Barn to south of Maynard's Farmhouse (EHER 36233)

A 17th to early 18th century timber-framed threshing barn.

2019. Building survey. Barn 1 is a three-bay timber-framed threshing barn aligned north-south, with a midstrey in the middle of the east elevation. The structure rests on a red brick plinth and is faced with mostly softwood weatherboarding, the bottom 3 feet of the western (rear) elevation being protected by metal sheeting, as are the gable ends, where they stand above the rooflines of the adjacent structures. The pitched roof is covered in corrugated iron sheeting. The barn is entered through boarded, ledged and braced double doors in the midstrey, hung above a chaff board (formed of new timber) set in a grooved slot. A boarded, ledged and braced personnel door sits opposite the midstrey in the west elevation. The interior framing is formed of principal posts resting on a sole plate and supporting a wall-plate (formed of several lengths of timber, joined with side-halved scarf joints), all of oak, with hardwood studs on 21-inch centres and primary bracing. The roof structure is of rafter pairs joined at the apex with a single clasped purlin in each slope. The listing description suggests a 17th century date for the barn. The box-frame construction, as opposed to post and truss, would suggest a later date, as would the use of shorter lengths of timber for the wall plate. The historic mapping and the graffito in the midstrey indicate that the barn was in place by 1777, and so construction in the first half of the 18th century may be proposed. <1>