16th century threshing barn at Greenacre Farm, Stock (EHER 80632)

A threshing barn of uncertain date but with timbers from the 16th century.

February 2018. Level 3 building survey. The current farm complex at Greenacre farm, with its ‘U’ shape, was constructed sometime between 1841 and 1853. The replacement of the earlier farm complex with this neater, more organised arrangement is typical of agricultural development and thought during the Victorian period. The only building that may have (partially) survived from the previous farm complex is the threshing barn. The rebuilt northern elevation of Building A must coincide with the insertion of dividing walls within the building, and the rebuilding of the roof, and as a result is quite modern. That the modern brickwork on the exterior of the building is in English bond, but the interior is in spacer bond, suggests that some uniformity was wanted on the exterior of the building between the original and rebuilt sections. The lean-to between the barn and Building A must have been constructed shortly after the redevelopment of the farmyard, as there are no maps showing a gap between the midstrey of the barn and Building A. It clearly wasn’t originally part of the model farm as its brickwork is not bonded to Building A. The asbestos panelling dividing the lean-to probably would have been added in the first half of the 20th century. Building B does not conclusively appear on mapping until 1919 but probably existed prior to that and may be shown on the early mapping dating back to 1866. Its current modern brickwork and pantile exterior is suggests that it has been extensively rebuilt. This rebuilding probably took place at the same time that Building A was rebuilt and subdivided. The barn would have been a threshing barn, originally constructed for the processing and storage of a grain crop. The current barn was raised sometime after the 16th century, and included re-used timber from an earlier medieval building in its frame. Whether it is the same barn as the one shown on the Chapman and André map of 1777, however, is questionable. The four buildings recorded at Greenacre Farm are part of a farm complex that was rebuilt and redesigned in the mid 19th century, in line with the Victorian thought on the organisation of agriculture and the creation of new ‘model farms’ to modernise and industrialise the farming process. Whether the barn was raised in the 17th/18th century and pre-dates the construction of the model farm, or is contemporary with it, it contains a number of re-used timbers that exhibit what must be one of the last vestiges of medieval carpentry in the farm complex.<1>