the south-west corner. The walls under the catslide roof are of mixed stock brick in a Flemish bond. The single window to this elevation is a paired timber casement.

INTERIOR: the timber-frame of the barn is exposed, and is composed of an earlier recycled timber-frame, purpose-cut C17 timbers, and later repairs. The main posts are jowled and arch-braced to the tie beams. The timber-frame is divided into panels, with a mid-rail, above which it is braced from the posts by downward braces and raking struts. The roof is of clasped purlin type with two-way straight bracing, and with curved struts rising from the three inner tie beams to the purlins, with common rafters between, without a ridge piece. Half-hipped gables have high-set collars supporting jack rafters, and pegged or nailed studs below. The outshut timber-frames are exposed in places.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: to the south-east of the barn and running north-south is a single-storey former cart shed. It faces west and has full-height glazing to this elevation. The other elevations have mixed-stock brick walls in an English bond, with timber boarding to the upper part of the wall and small timber casement windows. The roof is hipped at both ends and constructed of clay-tile. The four-bay timber-frame is exposed and appears to be purpose-cut. Above the lower brick walling, it has jowled uprights supporting four tie-beams, and small panelling with raking struts to the upper walls. Above the tie-beams there are four collars supporting a single row of clasped purlins and the rafters.

History

Tickerage Mill Barn was built in the later C17 and was probably constructed to serve one or more of the three farms in the near vicinity; Tickerage Mill (National Heritage List for England reference 1028359), Hundred House (NHLE reference 1286841), and Tickerage Castle (NHLE reference 1028358), all listed at Grade II. Evidence of older structural timbers and the ashlar faced stone of the foundations, suggest that the barn is in some part constructed from recycled older materials. It is possible that they originate from an earlier medieval house, or a larger barn on the site. Originally the extant four-bay barn would have consisted of an offset threshing floor with cart access to both sides, bracketed by storage bays. The walls would have been clad in timber weather-boarding, and access would have been through the cart entrances.

'An Archaeological Interpretative Survey of the Isolated Barn at Tickerage, Framfield, East Sussex' undertaken by Archaeology South-East (2003), dates the main barn as late C17, and the outshuts as early C19. Although the cart shed was not part of the 2003 survey, the similarity of its jowled main posts to those in the barn suggests that this structure also dates from the late C17. On the 1840 Tithe map, the barn and cart shed are shown on a similar footprint to the extant buildings. The apportionments to the Tithe map show the fields adjacent to the barn as being owned by Charles Goring, who had substantial land holdings in the area including Tickerage Mill and Hundred House. By 1874 the barn is shown on the Ordnance Survey (OS) map as attached to a long narrow range to the south-west, and four smaller buildings to the south which filled the courtyard between the main barn and the cart shed to the south-east. Successive OS maps show some change to these subsidiary buildings, and by 1976 they have been demolished and the barn is shown in its current configuration.

During the early C20 the southern outshut was partially reconstructed, and repairs were made to the eastern end of the barn. In the early C21 the barn was converted to a private house and the adjacent cart shed into a garden room. Metal windows were added at this time, and in the main barn two mezzanines were created above two inserted timber-framed rooms which stand in each of the storage bays. Smaller rooms were also created at the east and west end. The outshut to the south became the kitchen and a study.

Reasons for Listing

Tickerage Mill Barn, a C17 timber-framed barn extended in the C19, and converted to a dwelling in the early C21, along with its associated cart shed, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building is a good example of a C17 former threshing barn with an unusual four-bay timber-frame, and an associated former cart shed;

* the C17 timber-frame is particularly well crafted, survives well, and is constructed from good quality materials.

Historic interest:

* in its early form and subsequent evolution, the complex reflects aspects of the changing pattern of rural agricultural buildings in the post-medieval period.

Group value:

* for the barn's functional association with the neighbouring farmhouses, Tickerage Mill and Hundred House (both listed at Grade II), as all these buildings were owned by Charles Goring in the early C19.

External Links

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