Late 18th to mid 19th century stable and barn at Gay Bowers Farm, West Hanningfield (EHER 80884)

The small complex of buildings at Gay Bowers farm represent a prime example of a late 18th to early 19th century barn.

November 2023. Level 3 building survey. Based on the historic mapping, the date of construction for the buildings recorded at Gay Bowers Farm can be pinned between 1777 and 1844. The complex does not clearly appear on the 1777 Chapman and André map; however, the 1844 tithe map does show the complex. The landscape shown to us in the 1844 tithe map is one of a scattering of small agricultural complexes spread across the parish, varying a little in size both larger and smaller than that of Gay Bowers. Forming a general pattern of smallholdings with access to enough acreage to fulfil the economic needs of small scale tenant farmers in which Gay Bowers fits well. The use of re-used timbers in the barn correlates with the pragmatic reality of rural construction. Whilst their limited number does not indicate that they come from a wholesale reconstruction of an earlier building, it does seem possible that an earlier phase of farm buildings, as suggested by the 1777 Chapman and André map, could well have been cleared prior to construction. Additionally, the limited number of timbers showing Baltic timber marks also suggests to us a correlation with a construction window of the late 18th and early 19th century. The barn contains features indicating its use as a haybarn. Unlike a larger threshing barn, this building does not exhibit the large imposing double-doors, designed to allow the entrance of a full hay-cart, rather it has a mid-sized single door on the southeastern elevation suitable for drawing hay in to be stacked to either side. Smaller doors situated on the north-western and south-western elevations serve as additional entrances. The stable block seems likely to have originally been built as the shelter shed of the out farm, either to establish one outright or, if the southern building was already in use as one, to expand upon this existing building. The methods of roof construction differ to that of the barn, this change in construction method indicates to us that the two buildings were built at different times. Three clear phases of construction can be observed through the fabric of the building. The initial construction of an open-faced shelter shed, constructed between 1777 and 1844, abutting the corner of the barn in the north. A second phase, reworking the southern end of the stable block after the loss of the southern building, occurs between 1912 and 1919. This change is shown on historic mapping, and accounts for the differences seen in the southern end of the stable block. A new roof and walls were required to cover the existing shelter shed after the southern building was removed. The mixed brick bond, combined with a significant difference in the height of the plinth compared with the rest of the building, both of these factors evidence this phase of construction. And the third and final phase, in which the south-western elevation is rebuilt with modern brickwork and stable doors. No evidence was observed for an original wall across the south-western elevation of the stable block during the recording of the building. This absence, combined with the wholly modern brickwork and doors, can allow us to assume that the original construction was open along this elevation. The north-eastern elevation, in contrast, retains elements of its historic fabric in the form of weatherboard and brickwork. The small complex of buildings at Gay Bowers farm represent a prime example of a rapidly shrinking heritage resource in the survival of, with comparatively little change, a late 18th to early 19th century barn. <1>