Threshing Barn, Milborne St Andrew, Dorset

Summary

A brick threshing barn of late C18 date with minor alterations. It was built by and for the the Moreton-Pleydell family of nearby Manor Farm house (Grade II).

Description

A threshing barn, probably constructed in 1772.

MATERIALS: constructed of red brick, some with blue brick and stone detailing. The oak roof structure is covered in slate.

PLAN: a seven-bay barn with opposing central doors, a south-facing porch and side door on the west side.

DESCRIPTION: the north and south elevations are each supported by eight brick buttresses with stone caps. The porch has the letters ‘E P’ and numerals ‘7 2’ picked out in blue brick. The lateral buttress to the south-east corner of the porch has been damaged. There are sealed ventilation slits with chamfered reveals and timber lintels to each bay except the central, threshing bay. The roof structure comprises six oak trusses with raised collars and two rows of through purlins. Each truss has a pegged collar between the purlins. Oak braces set within the walls support each truss. There are some areas of disturbed brickwork around the ventilator openings. A small historic raising of the roof angle is indicated by the empty mortices in the principals close to ridge height. The north double entrance doors are timber boarded, framed, braced and ledged, and have iron strap hinges. The south porch doors are metal. The floors are laid with concrete.

History

Manor Farm was established by the late C18 for the nearby Manor Farm House (previously Milborne House, listed at Grade II), the seat of the Morton and Morton-Pleydell families. The farmhouse was partly demolished and abandoned in 1802, by which time the family had moved to nearby Whatcombe House, but they retained ownership of the farm. A map of 1786 shows the farm with a number of detached buildings, one of which may represent the current barn on the site. The owner at the time was Edmund Moreton-Pleydell (1724-1794) and the initials ‘EP’ and numerals ‘72’ in the barn porch brickwork suggest that it was built by him in the year 1772. The land to the west of the farmstead is shown as a pasture and canal and is labelled “Pumps and Troughs for watering a Dairy of cows and other cattle”. On the next plot to the west, Manor Farm House is shown.

The First Series Ordnance Survey Map shows further buildings on the site in 1811 and a formal farmstead is shown on the 1844 Bere Regis Tithe Map with new or adapted buildings lining a rectangular yard, incorporating the late-C18 barn. A comprehensive mid-late C19 reconfiguration of the farm subsequently took place, as shown on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1887. This phase saw the first yard enlarged to the east with the buildings that had formerly extended from the south elevation of the barn replaced with a wall. The farm buildings have remained largely on this footprint through the C20 and C21, with some additions and varying extents of alteration.

In 2021, the barn remains structurally relatively unaltered with some minor alterations to openings and replacement of doors and floors.

Reasons for Listing

Manor Farm Threshing Barn, Milborne St Andrew, Dorset, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a threshing barn with a significant proportion of late-C18 fabric, it is a good representation of a little-altered historic agricultural building;
* it is constructed using good quality workmanship and materials in the vernacular traditions of the region;
* the minor alterations that have taken place have had little impact on its architectural character.

Group value:

* with nearby Manor Farm House and its barn (both separately listed at Grade II).

External Links

Historic England Listing

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