Barn and Stables at Byes Farm, Hemyock, Devon

Summary

Barn and stables, C18 with late-C19 remodelling of the stables.

Description

Barn and stables, C18 with late-C19 remodelling of the stables.

MATERIALS: they are constructed of random rubble stone, with dressings of red brick to the stables, under corrugated-metal roof coverings.

PLAN: the agricultural buildings are grouped loosely around two yards. The linhay to the north, and milking shed, BARN and STABLES to the east form an L-shaped plan around a yard. There is a second group of farm buildings consisting of animal housing, probably a calves’ house, and a cartshed to the south which enclose three sides of a small yard.

The buildings are both rectangular on plan, and the barn has a slightly wider footprint.

EXTERIOR: the barn is orientated north to south and, together with the attached stables, forms a range on the east side of the farmyard. It is a tall, single-storey building of five bays with wide, full-height openings in the west and east elevations. These have paired wooden doors which are later replacements. The two-storey stable building has a symmetrical front, though the openings are slightly offset to the left. The openings have surrounds of red brick and the south-west corner are brick quoins. There is a full-height gabled bay to the left-of-centre which has a tall ground-floor entrance with wooden ventilation slats above the door, and a first-floor taking-in door. To either side of each doorway is a timber window; those to the ground floor have segmental-arched heads and wooden ventilation slats to the upper part of the window. The rear elevation has slit windows below the eaves.

INTERIOR: the barn has an open plan with a central threshing bay. There is an opening in the south wall, probably a former window, through to the upper floor of the stables. It has stone reveals and a timber lintel. There is no evidence of an upper floor. The roof structure comprises principal tie-beam rafters with later collars, two tiers of butt purlins and a ridge-piece. The interior of the stables retains original stall divisions, one hayrack and wooden pegs for tack. There is a separate loose box at the southern end of the building which is accessed externally. The C19 roof has collared trusses, slender purlins and a ridge piece.

History

Byes Farm has its origins in the C17. The farm buildings date principally from the C18, with some updating, alterations and additions in the C19 and C20.

The earliest map evidence for the farm is the 1809 Ordnance Survey map, although the individual buildings are not clearly depicted. It is shown clearly on the Tithe Map for Hemyock of 1841, where there is an L-shaped range of farm buildings loosely forming the north and east sides of a yard, with a U-shaped range to the south and the farmhouse to the west. The accompanying apportionment records that Byes, as it was then described, was owned by William Farrant and occupied by James Mitchell. Late-C19 trade directories record that it was a dairy farm during this period and remained as such throughout the C20. The farmhouse was partially demolished in the 1970s and replaced with the current dwelling immediately to the south of the extant portion of the earlier house.

Map regression indicates that the cartshed at the south-west corner of the farmstead was extended at its north end sometime before 1841, and that the stable building was altered and refitted in the late C19. The footprint of the farm buildings remains, however, relatively consistent through the OS maps of 1889, 1905 and 1964. The map of 1964 does show that the milking shed and a lean-to structure to the rear of the stables had by then been added to the farmstead. The fabric of the farm buildings indicates various phases of adaptation and repair. The linhay was originally a longer structure that extended further eastwards, and it was foreshortened to its current footprint when the adjacent milking shed was built. In more recent years the roof coverings to the buildings have been replaced with metal corrugated sheeting, and the rear wall at the north-east corner of the U-shaped range has been rebuilt.

Reasons for Listing

The Barn and Stables at Byes Farm are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* alterations have been relatively minor, and they retain a significant proportion of historic fabric which clearly illustrates their functions;
* the threshing barn is a substantially intact example of strong vernacular character, and the stables retain a good range of fittings.

Historic interest:

* as part of a largely-complete C18 farmstead which illustrates the character and nature of local farming practices within the context of the overall national patterns in farming history.

Group value:

* with the other Grade II-listed farm buildings which are linked by their date and appearance.

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.