Timber-Framed Barn at Lower Farm, Little Barford, Bedford

Summary

Timber-framed barn, built in the C17, with later alterations, now disused.

Description

Timber-framed barn, built in the C17, with later alterations.

MATERIALS: timber-framed and weatherboarded on a brick and concrete plinth with a corrugated iron sheet roof replacing the original thatch.

PLAN: the barn is rectangular-on-plan, aligned north-north-east to south-south-west, and is divided along its length into four bays, with a single aisle on the west side.

EXTERIOR: the east side of the barn has a full-height double doorway to the second bay from the left-hand end and a plank pitching door with strap hinges at the right-hand end. The plinth on this side is largely of brick except for small sections on either side of the doorway which are of C20 concrete. The east side, which accommodates the aisle and is thus shallower, and the two gable ends are all blind, with a mid-C20 building adjoining the south gable end. The plinth is of concrete on the east side and brick at both ends.

INTERIOR: the interior is divided in four bays by five raked queen-post roof trusses (including the end walls), supported by jowled wall posts on the east side and jowled aisle posts on the west side. All the posts have curved braces to the tie beam while the aisle posts have pairs of curved braces to the aisle plate. The western wall plate is tied to the aisle posts by aisle ties, all with curved braces between the under sides and the wall post and between the upper sides and the aisle posts. Placed between the queen-post trusses are intermediate collar trusses supported by intermediate wall posts of which those on the west side are C20 machine-sawn replacements. The roof has two rows of staggered butt purlins with waney-edged common rafters and some later machine-sawn wind braces at the north end. The tall east side and the two gable ends all have pegged wall studding above and below a mid-rail, the upper bays with braces, while the wall studding on the shallower west side is of replacement machine-sawn timber. Some C20 machine-sawn braces have also been inserted to supplement the original timbers to strengthen the frame.

History

Although the precise origins of Lower Farm are unknown, the presence of a C17 farmhouse along with a contemporary timber-framed barn (both Grade II-listed) confirms that a farmstead has long been established here. It was probably built as an estate farm, either by the Fettiplace family, who held the manor of Little Barford from the mid-C16 until 1685, or the Edwards family, who held it until 1692, when Jasper Edwards alienated it to Sir Walter Saint John and Francis Saint John, trustees for Thomas Browne. Browne’s son, Samuel, later married Mary, daughter of Francis Saint John. In 1764, Sir Samuel Browne’s granddaughter, Mary Schutz, gave the manor to a son who sold it to an attorney who in turn transferred it to Julius Hutchinson, a partner in the Original Security Bank. In 1799, following Hutchinson’s bankruptcy the previous year, the manor was sold to John Williamson (1742-1830) of Baldock, a malt dealer and later banker, who accumulated a substantial property portfolio in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. On his death in 1830, the manor was left to his maternal grandson, the Revd John Alington (1795-1863), who had been ordained a priest in 1822. Although Alington was the Rector of the Church of St Denys (listed Grade II*) for over 40 years, he never carried out any clerical duties at Little Barford, which were presumably undertaken by a stipendiary curate, or even lived there for most of the time, preferring to reside at Letchworth Hall, also bequeathed to him by his grandfather. The manor passed in turn to his only surviving brother, Julius (1833-1905), and then on his death to Charles Edmund Argentine Alington (1872-1931). On his death, unmarried, the manor passed to his brother, Walter Hildebrand Alington (1874-1960), and then to his nephew, Nigel Argentine Alington (1947-2018), who held it until 1978.

Based on surviving historic building fabric, Lower Farm appears to have been remodelled as a dairy farm in the late C18 or early C19. Although the exact date when this took place is unknown, the work had been completed by 1840 when the parish was recorded and mapped for the tithe apportionment. It is depicted on the tithe map as an irregular double courtyard farmstead with the yards lying on the east and west sides of a roughly north-south aligned linear range comprised of the C17 timber-framed barn and a long linear building adjoining its south end. The eastern yard was flanked by two adjoining barns on its north side, with the western barn having a porch on its north side and the eastern barn a small lean-to adjoining its south-west corner, while its east and south sides were respectively enclosed by long stable block and a wall with a gateway. The western yard was horizontally subdivided into two cattle yards with the northern yard having working farm buildings on all four sides while the southern yard had buildings on all but its north side.

By 1884, when the first edition Ordnance Survey 25-inch map of Little Barford was published, a small number of changes had taken place at the farm. To the eastern yard, the building at the south-west corner of the eastern barn had been replaced with two back-to-back shelter sheds, each with its own cattle yard, while the building on the south side of the southern yard had been replaced with a much larger building. An open-fronted shed had also been built on its north side.

In 1927, the farm was assessed to determine its rateable value under the Rating and Valuation Act of 1925. At this time, it was owned by Charles Edmund Argentine Alington and occupied by Albert Topham as the tenant farmer, who paid £255 per annum in rent for 164 acres. The valuer, in describing the working farm buildings, broke them down into three distinct blocks; a west block, north block and east block. The west block, which encompassed all of buildings placed around the eastern farmyard along with the C17 barn and its adjoining southern range, was described as consisting of the following: a wood and thatched hen house; a brick and tiled trap house; a wood and thatched cow house for twelve cows with a feeding passage; a cow house for 16 cows with a feeding passage at the rear; a brick, wood and tiled five-bay hovel, food store, three pigsties, and five-bay hovel; a brick, wood and thatched barn with an earth floor (the C17 barn); a wood and tiled hen house and eight-bay cart hovel; a brick, wood and tiled hay barn and food store. The north block, which formed the north side of the eastern yard, comprised two brick, wood and tiled barns with tarmac floors and two five-bay hovels, while the east block contained a brick and slate stable for ten horses along with a loose box, a nag stable used as a loose box, five horse boxes, a harness room and a tool house. While the valuer noted the cow houses and loose boxes, it is believed that the use of the term 'hovels’, unless quantified, also refers to structures that were used to house cattle.

The OS 25-inch map of Little Barford published in 1971, along with presence of modern building fabric, shows that significant changes had taken place at the farm during the mid-C20. Alterations made to the eastern farmyard included the substantial rebuilding of the two adjoining barns along with one of the back-to-back shelter sheds and the remodelling of the stable block to form a series of shelter sheds. To the western courtyard, the buildings on the north, west and south sides of the northern cattle yard were all demolished to make way for the construction of sewage beds, while the large building on the south side of the southern yard was demolished and replaced with two bull pens. In addition, the long linear range adjoining the south end of the C17 barn was demolished and replaced with a much smaller range accommodating loose boxes.

Over the intervening years, with farming having ceased in the late C20, Lower Farm has fallen into a state of disrepair, including the collapse of the western barn on the north side of the eastern yard. A private garage has also been inserted at the south end of the former stable block.

Reasons for Listing

The C17 timber-framed barn at Lower Farm, Little Barford, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a comparatively rare and legible example of a C17 timber-framed, single-aisled barn;

* it retains a significant proportion of its timber frame which not only provides important evidence of the development in building practices, materials and styles of carpentry, but also ensures its continued legibility.

Historic interest:

* it contributes to our understanding of the development and strengthening of regional agricultural traditions in the post-medieval period.

Group value:

* it has a strong functional and historic relationship with the adjoining and contemporary Lower Farm Farmhouse (listed Grade II).

External Links

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