About the 17C barn

In March 2007, we commissioned n Historical Survey by Leigh Alston MA (Oxon)

Orchard Barn, Bildeston Road, Ringshall, Suffolk (TM 019 534)

Summary

Orchard Barn is a redundant timber-framed and weather-boarded barn of four bays that dates from the late-17th century and extends to 40 feet in length by 17 feet in width. A cattle yard was added to its front (western) elevation in the mid-19th century, and lean-to sheds of the early-20th century adjoin its rear wall and southern gable. The 17th century roof structure has been replaced, but the original wall framing remains substantially intact and in ostensibly sound condition. Despite the loss of its roof the barn is sufficiently complete to merit listing at grade II, particularly given the unusual survival of its original tie-beam braces.

 

Site Plan (Drawing from 25 inch Ordnance Survey 1904), showing the barn and cattle yard (centre) with the eponymous orchard to the south and derelict house to north, with Nine Elms Farm beyond the pond to the extreme north. Note the barn porch projecting to the east.

Historic Significance

Orchard Barn is a largely intact 17th century structure that is of considerable historic value and is worthy of listing in its own right at grade II. The loss to its historic integrity of the original roof-structure is offset by the rare survival its tie-beam braces, and its early threshing floor is also an unusual feature. Small barns of this period were once common in Suffolk but most were demolished or extended in the 19th and 20th centuries to meet increased demands for agricultural space and they are now scarce. The arrangement of the 19th century cattle yard is of additional historic interest, particularly given the archaic construction of its open-sided shelter, but its buildings were too heavily altered in the 20th century to merit retention in their present form.

Illus.1 Intact framing of the rear (eastern) wall, with northern gable to left.

The 17th Century Structure
Orchard Barn is a timber-framed structure in four bays that extends to 40 feet in length by 17 feet in overall width, and rises to 10 feet at its eaves. The oak framing is of good quality, with all studs tenoned and pegged to the roof-plates and ground sills, and each bay contains two diagonal primary braces as shown in the accompanying elevation of the rear (eastern) wall (figure 1). These braces interrupt the studs in a manner characteristic of the second half of the 17th century, and this date is confirmed by other stylistic and technical features such as a face-halved and bladed scarf joint. The tie-beams are arch-braced to their respective storey posts, as shown in figure 2, and the braces bear neatly chiselled carpenters’ numerals. The clasped-purlin roof is likely to have been thatched but was replaced in the mid-20 th century with the present low-pitched structure which re-uses original collars and supports a covering of corrugated iron. There are no notches to secure wattle-and-daub or evidence of any other infill between the wall timbers, and it may be presumed that the building was externally weather-boarded from the outset. The present cladding appears to date from a refurbishment of the mid-19th century.

The barn entrance lies in the second bay from the right-hand (southern) gable, which at 10½ feet is longer than the rest and was clearly designed for this purpose (the remaining three bays each extend to 9 feet in length). While modern concrete has been laid elsewhere a good brick threshing floor of the 18th or 19th century survives in this bay and unusually extends beyond the back wall of the barn into a 20th century lean-to. This apparent anomaly is explained by the 1904 Ordnance Survey, which shows the outline of a porch against the same back wall and demonstrates that the barn previously faced the field to the east rather than the road to the west. This may well indicate the original orientation of the building, but could also represent an alteration of the mid-19th century when a cattle yard was built against the western wall.

Similar yards appeared in large numbers across East Anglia in response to the adoption of mixed animal husbandry as corn prices collapsed; since cattle required shelter from eastern and northern winds it would have been impossible in this instance to build the new yard against the present rear wall, and the barn entrance may have been moved accordingly. It would appear that wide doors existed in both front and rear walls, as today, since the eastern roof-plate retains the mortise of a door jamb (as shown in figure 1), and the storey posts of the western bay lack mortises for wall braces (its roof-plate has been renewed). Many earlier barns, in contrast, contain single principal entrances with only small doors in their rear walls to create sufficient through-draught for threshing and winnowing but not to admit carts.

Illus. 2 Interior from south showing intact arch braces and re-used original roof collars

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www.orchardbarn.org.uk © 2007 Wildfire Designs

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs © Tony Mounter and Sarah Partridge