Late 18th to early 19th century timber framed four-bay barn, Spital Farm, Station Road (EHER 81069)

A timber framed four-bay barn which was built as a Western extension to, and abuts, the main threshing barn (EHER 81068). It is broadly contemporary with the barn and was built at sometime between 1777 and 1840. The building makes use of reused and modern timbers in its frame. It has most recently been used for housing livestock.

November 2023. Heritage assessment. A four-bay timber framed building on a brick plinth, which was built as a Western extension to, and abuts, the main threshing barn (EHER 81068). The roof is hipped at the Western end and gabled at the Eastern end, where it meets the threshing barn. The roof is clad in modern box-profile sheeting on the Southern pitch and corrugated bitumen sheets on the hip and Northern pitch. The Northern elevation is covered by the lean-to 1 (see EHER 81068). The Southern elevation has a blocked door way adjacent to a small inserted poultry opening. On the Western elevation is a set of double doors, secured with iron strap hinges. A small concrete plinth is present at the base of the elevation. Internally, the timbers used are primarily hand-sawn, a number of which have signs of reuse, although areas of repair are machine-cut. Bay 1 of the building is the largest of the four bays and has been divided from the rest of the building by a timber wall raised on a red brick plinth laid. Two timber saddle hooks are located on the Southern wall. A loft has been inserted into the Northern half of bay 1 and is constructed from handsawn timbers. It is enclosed and clad in weatherboard on its exterior. The Southern half of the floor in bay 1 is laid with floor bricks. The cartographic evidence of Spital Farm proves the barn complex was constructed between 1777 and 1840, during which time the farmstead was both conceived and expanded. While the construction dates of the buildings are likely to be fairly contemporary with one another, the threshing barn (EHER 81068) was probably the first structure to have been constructed. <1>