Barn approximately 40 metres north-west of Bower Hall (EHER 27872)

The barn is an oak-framed and weatherboarded structure in four bays and may well have been built by the wealthy Melford merchant John Hill shortly before his death in 1495.

November 2021. Level 3 building survey. The barn is an oak-framed and weatherboarded structure in four bays that extends to 15.7 m in length on an approximately east-west axis by a total of 7.9 m in width. This span is exceptional, with most contemporary barns being smaller. The timbers are relatively large, matching the abnormal span, and indicate an expensive structure of high quality. The relatively waney nature of the studs coupled with the absence of infill notches suggests they were initially rendered externally rather than exposed (given that farm buildings were rarely weatherboarded until the 18th century). The roof structure is steeply pitched for thatch, which it retained in 1914, but is now covered in corrugated iron. Its original rafters and collars have been replaced or removed but plain crown posts survive on each side of the entrance bay with mortices for purlin braces and down-braces to the tie-beams. The lower half of a third crown post is preserved in the easternmost open truss and the barn was initially hipped as shown by the absence of pegged stud mortices in the upper edges of the gable tie-beams and the survival of an ostensibly 17th century clasped-purlin roof structure in the eastern bay. This clasped-purlin structure is likely to have been added to replace the hip and survived when the older rafters were renewed. All eight arch-braces survive to the tie-beams, secured by multiple pegs, with larger examples flanking the entrance bay where they could be admired by passers-by. The building was designed as a typical five-bay threshing barn with a central entrance facing the later farmhouse to the south. This entrance retains its original position with double-pegged mortices in the roof-plates for door jambs adjoining the flanking storey posts. In some ways the original framing is unusually well preserved, retaining all eight of its impressive tie-beam arch-braces and much of its crown-post roof structure, but the wall bracing has all been removed along with most of the common studs in the main. The western bay was demolished in the mid-20th century and the gable curiously moved inwards to adjoin the westernmost open truss and form a new gable against the lean-to which replaced it. The large and heavily-framed barn befits the site’s manorial status and may well have been built by the wealthy Melford merchant John Hill shortly before his death in 1495. <1> See also: <2>