ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate Page
i GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Exterior of barn xii
II GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Interior of barn looking north xvi
Figure
I X CITY OF WESTMINSTER, View from the Thames viii
1 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Exterior of barn from the northwest xviii
2 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Exterior of barn from the southwest 2
3 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Plan of barn 4
4 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Interior of barn looking south 5
5 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Transverse sections 6
A. Principal truss
B. Intermediate truss
6 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Longitudinal section 8
7 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Second free-standing post of eastern row of posts 9
8 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Interior of barn looking northeastward into roof 10
9 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Scheme of construction of barn 12
10 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire 13
A. Assemblage of wall plates, sole piece, and rafter
B. Assemblage of main post, tie beam, and roof plate
11 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Perspective of interior of barn looking north 14
12 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, East porch 15
13 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, West porch, exterior from northwest 16
14 WICHAM, Essex, Barn 3 of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London 17
15 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Angle buttresses at northern corner of barn 18
16 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Masonry and buttresses of east wall of barn 19
17 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, West porch, interior, looking into roof 20
18 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, West porch, longitudinal section, looking northward 21
xiii List of Illustrations
Figure Page
19 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, West porch, transverse section
A. Looking eastward 22
B. Looking westward 23
20 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, Passage in wall of western aisle of barn, giving access to west porch 24
21 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire, West porch, detail of center truss 25
22 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire. A and B. Corbel of wall post in aisle of barn 26
23 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire. A, B, and C. Corbel of wall post in aisle of barn, measured drawing 27
24 RIEVAULX ABBEY, Yorkshire. A, B, C, and D. Detached corbel from east wall of chancel, Abbey Church 28
25 RIEVAULX ABBEY, Yorkshire. A, B, and C. Reconstruction of detached corbel 29
26 A. BEVERLEY MINSTER, Yorkshire, Stone corbel from blocking course 26
B. TEMPLE CHOIR, London, Corbel under hoodmould of windows 26
C. RIEVAULX ABBEY, Yorkshire, Corbel in east wall of the chancel, Abbey Church 26
D. HEXHAM ABBEY, Northumberland, Severely weathered corbel from east wall of southern transept arm 26
E. NETLEY ABBEY, Hampshire, Severely weathered corbel from choir 26
27 GREAT COXWELL, Berkshire. 27
A. Profile of hoodmoulds over wagon door of west porch
B and C. Head stone of jambs of wagon door in east aisle
28 TER DOEST, Flandre Occidentale, Belgium, Abbey Barn exterior from south 32
29 LISSEWEGE, Flandre Occidentale, Belgium, Tower of parish church 32
30 TER DOEST, Flandre Occidentale, Belgium, Abbey Barn interior toward north
A. Plan of Abbey Barn 33
B. Abbey Barn interior toward north 34
31 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Exterior of barn from the southwest 36
32 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Exterior of barn from the northwest 36
33 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Reconstruction of barn from the northwest 38
34 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, East gable of barn from the west with reconstruction of terminal
timber truss 40
35 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, East gable of barn from the west 41
36 CHICHESTER, Sussex, St. Mary's Hospital, Assemblage of principal post, roof plates, and tie beam 42
37 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Portion of inner face of western gable wall, showing socket for lower
through-purlin of nave roof 43
38 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Detail of inner face of western gable wall showing location of socket for
through-purlins in aisle roof 43
xiv List of Illustrations
Figure Page
39 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Wall plate from original barn used as lintel over wagon door of
present barn 44
40 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire. 45
A. Reconstruction of assemblage of wall plate, sole piece, and rafter
B, Wall plate from original barn seen from top
41 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Interior of barn toward the east, reconstructed 46
42 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Plan of barn, present state 48
43 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Plan of barn, reconstruction of original condition 49
44 TER DOEST, Flandre Occidentale, Belgium, Abbey Barn, posts of principal trusses 50
45 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire 51
A. Corbel on eastern gable wall supporting wall post
B. Corbel on eastern gable wall supporting tie beam
C. Hole in southern long wall left in masonry after extraction of corbel
46 TER DOEST, Flandre Occidentale, Belgium, Abbey Barn, scheme of construction 52
47 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Reconstruction of scheme of construction of main and intermediate trusses,
barn of Abbey Grange 54
48 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Masonry of wall of southern aisle of barn 55
49 BEAULIEU ABBEY, Hampshire, Doorway giving access to the grounds of the former Infirmary of the Lay Brothers 56
50 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Window of Chapel of Abbey Grange 56
51 BEAULIEU ABBEY, Hampshire, Doorway giving access to the Refectory of the Lay Brothers 58
52 BEAULIEU ABBEY, Hampshire, Portion of wall between arch of Chapter House and entrance to Parlor 58
53 SHILTON, Oxfordshire, Ink sketch of destroyed barn 59
54 BEAULIEU-ST. LEONARD'S, Hampshire, Buttress of east gable of barn 60
55 MAP OF THE OUTLYING GRANGES OF THE ABBEY OF BEAULIEU and other principal locations referred to in this work 62
56 MAP OF THE GREAT CLOSE OF BEAULIEU IN HAMPSHIRE 64
57 A through F
GROUND PLANS, ILLUSTRATED AT THE SAME SCALE, of the Abbey Barns of Great Coxwell, Beaulieu-St. Leonard's,
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted on the pages where they occur photographs are by Walter Horn and drawings are by Ernest Born.
XV PLATE II
XVI They sheared in the great barn, called for the nonce the Shearing-barn, which on ground-plan resembled a church with transepts. It not only emulated the form of the neighbouring church of the parish, but vied with it in antiquity. . . . One could say about this barn, what could hardly be said of either the church or the castle, akin to it in age and style, that the purpose which had dictated its original erection was the same to which it was still applied. Unlike and superior to either of those two typical remnants of mediaevalism, the old barn embodied practices which had suffered no mutilation at the hands of time. *
—THOMAS HARDY
GREAT COXWELL, BERKSHIRE, INTERIOR OF BARN LOOKING NORTHWARD
The clear inner length of the barn is 144 feet and 2 inches; the clear inner width is 38 feet and 2 inches. The height, from the floor to the top of the tie beam amounts to 30 feet and 6 inches, from the floor to the ridge of the roof, 48 feet and o inches. The great segmental headed doorway in the gable wall is modern. The drawing shown on the opposite plate seeks to recapture a feeling of the monumental oneness of space of this multicellular structure.
* Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd, chapter XXII (first pub- lished in 1874). The building which inspired this statement by the great English novelist, who was by training and early profession an architect, was "The Great Barn at Weatherbury" (Puddletown near Dorchester, Dorset- shire); I do not know whether it still exists.
xvii 'mm. THE NORTHWEST
When William Morris pronounced this building to be "the greatest piece of architecture in England" his claim drew its strength primarily from the fact that great aesthetic distinction was here attained by a superior management of the simplest forms and the most elemental structural relationships. The distinctive beauty of this building rests in the grouping of its primary masses—the contrapuntal intersection of a spacious aisled hall by two transept al porches used for the passage of the wagons and office for the supervising monastic official. xviii