Thatched barn south of The Barnfield, Stowting, Kent

Summary

Threshing barn, thought to date from the C18 or late C17, with attached C19 cart shed.

Description

Threshing barn, thought to date from the C18 or late C17, with attached C19 cart shed.

MATERIALS: the barn is timber framed, on a brick plinth; the plinth is patched with concrete, with concrete along the south elevation. The walls are weatherboarded, the majority of the boards being replacements. The hipped roof is thatched. The ridge has recently been replaced.

The cart shed is of flint with brick quoins; the east part of the south elevation, probably representing the original opening, is weatherboarded. The roof is covered with clay tiles, those to the south being modern replacements.

PLAN: the rectangular barn stands on a north/south alignment. In its original form, it was of three main bays – the central threshing bay being slightly wider – with narrow aisle return bays or terminal outshots to north and south; the southern of these has now gone. The long cart shed projects from the north end of the west elevation.

EXTERIOR: there is a wide wagon opening at the centre of the east elevation. The former porch has been removed and the opening reduced to the height of the wall plate within, the eaves of the thatched roof now being continuous; the opening now contains modern double doors. On the west elevation, the opposing opening is now filled with corrugated metal sheeting; the roof eaves here have always been continuous. On the south elevation, the roof is half-hipped, due to the removal of the terminal outshot.

The flint cart shed has brick quoins, and a central band of three brick courses. There are later brick buttresses at the west end of the building, to north and south. Originally having a wide opening to the east, this part of the south elevation has now been filled with weatherboarding, with door and window openings. There is a new window in the weatherboarded west gable. The uppermost section of walling to the north elevation appears to have been rebuilt, or perhaps just repointed, in recent years.

INTERIOR: the barn is of three aisled main bays, with a shorter end bay to the north forming the return of the aisle, or terminal outshot; this was originally reflected in a half bay to the south. The bay divisions are marked by slightly jowled arcade posts, with slightly arched braces to the tie beam and arcade plate, and with aisle ties to the aisle plate. The posts stand on transverse post plates on brick sill walls, and downward aisle shores descend from the posts below the arcade plate, to the post plates. A narrower axial post at the centre of the north arcade may be a later insertion. The roof structure is made up of coupled rafters, with collars to the trusses, and staggered purlins tenoned into the principal rafters. Scarf joints are of the lipped and halved form which came into use in the C17. Carpenter’s marks were identified on the south face of the joint between the arcade post and the brace to the tie beam to the north of the entrance. The wall studs are evenly spaced. The timber frame is pegged, and the majority of the original timbers survive, though there has been a degree of replacement, and reinforcement with additional timbers, including a small number of braces and a greater number of wall studs; many of the rafters above the aisles have been replaced with chestnut poles. Replacement timbers are nailed rather than pegged. Above the former wagon entrance to the east, the roof structure has been lowered with chestnut pole rafters being inserted, secured by a narrow purlin. The wall plate continues above the western opening, which appears to have been lower than that to the east, allowing for the exit of empty waggons. At the south end of the barn, the aisle return has been removed, with the roof structure truncated below the aisle plate; the arcade frame remains, with additional timbers affixed to support the southern weatherboarding. The addition of the C19 cart shed has led to the removal of roof covering from an area to the north-west, and the replacement of rafters in softwood, as well as an access opening being made between two studs.

The roof structure of the cart shed is understood to have been replaced during the early C20, with subsequent repairs.

History

The barn forms part of the historic farm complex of Park Farm, and is believed to date from the C18 or late C17. The Tithe map of 1844 shows Park Farm House (Grade II), a building thought to be early-C18 or possibly earlier, with farm buildings arranged in a loose courtyard around a pond to the west, the barn standing at the south-west corner of the farmyard, at the edge of a separate enclosure to the west. By the time of the publication of the 1872 Ordnance Survey map, an additional cart shed range had been built projecting from the barn to the north-west.

In 1959, the western part of the Park Farm farmstead, including the barn, was sold as a separate property, and a bungalow constructed to the north of the site. The bungalow was replaced by The Barnfield, completed in 2018; the stable building to the north-west is also a C21 addition. The barn’s southernmost half bay or terminal outshot was removed during the C20.

Reasons for Listing

The thatched barn south of The Barnfield, Stowting Common, Kent, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a threshing barn of the C18 or late C17, retaining a substantial proportion of its original timber frame, though with some alterations, and replacement of timber;
* the building is regionally distinctive, the frame following a traditional Kentish pattern, and the roof continuing to be covered with thatch, now a comparative rarity;
* the barn has group value with the Grade II-listed farm house, thought to be early-C18 or earlier.

External Links

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