Late 18th to early 19th century timber framed four-bay barn, Spital Farm, Station Road (EHER 81070)

A timber framed four-bay barn which was built as a Eastern extension to, and abuts, the main threshing barn (EHER 81068) and also abuts the Northern elevation of the six-bay building (EHER 81071). 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 storage.

November 2023. Heritage assessment. A four-bay timber framed building on a brick plinth, which was built as an Eastern extension to, and abuts, the main threshing barn (EHER 81068) and also abuts the Northern elevation of the six-bay building (EHER 81071). An L-shaped roof covers this building and the six-bay building, which is gabled at both ends and covered in corrugated bitumen sheets. The Northern elevation consists of a low red brick wall. At the Western end of the wall is an opening. At the time of recording, the Eastern elevation was completely obscured by vegetation. On the Southern elevation is an opening blocked with breezeblocks and a door. Adjacent to the door, a breeze-block plinth has been added. The building has a semi-aisled construction, with an aisle on the Northern and Eastern sides of the building. The frame comprises mainly hand-sawn timbers, with additional machine-cut timbers where the frame has been repaired. The brickwork of the Northern and Eastern walls has been rendered with concrete, as is the lower half of the Southern and Western walls. The top half of the Southern wall is a combination of exposed timber-frame and render. A door is present in the Southern wall, in bay 2. The Western wall is the external wall of the barn, and therefore is clad in weatherboard, and contains a door, which no longer opens due to the concrete render. 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>