Seventeenth century or earlier timber framed barn, Hyde Farm, Gosfield Road (EHER 80332)

A six-bay timber-framed rectangular building which abuts the late 19th century threshing barn. The timber frame is supported on a red-brick plinth which is largely below ground and is comprised of a large quantity of reused hand-sawn timbers, which suggest the structure was raised largely or entirely from the remains of an earlier, medieval, building, probably a house. It was probably built in the mid 18th century.

May 2019. Heritage assessment. A six-bay timber-framed rectangular building which abuts the threshing barn on its NW elevation and is aligned NW-SE. It measures 24m long by 5.5m wide. The building has a gabled roof covered in traditional weatherboarding and roofed in pantiles. The timber frame is supported on a red-brick plinth which is largely below ground and is comprised of a large quantity of reused hand-sawn timbers, which suggest the structure was raised largely or entirely from the remains of an earlier, medieval, building, probably a house. It was probably built in the mid 18th century. Unfortunately, with no surviving original fixtures or fittings, it is very difficult to suggest the building’s purpose or use in the 18th century (or any earlier). However, it does appear that in the mid to late 19th century this building was in use as two barns, with two midstreys projecting from the Southern elevation, and which were removed by 1896. The NE and SW elevations have vertical-planked doors and the SW elevation has damaged vertical-planked stable doors in the locations of the removed midstreys. Also on this elevation is an inserted two-light plastic-framed horizontal casement window. The interior of the building has a modern subdivision between bays 2 and 3, separating the structure into two rooms. Like in the threshing barn, almost the entire roof of the six-bay structure, above the tiebeams, has been rebuilt. It is constructed of modern nailed together machine-cut timber, with a ridgeboard and a clasped purlin on each roof pitch. In the Western bays, the floor consists of rammed chalk, but in the Eastern bays the floor is made of asphalt, which is quite degraded in areas. Bay 1, the westernmost bay, has been converted into a single horse stall and so has a low timber wall with an entrance dividing it from bay 2. Bay 6 is largely taken up by a modern chicken coop. <1>