The GREAT BARN at TITCHFIELD
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Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield Introduction Commonly, the Great Barn at Titchfield has been referred to as the Tithe Barn but the leading expert on wooden framed buildings in Hampshire, Edward Roberts, is unequivocal that it is a monastic Manorial Barn, and the term ‘Tithe’ is a misnomer, a view supported by Aston in his 1993 book, Monasteries. There does not seem to be much difference, practically or technically, between ‘Manorial’ and’ Tithe’, with reference to barns, as they both refer to the storage of food provisions, usually quoted as corn, acquired from local land. In the instance of the barn of Titchfield Abbey, the corn would come from both manorial demesnes and tenants. In consequence, for this monograph, the term ‘Great Barn’ is used. The building of such a large and magnificent structure, by a relatively small and poor monastery, at a time when the ravages of the Black Death, and subsequent plagues, had not been overcome, leads one to question whether there is some more important reason for the project. That question is explored, and the facts associated with the Great Barn are analysed, in the pages that follow. Aerial views, from satellite cameras, are shown below. See Figure 1 156ft Bird’s-eye view from the 41ft. Bird’s-eye view from the North South Overhead Bird’s-eye view from the Bird’s-eye view from the West East Fig.1 1 Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield As is shown in the ‘Overhead view’ the size of the Great Barn is 156ft. (48m.) in length x 41ft. (12.6m.). width x 34ft. (10.5m) in height, and is the largest barn in Hampshire, and amongst the largest in Britain. Purely as an aside, it is interesting to note that, if it were used as a modern car park, there would be little difficulty in parking between 30 and 40 cars, with plenty of room for manoeuvring and exit from the vehicles. Going back to pre-modern times, it could be seen that over 100 reasonably sized carts could have been stored, getting on for 300 cattle sized animals in acceptable pens, and many thousands of carts- loads of produce, given adequate storage stalls. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that the Titchfield Great Barn had multiple uses in the past, and has continued to be used for the storage of farm machinery. The following photographs show the Great Barn from a number of angles. See Figure 2 East & South Walls East &North Walls East Wall West & South Walls Fig. 2 South & West Walls 2 Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield Location Details The Great Barn is situated about half-a-mile to the north of the village of Titchfield, with restricted vehicular access from Mill Lane, the road from Titchfield to Wickham. It stands about 120 yards (100 metres) to the south-west of the ruins of Place House, formerly Titchfield Abbey, with which it has been associated throughout its existence. Also, two public footpaths cross the Great Barn parkland. VIEW FROM THE PARKLAND LOOKNG NORTH-EAST To Wickham THE RUINS OF PLACE HOUSE ON THE SITE THE FERNHILL OF GREAT FARMHOUSE TITCHFIELD BARN ABBEY To Catisfield THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL N MILL LANE RIVER MEON To Southampton A27 TITCHFIELD MILL To Fareham Fig. 3 OS MAP 2002 To Titchfield 3 Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield Constructional Details – based on Roberts - Two Dated Monastic Buildings at Titchfield The Barn construction consists of a collection of eight bays, of varying sizes, within a combination of timber-framed weatherboard and timber-framed stone walls standing on a flint-stone plinth, and with a magnificent, single-span, clay-tiled roof. Figure 4 (from the original drawing by Jonathan Snowdon) shows the layout in Plan View with the Front Eastern Elevation. The two front porches were added some 150 years after the original building was erected, and the two existing main rear doors at an indeterminate date, but well after the original construction. Detailed examination of the site would indicate that the Barn is located in its original built position and has not been subject to any relocation, but there has been considerable refurbishment over the years; recent buttressing and brickwork is evident at the southern elevation and southern end of the east wall. EIGHT BAYS TWO PLAN and EAST Fig. 4 PORCHES ELEVATION The detailed construction of the Great Barn is illustrated in Figure 5 (from the original drawing by Jonathan Snowdon), and the eight bays are identified by two main trusses, with tie beams, between which is a minor truss, comprising cruck-type timbers jointed into the rafters and a stub tie beam, showing similarities to those used in ‘false hammer-beam roofs’, usually associated with high-gentry status buildings. Atop the tie beam level the structures are identical, with a collar above which is a king-post beneath the ridge beam. The whole configuration, and carpentry, is highly unusual and is unique in contemporaneous architecture in Hampshire, and can be described as one of the most majestic roofs of 4 Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield any barn in the Country. There are two features of particular significance. Firstly, the rafter assembly where the upper purlin is sandwiched between the principal rafter and an under rafter, which is a feature which had gone out of use in England in the 15th. century, but was common in France until much later and, secondly, the longitudinal braces between the king-posts and the ridge beam are very unusual and innovative. Despite the obvious quality of the construction, at some stage in the past, some doubt has been raised about the strength and rigidity of the minor trusses, and support props have been inserted under most of the stub tie beams (not shown in Figure 5) RIDGE YOKE BEAM KING POST PURLIN 4 COLLAR THE WIND ABBE GREA BRACE LONGITUDINALY T BRACES FISH PRINCIPAL TIE BEAM RAFTER UNDER STUBSTABLE TIE RAFTER BEAM UNKNOW PASSINGN ARCH BRACE BRACE THE OLD PLACE GRAMMA HOUSE R on the site of TITCHFIEL D ABBEY CRUCK-LIKE MINOR MAJOR ARCADE AISLE TIMBER TRUSS TRUSS POST POST Fig. STONY ESTATE MAP of BRIDG Fig. 5 DRAWING 1605/10of the ORIGINAL INTERIOR The outside walls were, initially, timber framed on flint-stone plinths and clad with weatherboards, as can still be seen on the eastern and northern aspects, and some of the original timber can be seen on the north elevation. The southern and western walls have been replaced by stone and brick at some stage in the history of the Barn, probably coinciding when there was plenty of stone available, associated with major structural reconstruction/dismantling of the Abbey/Place House, either at the dissolution of the Abbey or, the abandonment of Place House in the eighteenth century. 5 Titchfield Festival Theatre The Great Barn, Mill Lane, Titchfield History For many years it had been thought that the Titchfield Great Barn was built in the late 15th. Century, but, recent dendrochronology examinations (1998 - Miles and Worthington) of the timbers in the walls and roof has attributed a felling date of 1408/9. Allowing for accumulating sufficient timber, the actual build was probably started in 1410 and, considering the size and complexity of the structure, and the comparatively simple technology of carpentry at the time, the Barn, it can be argued, would have been completed between 1412 and 1414. The land on which the Barn is situated was part of the estate controlled by the Abbots of Titchfield Abbey, who had been granted, in 1232, by special dispensation from King Henry III, permission for the Premonstratension order of white canons, named after the white coloured habits that they wore, to build an abbey. The foundation was controlled, on behalf of the King, by the Bishop of Winchester, Peter des Roches an important politician and churchman, and subsequent Bishops were, in effect, arbiters of all activities carried out by the Abbot, outside the normal activities of the Abbey. The Premonstratensians followed the Rule of St. Augustine and were not monks but canons regular and, besides engaging in a life of study and prayer, their work was ministering to the spiritual needs of the laity and the exercise of the pastoral office. They served as local priests and, in particular, that of the parish church of St. Peter in Titchfield and, possibly, those of adjoining parishes. In the medieval period associated with the foundation of the Abbey, Titchfield was a port of some significance, and Titchfield Haven, and the sea, stretched up to the town at high tide. In 1542 John Leland, the famous antiquary and traveller, reported that below ‘Warebridge’ (the road to Stubbington now known as Bridge Street) the water ‘ebbeth and floweth’. Warebridge refers to Weirbridge, situated across a weir, but there is no evidence of when a weir was constructed. The port of Titchfield provided trade with Europe and the south coast of England and would have enabled stone required to build the Abbey to be shipped to a very short distance from the site. It is thought that the Abbey location was chosen, firstly, because the stream which runs into the River Meon (the relatively modern name for Titchfield River) at that point, enabled a series of ponds to be constructed thus giving the Abbey ‘running’ water and food from the stock of fish, and, secondly, as it was located on the confluence of the main drove, and pack-horse, roads to Fareham, Wickham and Winchester.