Summary
A former threshing barn, probably erected in the C18 or early C19 but reusing some earlier timbers.
Description
A former threshing barn, probably erected in the C18 or early C19 but reusing some earlier timbers. The C20 single storey additions on the north-east side are not included in the listing.
MATERIALS: oak timber-framing on a deep brick plinth, clad in weatherboarding with a plain-tiled gabled roof.
PLAN: a rectangular barn of five bays aligned north-west to south-east with a central cart entrance and a projecting cart porch on the north-east side.
EXTERIOR: the south-west side facing the road is weather-boarded. The north-east side has a central gabled and weather-boarded timber-framed cart entrance. There is some old weatherboarding concealed under C20 additions. The north-west and south-east ends are weather-boarded and gable ended.
INTERIOR: the roof is of butt-purlin type with queen struts, with alternate in line and staggered purlins, and rafters with an inserted ridge-piece. The wall-frame is set on a deep brick plinth and has a mid rail and mainly diagonal tension braces to the corners and adjoining the cart entrance, but there are also some curved braces similar to the adjoining farm house. There is some later brick infill at the south-east gable end. The part below mid-rail on the north-west end has some breeze-block infill, a later wooden hatch has been inserted into the upper part of the wall-frame and a later entrance, cutting through the plinth but now blocked, is in the lower part of the wall-frame.
SUBSIDIARY BUILDING: attached at the north-west end is an early-to mid-C19 single-storey cattle shed in red brick in Sussex bond with a plain-tiled hipped roof, latterly in use as a milking parlour.
History
Fastbridge Farm Barn was originally part of a farm complex of which the farmhouse to its south-east, Fastbridge Farmhouse, is in part a timber-framed house dating from the C16 and is listed at Grade II.
Originally it was a threshing barn but at a later date probably housed animals as the interior brick plinth was protected by a cement coating and an iron feeding basket is attached to the external wall on the east side. It is possible that the barn was taken apart and re-constructed on a higher plinth in the C19.
The barn appears on the 1871 25'' Ordnance Survey map to its current extent together with the projecting cart entrance on the north-east side. On this map the attached single-storey brick cattle shelter to the north west is also shown and an open-fronted structure is shown attached to the south part of the south-west side. No change is shown on the 1897 Second Edition. On the 1916 Third Edition 25'' sheet two further open-fronted additions are shown attached to the south-west side of the barn in the farm yard. These additions in the farm yard attached on the south-west side no longer exist but there is now additionally a C20 addition on the north side of the north-east side. The barn is no longer in farming use and Fastbridge Farmhouse is no longer a farmhouse.
Reasons for Listing
Fastbridge Farm Barn, a timber-framed former threshing barn, erected in the C18 or early-to mid-C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as an impressive five bay barn with gabled cart entrance and intact timber-framing to both wall frame and roof assembly;
* for the interesting roof structure including both staggered and butt purlins with angled queen struts and the variation between curved and straight tension braces in the wall frame.
Group value:
* with Fastbridge Farmhouse, the former farmhouse to the farmstead, listed at Grade II in 1987.
External Links
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
Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey