Granary formerly to Clemsfold Farm, Slinfold, West Sussex

Summary

Granary, built in around the early to mid-C19, extended in the early C20.

Description

Granary, built in around the early to mid-C19, extended in the early C20.

MATERIALS: the undercroft is constructed of stone and brick on two sides and timber on the other sides. The granary is timber frame with weatherboard cladding. The early-C20 extension is constructed in brick.

PLAN: it has a rectangular footprint on an east-west axis with an addition to the north.

EXTERIOR: the building stands on an undercroft which has stone walls with brick quoins to the north and south elevations. The undercroft’s east elevation is clad in weatherboarding and two large pairs of doors have been inserted into the west elevation. The upper part of the granary is a weatherboard-clad timber-frame. The main entrance is in the east-gable end and accessed by a ladder (some of its rungs have been lost); there is also a small vent opening at the apex. There is an opening at the apex of the east gable end which has been boarded up. To the north is an early-C20 brick lean-to.

INTERIOR: the undercroft contains two timber posts supporting the floor above and a later timber partition which subdivides the space. It was not possible to access the upper part of the granary; however, early C21 images show that it has two levels. The lower level contains two grain bins with a central walkway and above is a further grain bin. The bins appear to have been subject to later modifications including the reinforcement of supporting posts in the lower-level bins, and the addition of later floorboards to the upper-level bin. The granary is topped by a coupled roof; at least one of the rafters has been replaced. The former north side of the granary is built into a bank and is visible within the early-C20 extension, including a boarded-up central opening into the undercroft; some of the weatherboards on original north wall have been replaced.

History

The Clemsfold Farm complex appears on the Slinfold Tithe Map (1845), marked as Clemsfold with an L-shaped house to the south, a loose arrangement of agricultural buildings and outbuildings to the north and series of ponds to the east. The agricultural buildings depicted include the barn, with a long south-west wing, and the granary with a rectangular footprint. By the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1:2500; 1876) the barn had been extended with the addition of an aisle along the south elevation. By the Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1:2500; 1912) the barn had lost its south-west wing, and the southern C19 aisle was modified to have two short wings to the east and west. A small lean-to has also been added to the barn’s north elevation. The granary is also shown with an extension to the north. Some smaller buildings in the farmyard had been demolished, and others had been added. By the mid-C20, the farmhouse had become known as Clemsfold House. Also by this time an L-shaped range had been added to the north side of the main barn and attached at its north-east corner. A large Dutch barn had also been built in a field to the west of the main farmyard. In the late C20, Clemsfold House was converted into a care home and heavily extended to the south. It was at around this time the house and main agricultural buildings came into separate ownership. The general arrangement of the farmyard buildings was little altered in the late C20. In the early C21, the mid-C20 L-shaped farmyard range was demolished.

The granary dates to around the early to mid-C19 and was in place by 1845. It was built on the north side of the farmyard. It was extended in the early C20 with addition of a lean-to on its north side. Two pairs of double doors were inserted into the west end of the undercroft at an unknown date.

Reasons for Listing

Granary formerly to Clemsfold Farm is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a good example of a granary which demonstrates regional building traditions including its local rubble-stone walling and timber-frame upper level;

* it retains a good amount of external and internal historic fabric, and the original form of the granary remains legible despite the later extension.

Group value:

* with Barn formerly to Clemsfold Farm (Grade II).

External Links

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