Cruck Barn, Newby Cote, near Clapham, North Yorkshire, Clapham cum Newby, North Yorkshire

Summary

Combination barn and stable. Probable C16 origins as a cruck barn with an additional single-bay building added at the north end at an unknown date; the building has been heightened, altered and re-roofed under a single roof in C18. C19 and early-C20 alterations.

Description

Combination barn and stable. Probable C16 origins as a cruck barn with an additional single-bay building added at the north end at an unknown date; the building was heightened, altered and re-roofed under a single roof in C18. C19 and early-C20 alterations.

Mid-C20 lean-to cow house and cart shed and subsidiary lean-to extensions are not of special interest.

MATERIALS: rubble stone and roughly squared limestone, stone slate roof.

PLAN: a long barn of seven bays with off-centre cart entrances, separated by a cross wall from a one-bay stable at the north end, all under one roof.

EXTERIOR: the barn stands in the small farming hamlet of Newby Cote and is aligned north-south with the south gable wall near the roadside. It has a plinth, which due to the fall of the land is a double-plinth at the southern end, visible in the south-west corner. The lower parts of the walls are generally of roughly-coursed rubble stone with regularly coursed, squared limestone to the upper walls, with larger, dressed quoin stones to the corners and a stone slate roof.

The stonework of the long west elevation appears more clearly coursed from ground level to eaves level at the northern, left-hand end where the stable is located. It has a doorway formed from good-quality dressed stone with alternating jamb stones and a segmental-arched lintel with a delicately inscribed roll moulding to both and a square-headed, spilt stable door. To its immediate left is a window with a double-chamfered stone frame and a mullion (now missing). To the right of the doorway is a second dressed stone doorway. It has alternating jamb stones with chamfered reveal edges and a segmental-arched, chamfered lintel, which does not align with the jambs, which are set wider apart than the original door width. To its immediate right is a squared pitching hole at eaves level (around 1915). Approximately central to the elevation is a segmental-arched cart entrance with alternating, chamfered jamb stones and shaped, chamfered voussoirs. To the right of the cart entrance the wall has two rows of ventilation slits in the lower wall and square ventilation holes in the upper wall, as well as two squared pitching holes at eaves level.

The lower part of the south gable wall is mostly obscured by the later, single-storey lean-tos*. The visible south-west corner has a double plinth. The plinth continues inside the lean-to buildings where it is plastered. The upper gable wall clearly shows the steeply-pitched roof line of the original cruck barn roof, which rises to the same height as the apex of the present roof.

The long east elevation is almost entirely obscured by the later lean-to*. Inside the lean-to the barn wall is roughly plastered and lime-washed. The original eaves line of the roof is visible as the wall above steps back slightly. Above this level is a roughly horizontal line of larger, projecting through stones. At the south, left-hand end is a square-headed doorway with dressed stone jambs and a thin, stone lintel. Approximately central to the elevation is a former segmental-arched cart entrance, which is partially blocked and the blocking is plastered over; the opening presently has a water trough inset.

The north gable wall has large, dressed stone blocks forming the right-hand, north-west corner, which include two visible stones with chamfers and one below with a run-out chamfer stop. On the left-hand, north-east side there is a ragged joint with the abutting lean-to. There is a square pitching hole just right of centre of the gable. It has a squared stone frame. Above, at the gable apex are five rows of pigeon holes with projecting stone perches.

INTERIOR: the barn has six trusses with a ridge-purlin and two rows of tusk-tenoned purlins to each side. From the south end the first, second, third and sixth trusses have tie beams and collars. The fifth truss retains the tie beam and the principal rafters have mortices for a collar, now replaced by a machine-sawn king post, with two bolted horizontal metal rods. The fourth truss is of machine-sawn timber with a king-post truss with diagonal struts. Several of the roof trusses and purlins retain redundant peg holes and lap joints. The roof battens are of both adzed and machine-sawn wood.

From the south end, five bays appear to have a cobbled floor, while the sixth and seventh bays have a stepped up concrete floor at the same level as the adjoining stable which is divided by a rubble-stone cross wall with a central doorway with a timber lintel. Above is a second doorway into the loft area of the stable.

From the left-hand, north end, the east wall has a single ventilation slit with a blocked window with a timber lintel to its right. Beyond is the partially blocked cart entrance with further rows of splayed ventilation slits to its right. Towards the right-hand end is a rebate for a cruck blade and in the corner is the doorway through to the south end of the east lean-to.

From the left-hand, south end, the west wall has rows of splayed ventilation slits with two pitching holes above with timber plank and batten doors. The fifth bay has the large cart entrance, which retains its iron door pintels. To the immediate right of the entrance opening is a cruck padstone, with another padstone visible to the left of the entrance, in the fourth bay. To the right of the cart entrance is a pitching hole and a doorway.

The south gable wall contains four rows of small, square ventilation holes.

The stable has a first floor of machine-sawn timbers. The ground floor appears to have a blocked window in the east wall. The west wall has the stable doorway and window.

*Pursuant to s1 (5A)of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ("the Act") it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.

History

As a vernacular building, exact dating of the original Cruck Barn is not straightforward. The hamlet of Newby Cote, along with nearby Newby, had been held by Furness Abbey as part of their Lonsdale Estates until it was dissolved by the Crown in 1537. While there is a possibility that the building originated as part of the monastic estate, the lack of documentary evidence suggests that it was constructed after this date. The barn was built using ash for the cruck frames, rather than the more usual oak. It has not been dendrochronologically-dated (tree-ring dating), but is likely to have been built during the C16, based on the use of a cruck frame and known dates from other reused cruck timbers in the area which have been dated by dendrochronology.

The cruck-framed building had a relatively low eaves height and a steeply-pitched roof; the walls up to this height are of roughly coursed rubble-stone and the line of the roof shows in the south gable wall; the north gable wall is no longer extant. Heather thatch was very common for cruck barns across the central and northern Pennines until the C18, being supplanted by stone slate roofs when roof trusses replaced crucks. The length of the original barn is not clearly evident, but the present building has six trusses constructed from cruck timbers (one replaced in C19). The southern four bays have a cruck rebate towards the south end of the east wall and a padstone against the west wall of the fourth bay from the south gable wall. The walls of these bays have numerous ventilation slits, indicative of crop storage. The fifth bay had a wide cart entrance with rubble stone reveals, now partially infilled, in the east wall. The west wall has a cart entrance with a later surround. On the north side of this cart entrance is another padstone, indicating that the barn extended on beyond the entrance bay; the floor level beyond this point has been raised, obscuring possible evidence of further padstones. The fewer ventilation slits and remains of a possible blocked window in the east wall to the north of the entrance bay indicates that this part of the barn was used as a cow house (shippon) and was thus a combination barn used for different purposes.

Many pre-existing farmsteads in the Yorkshire Dales were heightened or improved from the late C17, or more often in the C18, facilitated by the prosperity of cattle farming and favourable terms of tenancy. The Cruck Barn is likely to have been heightened in C18 with regularly coursed stonework to the upper walls and timber from the crucks reused to form roof trusses to support a shallower roof of stone slates over the heightened walls. The majority of trusses are tie beams with collars, retaining redundant peg holes, half-lap and notched lap joints typical of carpentry in cruck buildings. Four of the trusses retain consecutive inscribed carpenters’ assembly marks 111, 1111, V, 111111. Square ventilation holes in the upper walls of the four southern bays indicate that this end continued to be used for crop storage.

The development of the northernmost bay is less clear, but it appears to have been added against the original north gable wall of the barn, which no longer survives. Within the north gable wall of this bay is the rough shadow of a slightly steeper roofline than the present roofline, which is a continuation of the raised barn roofline. This suggests that when the present roof was constructed, its shallower pitch resulted in the east and west walls of the northernmost bay being re-fronted to bring them in line with the face of the barn walls; this may explain why the west wall is built of regularly coursed stonework similar in size and colour to the upper heightened part of the west wall of the barn. The north-west outer corner of the bay is built of larger, dressed stones which have been reused from elsewhere, as shown on the gable side where three of the stones visible have chamfers to their present inner edges, with a run-out stop to the bottom stone. Additionally, the west wall of the northernmost bay has a C17 dressed stone doorway and adjacent double-chamfered, mullioned window (missing the mullion) of domestic origins. Internally, this bay is separated by an inserted cross wall, which is not bonded into the original side walls of the barn, and it was most probably used as a stable. To the right of the C17 doorway, and the cross wall, the west wall of the barn has an inserted doorway, also reusing dressed, chamfered stonework, which is C17 or C18 in date; the stonework around it is disturbed and the lintel is too narrow for the present doorway. To its right is the large, segmental-arched cart entrance, which extends into the heightened wall and also has chamfers to its dressed stonework.

It is not known when the large, projecting porch was built against the new cart entrance. It may be original to the entrance, or have been added subsequently. The earliest map showing Newby Cote was engraved and published in 1771 by Thomas Jefferys. It shows a building on the site of the barn, but not clearly. The barn is shown with the porch on the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1846-1847, published to 1851. The porch is also shown on the tithe map dated 1847.The apportionment award for Clapham with Newby, dated 1851, named John William Foster as the owner, along with much of the rest of the hamlet. It was used by T and J Newhouse, who lived in the hamlet. In the mid-C19 repairs were carried out to the barn roof, which included the replacement of the fourth roof truss with a bolted kingpost truss, probably using Baltic timber. The barn is similarly shown on the 1:2,500 OS map surveyed in 1892-1893, published in 1894.

The barn porch was demolished in the early C20. The 1:2,500 OS map revised in 1907, published in 1910, shows the porch, and it is still extant on a photograph said to be taken in 1915 and showing the construction of a pitching hole on the north side of the west cart entrance. There are also two similar pitching holes on the south side of the cart entrance, though they may be earlier, not having brick to their inner jambs. It is possible that the porch was removed to enable easier access to the pitching holes. The ground level was built up on the west side of the barn to also facilitate their use.

By 1956 a full-length, lean-to cow house and cart shed outshot had been added against the east wall of the barn, with a second lean-to against the south gable wall of the barn and south side of the east lean-to.

In 2009 roof repairs were carried out to the southern end of the barn, but the trusses were left in place.

Reasons for Listing

Cruck Barn, Newby Cote, a combination barn and stable, probably originating in the C16, heightened and altered in C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the barn shows distinctive regional characteristics as a combination barn used for crop storage with a cow house at the north end and with an added bay providing separate stable accommodation;

* as a local vernacular farm building built using local limestone with a stone slate roof, adding to the character and visual consistency of the historic built environment in which it stands.

Historic interest:

* the original construction of the barn using cruck frames remains clearly encompassed within its structure and demonstrates an early date;

* the C18 enlarging of the barn by raising the walls and re-roofing with collar tie beams using timbers from the original crucks demonstrates the improving prosperity of farming and more favourable terms of tenancy in the Yorkshire Dales at that time.

Group value:

* the interest of the barn benefits from group value due to its close proximity in the hamlet to the vernacular farmhouses of Newby Cote, Balderstons Cottage and Newby Cote Farmhouse, all listed at Grade II.

External Links

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