Birds Farm, Bishops Green, High Easter Road, Barnston, Essex. CM6 1NF. Historic building recording and analysis of the barn. Recorded 10 09 2020.
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2019 Google earth. Location of Birds Farm, Bishops Green, Barnston.
2019 Google earth. Detail of the site showing the building under study.
Location
Birds Farm, Bishops Green, High Easter Road, Barnston, Essex. CM6 1NF. The building is oriented nearly NE-SW and is close to the road on the eastern perimeter of the site. It is 22m north of the farmhouse. NGR: TL6306317959.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
SUMMARY
Site Address: Birds Farm, Bishops Green, High Easter Road, Barnston, Essex. CM6 1NF. Parish: High Easter Uttlesford NGR: TL6306317959. Site Code: BFBG20. Type of Work: Historic Building Recording Site Director/Team: Barry Hillman- Page | 2 Crouch Date of Work: 10 09 2020 Size of Area Investigated: 20x40m Location of Finds/Curating Museum: N/A Funding source: Owner Further Seasons Anticipated?: No Related EHER Nos: Final Report: Birds Farm, Bishops Green, High Easter Road, Barnston, Essex. CM6 1NF. Historic building recording and analysis of the barn. Recorded 10 09 2020. Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Periods Represented: C18th - C20th SUMMARY OF FIELDWORK RESULTS:
The Barn at Bird’s Farm contains the frame of a LC18th three bay barn made from the frames of at least three other buildings. The most notable feature is the variety of jowled posts forming the trusses. The roof was originally thatched and contains many pole rafters as well as reused pairs of rafters of various sections. On the SW end is a Store made of the same materials and design which would have also been thatched. The partition wall contains some original panels of wattle and daub and the whole frame is darted for wattle and daub panels.
The Barn was rebuilt in the EC19th with a weather-boarded skin and nailed on internal braces. The original porch was reduced in size probably to house a barn engine.
A brick built open-sided building was added between 1920 and 1953 and in the 1960’s a blockwork and a simple timber shelter was added. At the same time all the buildings were reroofed with asbestos sheets.
Previous Summaries/Reports:
Author of Summary: Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA Date of Summary: 19 11 2020 DipFA BSc HND.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Listing
The building is Listed. The House is also Listed and this is presented in Appendix 1.
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The eastern elevation of the Barn from the roadside. BJHC. Entry Name: Barn at Birds (22 Metres to North East) Listing Date: 16 February 1984. Source: Historic England Source ID: 1142495 English Heritage Legacy ID: 353233 Grade: II. Location: High Easter, Uttlesford, Essex, CM6. County: Essex District: Uttlesford Civil Parish: High Easter Traditional County: Essex
TL 61 NW GREAT DUNMOW BISHOP'S GREEN 6/19 Barn at Birds (22m to NE) GV II Barn. Early C17 or earlier. Timber framed and weatherboarded, with corrugated asbestos roof. 3 bays long with central midstrey to east. C20 extensions at south end. Arch braced side purlin roof. Listing NGR: TL6306317959. Planning Background
A planning application UTT/19/1921/LB: UTT/19/1920/FUL was submitted to convert the barn into a dwelling. Conversion of barn to 1 no. dwelling (revised scheme to that approved under Listed Building Consent UTT/1318/04/LB). Given the potential impact of these works on the historic integrity of the building, it was recommended that a historic building record be undertaken as a condition on the planning application in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework.
Scope of this Report
This report records and analyses the archaeological fabric of the buildings under study. This report adheres to Historic England Level 3 as outlined in Historic England. Understanding Historic Buildings – A guide to good recording practice. 2016. Page 22.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Description – External
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2020. Existing elevations. Edward Parley Associates.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The SE elevation seen from the south.
The SE elevation of the Barn.
SE Elevation
The Barn is a three bay timber-framed building clad with a mix of C19th and C20th softwood weather boards. The older boards are hot tarred and the LC20th are cold tar brushed. The midstrey doorway has been reframed in the LC20th with new posts and raised up to admit farm machinery. The half-hipped roof has been altered to suit and is clad with corrugated asbestos cement sheets. The rainwater goods are also made from asbestos and date to the 1960’s.
The barn is supported on a brick plinth of red 65x110x225mm set in lime mortar in English bond. Up to eight courses can be seen inside.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The lean-to shelter at the SW end.
Detail of the MC20th doors.
There is a lean-to at the SW end with simple MC20th vertically boarded doors hung on mild steel T-strap hinges. The walls are of weather-boarded scantling frame and the roof is of pole type construction. The lean-to has been used as a garage and is now a store. The main doors are replacements made by the present owners father and installed in the late 1960’s. There is also a boarded leap made at the same time.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The NE elevation.
Detail of the MC20th hatch door.
NE Elevation
The NE elevation has been coated with cement render on EML over the weather-boards. There is a centrally placed loading hatch with a MC20th vertically board door on mild steel T- straps.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The SW elevation.
Detail of the MLC20th weather-boards on the lean-to shelter.
SW Elevation
The SW elevation has the wall of the lean-to shelter clad with M-LC20th weather-boards fixed with French nails and coated in hot tar. Hot tar was still in use in the 1960’s until it was banned on health and safety grounds.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The NW elevation of the Barn is obscured by two M-LC20th structures.
The SW end of the NW elevation. The shed is used as a chicken house.
NW Elevation
The NW elevation of the Barn is largely hidden within two M-LC20th poor quality structures built as animal shelters. The timber-framed northern unit was last used as a tool store and has all but completely collapsed. The southern unit has Fletton brick walls as well as asbestos clad timber-frames is divided into two stalls as horse stables and is now used to house chickens. It is evident these were built at the same time as the Barn was reroofed.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The northern unit has mostly collapsed.
The northern unit was last used to store redundant tools and machinery.
The northern unit has a blockwork northern perimeter wall. The roof was made of machined timbers supporting corrugated asbestos sheets. The floor is bare earth. The C20th weather- boards of the Barn can just be seen.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The midstrey has a low extended porch with a MC20th door.
The flanking wall of the southern unit. The roofing was from a temporary shelter.
The midstrey has been extended out with a low porch that appears fully framed inside. These small porches were often added to house barn engines in the EC19th. The southern unit has Fletton brick walls. A large amount of corrugated roofing has been left behind from a temporary shelter erected between the units. (Owner – pers comm).
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The south side of the Barn porch seen in the southern unit.
The weather-boarded NW wall of the Barn seen in the southern unit.
The side of the porch can be seen in the southern unit where it has broken up and appears to be LC20th boards now green with algae. The NW wall of the barn has hot-tarred boards of C19th appearance.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Description – Internal
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2020. Existing plan. Edward Parley Associates.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The southern unit has two stalls.
Looking NW in the western stall of southern unit.
Southern Unit
The southern unit has two stalls with split stable doors as if equipped as stables. However they were used to keep pigs and currently house chickens. The partitions are very makeshift and it is likely the building was originally open-fronted as a bale store or even a tractor shed before being reduced to its current state.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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Looking SW in the southern unit.
The central partition is cobbled together from random materials.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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Pig feeding trough in the southern unit doorway.
Storage of random materials including old heaters.
The eastern stall is currently used to store old belongings including a collection of MC20th bottles and heater elements. Neither stall has fixtures such as mangers, hayracks or tethers to indicate animals were kept here. There is a redundant pig feeding trough but this was brought from elsewhere on the farm as a chicken feeder.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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Looking NW inside the Store.
The exterior wall of the Barn seen in the Store.
Store
The Barn wall can be seen in the Store where the upper part is coated in wattle and lath and daub. Below the midrail the frame is clad with horizontal boards fixed with wrought iron nails. A hatch with a MC20th hinged door allows access between the Store and the Barn so it likely that machinery was stored to run equipment kept in the Barn and only used at intervals.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The framing in the SW and NW walls. Looking W.
The roof has pole rafters. Looking NW.
The walls are made from full height reused oak studs morticed into waney elm top-plates and braced with primary braces at each corner. The roof has a single roughly squared elm purlin held on a raking strut nailed to an elm tie-beam. The rafters are all poles so it is likely the roof was originally thatched.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Description – Internal – The Barn
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Looking N in the Barn.
Looking S in the Barn.
The Barn has three slightly unequal bays with a central midstrey with a small porch to the rear (NW side). The Barn has been compiled from the frames and trusses of at least three other buildings. The studs vary in size and the jowled storey posts have differing forms. There is a mix of oak and elm timbers, many with signs of reuse with redundant mortices and darts for wattle and daub that do not align with each other. The main tie-beams appear to be elm and have straight spandrels sliced from reused oak and secured with two pegs at each end.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The NW side of Bay 3 (from s).
The NE wall.
Each bay has full height studs each showing signs of reused. The walls have been braced with long, thin nailed on braces which all vary slightly in length and section – 1.5x6in, 1x8in, 1.25x7in, 1.25x6.5in, 1x6in and 1x5.5in. They are all fixed with a single peg at each end. Originally the barn was infilled with wattle and daub and a section remains at the SW end.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The upper section of the SW wall with wattle and daub panels.
The SW and NW walls have been boarded over to form a workshop.
The wattle and daub panels have been preserved in the SW wall because of the Store attached to the outside. The walls were panelled in the 1960’s to form a workshop, the roof of which has since collapsed and been removed.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The head of the original main door frame.
Drop bar sockets in the main doorframe.
The main door frame is still in place but has racked so badly additional LC20th bandsawn posts have been inserted to carry the modern doors. The doorposts have moulded heads and are cut for drop slots for upper and lower doors. The lower doors have been replaced by a modern boarded leap. Original square headed nuts are still in place for the pintle hinges.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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Looking NW into the roof.
Looking SW into the roof.
Roof Structure
The roof is a simple clasped side purlin construction with straight windbraces and paired scantling rafters of near square section or full or half poles. The principal rafters are supported by inserted raking struts made from LC20th machined softwood and reinforced with nailed in blocks. The tie-beams have a central entasis but are not cambered.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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The roof structure over the midstrey.
The hipped roof at the NE end.
There are many nailed on supports and overlapping rafter sections where the rafters are not long enough to reach the apex. The windbraces like the wall braces vary in style and section and are nailed across the rafters. No assembly marks were observed. The roof has machined battens to support the corrugated asbestos sheets.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Topographical Survey from Maps
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1777 Chapman and Andre’s Map of Essex. The site of Little Birds is shown on Chapman and Andre’s Map of Essex 1777 with a building that might correspond with the position of the Barn.
It is unfortunate that the 1838 Tithe Map for Great Dunmow is not available at the present time due to the Covid 19 lockdown and the Essex Record Office is closed. However the Essex Place Names Project shows that Birds is Plot 30 Homestead, gdn owned and occupied by Henniker, Sir Augustus Bridges bt. He also owned Plots 3-39 plus others. He was also a Reverend and voted in the 1847 elections. Rev. Sir A.B. Henniker, Newton Hall is listed in the 1848 White’s Directory of Essex. He died in 1849. Little Birds or Birds does not appear in the trade directories.
1874 Ordnance Survey Map.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
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1897 Ordnance Survey Map.
1920 Ordnance Survey Map.
1953 Ordnance Survey Map.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Phasing and Discussion
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General phase plan of the Barn at Bird’s Farm.
1777 Chapman and Andre’s Map of Essex 1874 OS Map
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Phase 1. LC18th Barn and Store.
Although Listed as C17th it is far more likely the Barn is LC18th as it is made out of the frames of at least three other buildings assembled to form a three bay barn with full height stud walls with no midrails. Most of the wall frames are made from oak but the tie-beams and many of the rafters are made from elm. Other rafters are poles cut from the hedgerow Page | 28 and used whole or halved. This would indicate the building was originally thatched and the steep pitch of the roof and half hips would reinforce this.
The site of the building is represented on the 1777 map of Chapman and Andre and it is likely the frame and roof is of this period. The Barn was originally panelled with wattle and daub and some is retained in the SW wall where it has been protected by the addition of the Store. The Store has the same construction details and is also made from reused oak studs with an elm tie-beam and pole rafters.
The Barn represents a typical barn of the LC18th erected to capitalise on increased grain yields brought about by progressive farming methods which in most of Essex did not catch on until the Napoleonic War of c.1800-185.
Phase 2. C19th brick plinths and weather-boards. Rear porch.
The building was raised on a plinth of 65x110x225mm red bricks – the standard Victorian size. Most of the wattle and daub panels were removed because they would have degraded and failed. Only a few runs of C19th weather-boards remain and these are characterised by having many coats of hot tar and being fixed by wrought iron nails. Hot tarring began to be used in the EC19th after the 1820’s when many patents for bitumen were lodged and it came into everyday use. The practice only died out in the 1960’s when health and safety legislation came into force.
The rear porch has similar framing to the main bays but is clearly remodelled and was likely for a barn engine. Trevithick invented the barn engine in 1812 (adapting it from an 1805 design) and by 1830 many farms had a variant of it to run thrashing and winnowing machines. Other farms had horse gins but there is no evidence for one at Birds Farm.
1920 OS Map. 1953 OS Map.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Phase 3. 1920 -1953 brick built southern unit.
The southern unit is built from Fletton bricks and appears on the site between 1920 and 1953. Fletton bricks became extremely popular in the 1920’s when many thousands of low cost houses were built from them and they were widely used for agricultural buildings because they were cheap. It was built as an open sided building and was probably an animal Page | 29 shelter given the way the farmyard is corralled with fences.
Phase 4. 1953 – 1970. Asbestos roofs and northern unit.
The present owner believes her father built the northern unit in the 1960’s at the same time as the Barn and Store were re-roofed with asbestos sheets. The northern unit has a medium density blockwork wall and a simple frame made of reused machined timbers. This form of building was very common in the 1960’s and followed a trend of increased mechanisation with many new farm vehicles. The owner also remembers the addition of the new doorposts after the Barn had racked. The majority of the weather-boarding also dates to this period.
Significance
The Barn at Bird’s Farm contains the frame of a LC18th three bay barn made from the frames of at least three other buildings. The most notable feature is the variety of jowled posts forming the trusses. The roof was originally thatched and contains many pole rafters as well as reused pairs of rafters of various sections. On the SW end is a Store made of the same materials and design which would have also been thatched. The partition wall contains some original panels of wattle and daub and the whole frame is darted for wattle and daub panels. The Barn was rebuilt in the EC19th with a weather-boarded skin and nailed on internal braces. The original porch was reduced in size probably to house a barn engine.
A brick built open-sided building was added between 1920 and 1953 and in the 1960’s a blockwork and a simple timber shelter was added. At the same time all the buildings were reroofed with asbestos sheets.
The Barn represents a typical barn of the LC18th erected to capitalise on increased grain yields brought about by progressive farming methods which in most of Essex did not catch on until the Napoleonic War of c.1800-185.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to the owner Mrs Jo Windley for engaging me to record the building and to Dave Farrow of Edward Parsley Associates for recommending me and providing the architect’s drawings. Thanks also to Katie Lee Smith of Essex Place Services for providing the Brief and overseeing the project.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Bibliography
Alcock et al. Recording Timber-framed buildings: an illustrated glossary. CBA Reprint 2008. Page | 30 Brunskill, R.W. Brick and Clay Building in Britain. 2009.
Lord Ernle (Prothero). English Farming Past and Present, 1st-5th edition. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1962. First published London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1912.
Harris, Richard. Discovering Timber -framed Buildings. Shire Publications. 1978.
Hewett, Cecil. English Historic Carpentry. Phillimore. 1980.
Hodge, James (1973). Richard Trevithick (Lifelines 6). Shire Publications. p. 30
P. d' A. Jones and E. N. Simons. Story of the Saw. Spear & Jackson Limited 1760-1960. Published in 1961 by Newman Neame (Northern) Limited.
G. E. Mingay, B. A. Holderness, Michael Edward Turner. Land, labour, and agriculture, 1700- 1920. Published London 1991.
G. A. T. Middleton. Modern Buildings, Their Planning, Construction and Equipment Vol6. The Caxton Publishing Company. 1921.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk
Appendix 1 – Listing of the House
Source: Historic England Source ID: 1328206 English Heritage Legacy ID: 353232 TL 61 NW GREAT DUNMOW BISHOP'S GREEN 6/17 Birds GV II Small house, late C15 or earlier. Timber framed and plastered with red plain tile roof. 1 storey and attics. 3 window range casements with small pediments. Page | 31 3 dormers at rear. Central C16 red brick chimney stack and later end wall chimney. Listing NGR: TL6304217932.
Barry J Hillman-Crouch MStPA DipFA BSc HND. Tel. 0794 2010703. e-mail [email protected]. Website www.dowsingarchaeology.org.uk