rrltre,ologia Untryeide, 197, plan p. 204; full set of photographs in
Rochester Museum. I thank Mr. Gravett for this reference.
36 'Two Camerae of the Military Orders', Arch. J., cxxii (1965), 86, esp. p. 91;
the section of the barn there printed (p. 94) is here corrected in a few details,
3e Ibid., p. 89.
12
10
TEMPLt U1>.NOR, S"TIWOD WtLL£SBOR.OUCiH ?I\A.
FIG. 3.
L?
'
'
' ' '
- - - - - - ,../,'...
,,,
,t
TOWN. fARJ\\ , WltoT'HM,\,
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
comparison: in construction the transverse frames are identical with
Delce, even to its braced crown-posts, but the proportions are quite
different: whereas the low aisles of Delce ally it to Frindsbury, the
singularly high aisles of Strood Temple suggest a later date, as do the
relatively thin arch-braces, while the spreading braces of the crownposts
also look late of their kind.
Faversham, Abbey Farm, Minor Barn (TRO 22617) (Pl. II, B; Figs.
4, 6). Pa.rt of the curia of the royal abbey; again, a short barn, though
slightly larger than Strood (86 ft. at present), like which it has five
full bays, nearly square, except the central passage-bay with midstrey.
It has now only one terminal outshot, at the 'normal' west end, which
ha-s a shored axial post. The rafters suggest that the east end, from
which it was assembled, and which is now gabled, had a cantilevered
half bay as well as an outshot. Exceptionally, one crown-post is braced
upwards in two directions but none is braced to the tie. The workmanship
is solid and generously pegged, the arch-braces moderately thick
and well-centred on the posts, the shores set fairly high and generally
'elbowed', the wall-posts are sometimes jowled also at the base and,
quite exceptiona,lly, every wall-post is arch-braced to the aisle-plate.
All this suggests a middle-period barn of first quality, and the fine
finish is carried right to the roof, where the crown-posts are all stopchamfered.
But then, in striking contrast, several of the posts are
not squared at their bases (i.e. as always, at the tops of the trees,
when growing), but present untrimmed trunks-in two cases untrimmed
forks supporting the posts on two 'legs'. The fantastic effect
cannot be accidental.
Lenham, Court Lodge, 'Majo-r' Barn (TQ 899520) (Pls. ill, B, IV;
Figs. 4, 6). On a demesne of St. Augustine's, which was the head of a
'deanery' including both tempora1ities and spiritualities,37 this barn,
until the sad destruction of its companion, was one of a pair flanking
an extensive curia (Pl. ITI, B). It is the largest surviving barn of its type,
lying north-east-south-west and comprising the original build, with its
single midstrey, to the north-east, and an extension at the south-west
all on a high flint ground-wall, 160 ft. overall. The original seven full
bays, of even size except the northernmost, have a terminal outshot
with unshored axial post. The main post-structure is unrivalled in
regularity and grandeur (Pl. IV); the aisles are relatively low, the
shores and the braces to each crown-post long and slender, the archbraces
fairly well centred and stout. There are a few signs of alteration
even in this part; the ogee-braces in the passage-bay (Fig. 4, W)38 a.re
insertions and, at least at the north-east end, the outer frame seems
once to have been arch-braced throughout. The passage bay is the
07 Hasted ( quarto ed.), v, 443.
38 Ogee-braces a.re rather typical of the Lenha.m area.
14
A. Frinclsbury: S.K Corner, showing Cladding.
PLATE I
S.1''.lt.
Copyright S ational .1.\J ommunts Record
B. Brook: Interior of Barn from N.E.
(fa p. 14
S.t:. /l.
A. Brook: Hoof from 1-l.W., showing Jowls and Crownr,
osts.
S.E.R.
B. Fu.,·ersham :11inor: i;.W. part,. showing u11shapod
Posts.
PLATE III
('opyrighl Salional .\Jo1wruents Rerord
A. God1nerfihi1., n1: ExtPrior frorn X.E .
Cop11right ,.Yation.al ..ll on.umuus Record
B. Lcnhnm: Two Ban1s from-
PLA'l'E IV
Copright Satioowl .\Jonum,mt1 lluord
Lenham Major: Intorior from N.
PLATE V
Courtt-ltJI of Prof. IF. Uorn
Lenham iinor: Interior from E.
S.f:.R.
A. frindsbury: Post-het\d, showing strutted
Spondrcl and keyed Scarf.
.4. Rak,r
B. Tow11 Farm, \Vrotht\m: Base-crut'k.
Pi.ATE VII
A. Godmerha111: Hoof at :-S. 11<1.
H. Aust ill Lodgl'. F:y11:--ford: HRln"d Scurf 111td f'('C•<•n.tric· Bn,ce.
SJUI.
PLATE VIII
('ourltsy of f•rof. 11·. /lorn,
A. Xettlostead: Exterior from S.\V.
B. Xettlesteorl: RoofTrns.s.
Courte,v of f'·ro/. II'. llom
A. NnttlPktt>tHI: ('rown-posl in Ou.tPhOu;;.(.. li. XNtleFlt(•tid: Brar·r-:-i i11 \\'11ll-fnu11e.
S.t:.11.
SOME MAJOR K.ENTISH TIMBER BARNS
third; whether there was originally a corresponding one in the eighth,
as now, making ten full bays, is not clear. At present they total nine,
the last two being rebuilt in different character, together with the
'normal' south-west terminal outshot, with no axial post. The present
eighth bay begins with a complete new truss from post-plates right up
to crown-post, butt,ed up to the last of the old trusses and only of
half-thickness, and the next truss stands on stylobates without postplates.
In this part, the arch-brace and ties are too 'eccentric' as in the
later group (see below), the jowls differ from those in the main part,
which die into the post in typically 'middle period' fashion, while the
side purlins in the later aisles seem to be original, with every alternate
half-length of rafter pegged to them. The scar.fing in the main part is
neat and 'normal'; in the addition, it is clumsy and lacks the upper
bridle.
Excluding the addition, this barn is a typical mature specimen of
Class I. There is documentary evidence-a sentence of excommunication
on the perpetrants-that the barns at Lenham were deliberately
burned together with the church in 1298,39 but both barns described
here, with the possible exception of the east part of the 'Minor' barn,
appear too mature to be their immediate replacements. It is possible
that the north-east central post of the great barn, which carries an
oblique trench, is re-used, and the Carbon 14 date40 would suggest
an unexpected earlier build, difficult to reconcile with the present
structure.
D. Barns with Late Characteristics.
In addition to those that follow, Temple Manor, the added section of
Lenham 'Major', and perhaps part of God.mersham could probably be
placed here. The characteristics of this final group are the relatively
high aisles, the narrow and deep ties, placed 'eccentrically' (i.e. to one
side of the heads of posts-Fig. 4, Z), always on the same side that the
shore 'passes' the aisle-tie, and the thin, deep and equally eccentric
arch-braces. The compact massiveness of the early barns has disappeared.
Braces to the crown-posts are usually eliminated, as well as
the upper bridle of the halved scarf. The west part of Lenham 'minor'
was typical, though not the latest, of the group and it is on account of
this part of it, which was studied in detail after the fire, that the barn
is treated in this section, without prejudice to the date of the eastern
part. These 'late' characteristics may be provisionally assigned to
the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
30 Regist. Rob. Wvncheuey Oant • .Arohiep. (Oant. and York Soc.), iii, 233.
to Prof. Horn has kindly sent (8th December, 1966) a. corrected date, 'on
analysis of a. post and rafter', of 'between 1330 and 1345'. This is puzzling, both
typologically and on the assumption ofsome re-use from 1298.
15
fAY£1lSHAM. Mi\-.
'
'
_______ ::.,
' ,,
,,
I ,,
,,;,
lO
,
,
...,1
----- - ·------ - - ---
1.£NHAlt\ MA-.
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
r. - - - - - - - - - - - - .. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .... ,
ie0C"xl.--===---==4p "-==-=--====----'o
fel!'t Jn4.•Lre11
FIG. 5. Lanham Minor. Longitudinal Section. Rafters, light Collars and light
Studs omitted.
Lenham Court Lodge, Minor Barn (TQ 899521) (Pls. ID, B, V; Figs.
4, 5, 6). This formed the north side of the curia, and, like Nettlestead,
it abutted a stone gatehouse of which one side remains. The barn was
128 ft. long and broadened slightly towards the east. It comprised six
full bays (two central and two passage bays, with midstreys on the
south only), in two builds. One build, not totally destroyed, assembled
from the west, extended from a 'normal' terminal outshot, with axial
post, originally shored, over two fairly equal bays, including the west
passage bay, and probably over a third bay. The complete section
(Fig. 4), based on the second truss, and all details of joints determined
after the fire (Fig. l, E) came from this part, which had typical
deep, eccentric ties (Fig. 4, Z) and braces and stout crown-posts (only
the third being braced, as dotted on diagram). The rest was of squaresectioned
construction but rather spindly and had needed repeated
repairs, the last in 1953. The braces and ties flanking the east passage
bay were well centred and relatively stout, and a photograph seems to
show a splayed scarf in the centre of the bay, apparently indicating
assembly from the east. Was this part (Fig. 4, Y) a reconstruction incorporating
something of that of 1298141 The bays varied in length (the
second central bay was square) and the east end had a cantilevered half
bay, the axial post also originally shored.
The following details of the west part came to light in the 'autopsy':
(i) The tenon of the post formed a false tenon to the lower 'bridle'
and the upper bridle was absent.
(ii) The dovetailed lap-joint of tie and plate was perfectly regular.
(ill) Every alternate rafter was pegged at the base.
These details are shown in Fig. 1, E; they are also true of the west
terminal outshot (Fig. 1, L), where
41 A Carbon 14 date, reported by Prof. Horn (8th December, 1966), based on
two samples from one post-plate, indicating 'between 1270 and 1345-perbaps
around 1300', argues the affirmative. •
17
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
(iv) the central wall-post carried arch-braces each side, as did the
west corner-posts.
(v) This wall-post was rebated to take edge-to-edge horizontal
boards, which formed the original cladding, as was probably
the case in all 'mature' (0) and later (D) barns.
Faversham Abbey, 'Major' Barn (TR 021617) (Figs. 4, 6). A large
barn, 132 ft. long, not very squarely set out, lying north-south and
assembled from the north. Both ends 'normal', with shored axial posts.
Six full bays of which the third, narrower, bay forms the only passage.
The ties are eccentric, the transverse arch-braces very deep (a foot or
more wide), and the gaps between the arcade braces long. Only the
corner-posts carry arch-braces to the aisle-plates. The aisles are quite
high and all transverse dimensions large, and the timbers are long
and relatively slender, especially the shores. The crown-posts are
neatly chamfered and clasp the collar-purlin, jowled on each side.
Upper Hardres Oourt (TR 152505). On a secular tenement; not
examined in detail, but long and large in section, with the rafters very
well preserved, without added side-purlins. In its slender carpentry,
unbraced crown-posts and other details, it is similar to Faversham
'major'.
E. Miscellaneous Barns, in part, at least of Class I
Godmersham Court Lo
l.t"nhn.tn Mojur ---.==ir==i,==.,;,,
t) --------ij----·-·-·TIJ·.
:
; : : ; :: : :
I I ' ; II I I
·l··r--r··r··m-·-•---
I ' I I I ---,---·
1
---
,
---
,---
,
0 EJI>eQ __ J __ J _ J __ d__ O
·
w
• F
..-.,
)linor ill I I I l
I + I I
I J I I ' ' I .----.I ----,I ----,I --rrat t ,----,- .---t) I I I I I I t J 1 I -.--s- --,---a- -- --- - --- --- --- --- ---
,. .,
FIG.6.
I I I I I I ,
1 I I I I I I -- - - - --- - --- - -- - - -- -- --
--.!
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
compromise between this and the incoming queen-strut type. It
occurs at least as far into Sussex as Pebsham, near Hastings. 44
MershamCourt (TR 052394) (Figs. 3, 6). On a tenure of Christ Church
(but not in demesne), a moderate-sized barn lying south-east-north.
west, with four full bays, nearly square, and both ends cantilevered.
Some details are obscured by partitions and flitohes. The north-west
full bay and most of the aisles, were rebuilt in the late phase (cf. Class
I, D) with thin, deep braces, but the rest of the post-structure, with
a patch of reversed assembly in one aisle, remains from an early barn
that may well be as old as the fourteenth-century stone hall adjoining .
.All scarfs have long 'keys', those in the original build probably splayed,
and the original braces are thick, nearly straight, and well-centred;
some iron nails are used (as at Brook, to which in some ways it is akin,
but more archaic); at the heads of the transverse arch-braces, on the
south-west side only, are pegged wedges (a feature I have only seen
elsewhere in the stone barn at Frocester, Glos., documented to
1284-1306).
Willesborough Court 'Major' Barn (TR 030415) (Fig. 3). On a tenure
of St. Augustine's, early sub-let; of similar dimensions to Mersham,
with five full bays including central passage and midstrey. Considerable
replacement, but the original parts, with fairly thick braces, etc., are
reminiscent of Mersham, but more advanced and 'normal'. Pegs are
used sparingly ( one where the replacements have two).
St. Radegund's Abbey 'Minor' (E) Barn45 (TR 275418). A short
barn (about 70 by 30 ft.) with five bays including central passage;
its high aisles and deep, eocentrio transverse braces, show it to be a
late, but no doubt pre-Dissolution, version of the same type. 45
Sellind,ge Court (TR 093385). A long (over 150 ft.) barn, of modest
section, with two passage bays and midstreys. Rather 'chunky'
carpentry. Not examined in detail, but does not appear to be early.
Alilington, Ruffin's Hill (TR 072360). Now partly stone-walled.
Transverse dimensions muoh as Willesborough, but bay-lengths very
varied. That irregularity of bays is a late tendency ( of. Lenham,
'Minor') is confirmed by the typically ultimate medieval short braces
('knees') and high jowls.
Woolwich, Bostall Farm (TQ 460777). Survived long enough to be
ascribed to the seventeenth century by R.C.H.M.,46 but was clearly
earlier, with added struts in the aisles. Probably only about 30 ft.
wide, with six 16-ft. bays (112 ft.), without terminal outshots or hips.
Relatively low-pitched roof, as benefitted thatching.
" TQ 765090; muoh altered, now has queen-struts throughout, but has
passing shores and 'normal' soa.rfing in some parts, and short a.roa.de-braoes.
u The 'major' barn is of stone, partly ruined, with muoh later internal timbers.
" R.C.H.M., Inventory ••• , London, East, 1980, 118, pl. 188; Davies, op. cit.
in note 29, 71.
21
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
Marshsid,e, N. Ohislet (TR 223658) of two sizeable barns here one
is of this class.
An Exceptional Barn, allied to Glass II, Town Farm, Wrotham
(TQ 620606). Though hardly a major barn, this (Fig. 3) is included because
it contained the first ground base-cruck to be discovered in Kent. 47
It was found in 1961 by Mr. Alfred Baker, when it had just been
repaired for use as a byre. By 1965 the farm had been sold, the barn
demolished and a tennis-court on the site. The barn had been much
altered; originally it had comprised a pair of 9½-ft. hays on either side
of a 12½-ft. passage-bay, with aisles and terminal outshots. Later the
S aisle and hips had been removed, the west outshot thrown into the
adjoining bay and posts at this end renewed. The single-base cruck, 10 in.
thick (Pl. VI, B), spanned the north aisle to the east of the passage-bay,
doubtless to allow a waggon to turn. There were suggestions of shores to
the other posts flanking the passage-bay, but nowhere else. A post had
been inserted to support the head of the base-cruck, and its long archbrace
removed. The arcade braces were relatively thin and not earlylooking,
those of the second post from the south-west being of ogee
form. The only archaic feature beside the base-cruck was the low aisle
that it dictated, and the base-cruck itself may have been re-used even
before the alterations.
CLAss m: BARNs WITH PAssmo SHoREs AND QuEEN -STRUT RooFs
This class was probably small, covering the short period when the
Kentish passing shore still survived the general acceptance of the true
queen-strut roof with principal rafters, as evolved, probably in Wessex.
The second and third quarters of the sixteenth century may well
cover them all, and they are valuable as confirming the lateness of
certain other features found in the context of Classes I and TI.
Davingwn Oourt (TR 001615). A secular tenement, nothing to do
with the Priory, which several times changed hands after the death of
Ralph Symonds in 1542. Some details suggest building activity at the
house around the 1540's or 50's and the barn is perhaps to be associated
with this. Before its demolition the writer examined it several times
and Mr. Prosser produced the survey (Figs. 7, 8).
It was a large barn of elm (125 ft.) lying north-west-south-et,
assembled from the south-east with eight bays of varying length, the
passage-bays being square. It had no terminal outshots, but may
" The writer has since discovered a ba.se-cruck hall at Hamden in Smarden;
the Sussex examples found by Mr. R. T. Mason are sw:iunarized in his Framed
Buildings of tlw Weald, 21 and :fig. 4-one, at Ticehurst, is a few yards from the
border, a.nd first-floor base-crucks are known in Kent (Burnt House, Ben.over;
Frogholt, Newington-next-Hythe; Etchinghill; Barton Cott., Kennington). The
Wrotham example is short and compact in comparison.
22
\
-1,.
OAST.
HOUSE
(b<>r.C.3( Jgt.i.
cenl')
W. G. Prosser del., 1964
BARN AT DA\/JNGTON COURT
FAVERSHAM KENT
-b,::..,i,,s
,.,0====1,-o::z::=il====·J· o....- - •===:l-
Gopyright Natumal Monuments Record
FIG. 7.
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
have once had one at the north-west. Certain incidental details are
noted on Fig. 8 and here it will suffice to say how it compares with the
foregoing ola..sses below tie-level and foreshadows later classes above it.
As in late barns of Class I, the aisles are fairly high, the timbers
slender, the braces thin and deep, the shores, in some but not all cases,
pegged at their intersection. The transverse arch-braces, but not the
ties, are very eccentric, and the arcade-braces set well apart. All
members have a rough chamfer. The scarfing is halved and bridled in
normal fashion. Above the ties there are principals over the post and
intermediate principals (two in the square bays) between them.
Side-purlins join the principals, alternately above and below collarlevel,
in a manner which will often recur; these are called 'alternating
purlins'. The not very heavy collars and queen-struts are placed
eccentrically on the ties, on the opposite side from the arch-braces.
All rafters are pegged to the purlins.
Teynham Court (TQ 966637) (]Jg. 3). Adjoining and probably once
belonging to a lost manor of the Archbishop. The barn is in two thatched
sections, at right angles: one belongs to Class IV, but the other is of
ultimate medieval date, lying north-south, with five 14½-ft. bays,
including the central passage-bay. In section, it is identical with
Davington and only slightly smaller, and like it has alternating
purlins.
Cuss IV: BARNS WITH BRAOES NOT PASSING THE A.ISLE-TIE
In Kent this class is effectively post-medieval. The deep downbraces
or shores give place to short down-braces, approaching the
quadrant braces of Elizabethan frame-building. That apart, the
continuity with the last group is complete. In the first example,
Lesnes, as in some aisled barns in Normandy,48 there are two tiers of
braces, from the head of the post to the aisle-tie and from the middle
of the post to the post-plate. The latter soon disappears and the upper
one becomes straight, like a reduplicated principal in the aisles. In this
form it is quite common in minor barns of the queen-strut period
(late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries).
Lesnes Abbey (TQ 475787). Demolished in 1900 but briefly described
by J. Davies49 and rather better by Sir Alfred Clapham,60 both with
illustrations, from which the section (Fig. 9) has been drawn. Clapham
shows that, between 1524 and 1528, £16 5s. 4d. was spent on a new
barn, possibly this one, though the timbers alone should have cost
u E.g. Manoir du Fay, Bourg Achard, Eure: R. Quenedey, Les Pro1>inces de
Z'.Anciennc France, Normandie (Eure, pl. II, 2). Barn demolished after partial
collapse in the 1950s.
'9 Op. cit. in note 29, 71-3 and frontispiece.
50 Lesnes Abbey, 28 (documentation), 42 (description) and pl. VI.
24
,V WEST OF CENTR.E CENTRE TRUSS .
__ 'fik1[fiE¥nfers' asm ma,rks _ · · (&xa.m..fi s)
Vllfl j V ,'"'M"" orn,
fu., £Fu-
BASIC STRUCTUR.E AR.E
£Just}
__ OF ELM __
e d/Js!¥fa =senmr,C. -/ "\..,, ',i l?s ,t · 4-----7· • ,, ::, =:-.:·11rc..-- . -,
,___ ·-·-·- I--•--·-·-·-··--·-·-·- . -·-
.
..
!le -
fia@-19"t6:ii
.
- .
)/'
I
ltt
i!fil: . i _0 I._
JOINTING OF/ . I O 7
\
-
I\: { .T
l Q)
LONGITUDINAL BEAMS
.5..1.Qf.) II 1 'I I
L.sl5etatL fa!Z.en. on. sov£n. stcfe f
1
'
I// '' == I=
V
;1 fi I\
/, , ;i' Z\ ,. . '
-! t
1
, I
ll .!
ll ±
-: 1-lf
--·
' -·
Qil
II ITT t J
SECTION .A-:-B SECTION C-D
Flo. 8. Davington Court.
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
more. It measured 118 ft. by 40 ft. in nine bays (three central bays,
two passages, with apparently, terminal outshots). The arch-braces
were typically thin and deep, the braces to the aisle-tie short and those
to the post-plate rather: longer. Above the tie the roof was low-pitched
and thatched. and, in spite of the queen-struts, was nearer Class TI
than Class Ill: it had no proper principals and continuous side purlins
with light wind-braces. Whether the document is relevant or not, the
barn is quite what might be expected., at least in north-west Kent, in
the first third of the sixteenth century. Like Davington it was rather
generously pegged.
Broomfield, near Herne, Parsonage Farm (TR 200668) (Fig. 9).
A large barn of elm, formerly thatched, and a superb specimen of this
phase. It consists of ten bays, normally of 13 ft. (four central bays and
two 15-ft. passage-bays with deep waggon-porches) plus terminal
outshots. It has straight or curved braces to the aisle-tie only, archbraces
strongly eccentric, jowls well shaped, including basal jowls to
the wall-posts, queen-struts to the principals, not to the collars,
alternating purlins and vertically halved and lipped scarfing throughout.
In every point this is a legitimate descendant of the great barns of
old, and probably not long after 1600.
Lower Newlands, Teynham (TQ 970625). This barn, attached to a
remarkable, early hall, has recently been dismantled and the details
opened to examination. It was much newer than the hall and, in fact, a
typical, fairly minor barn of 'Class IV, agreeing in most points with
Broomfield, but with a simple roof, as Class II.
OLA.SS V: BARNS WITH ANGLE-STRUTS BUT NO 'I':&.A.NSVERSE BRA.OING
The abandonment of the rather vestigial braces from post to
aisle-tie, and the substitution of angle-struts (such as had already been
used to support added side-purlins-cf. Fig. 4, Y) at first in the aisles,
and later, to the exclusion of queen-struts, in the main body, seems to
have been complete by the end of the seventeenth century. A few
major late aisled barns are described here, as typical of their large
category. Most of them show persistent features from earlier traditions.
Northbourne Oourt (TR 337523). Now brick-walled, but here mentioned
to show that there is nothing monastic in the great barn on
this ancient demesne of St. Augustine's. It has alternating purlins in
both main body and aisles, unsupported collars in the main part and
angle-struts in the aisles.
Austin Lodge, Eynsford (TQ 538638) (Fig. 9). Properly Orkesden,
once a sub-manor of Eynsford. A barn of respectable size (120 ft. by
36 ft.) in ten bays (four central bays and two passage-bays with
midstreys (compare Broomfield), rising in floor-level throughout its
length, with half-hipped ends. It has no post-plates but low-set ties
26
r-----------
1
I
I
I
I
I
1----
1
I
I
1..£SN£S BROOM.fl£1..D AUSTIN 1.0DqE., f.YNSfOD
5 c:,,.=,oc:=====•0 ____20
ft.
N.E.TTLEST£AD ·O
FIG. 9.
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
from the bases of the posts to the walls, as found in a late medieval
context, e.g. at Drayton St. Leonard, Oxon. It has alternating purlins,
remarkably curved arcade-braces, but straight transverse arch-braces,
and no collars but angle-struts in aisles and main body. The timbers
are slender but most accurately worked, and the vertically halved and
lipped scarfing has been taken as a type-specimen (Fig. 1, F, Pl. VII, B).
A classic example of its kind, probably dating from the early eighteenth
century.
Sheepcote Farm, St. Mary Oray (TQ 487680). Rather more 'vernacular'
than Austin Lodge, and externally much like a late medieval
barn; about 108 ft. by 34 ft., in seven bays (three central bays and
two passage-bays, with midstreys on alternate sides), plus terminal
outshots. It still has proper post-plates, very eccentric transverse
arch-braces and continuous side purlins. There are angle struts in the
main body, but none in the aisles. Pa.rt of the house dates from 1725.
Is the barn contemporary?
Cuss VI: A MAJOR AISLELESS BA:I!.N-Nettle,stead, Place (TQ 684520)
This was in a class by itself, but one may contrast with it many late
medieval aisleless barns of some size, with crown-post,51 postless
collar,52 or queen-strut58 roofs which have a strong half-height rail,
to which the posts are braced. This group seems to ally itself with the
earlier barns of Class IV, where the posts are braced transversely to
the aisle tie, and some alterations to Nettlestead approximated to this
form; but, as designed, it possessed in its superb braces (Pl. IX, B) from
the head of the post to the sole-plate, a series of passing shores in the
plane of the walls. A really early aisleless barn in Kent has yet to be
identified. The passage of N ettlestead from the Pympes, via Rainsford,
to Scott of Scott's Hall, during the half-century after 1496, gives no hint
as to who commissioned this splendid barn, but the carpenter was of
exceptional experience and imagination, and its destruction has meant
the loss of a monument without parallel in England. 54
The barn adjoined a stone gatehouse of early fourteenth-century
date, with a shouldered arch and a jettied timber upper chamber, the
mouldings of whose crown-post (Fig. 1, G, Pl. IX, A) allow it to be
contemporary with the stonework, and an early example of down•
braced framing. This has been restored. The barn was much laterProfessor
Horn reports a provisional Carbon 14 date of o. 1450, derived
61 E.g. Willesborough 'Minor'; the latest, typologically, with quadrant brnces
to the crown-posts, is at Grafty Green.
02 E.g. Leyland's Orchard, Meopham {this is aisled on one side).
63 E.g. YorkshillFarm,nr.IdeHill.
6' There is a full and well-illustrat.ed a.ocount of Nettlest.ead Plaoe and barn
by A. Oswald, in Oountry Life, 16 and 23 October, 1958. That by W. E. Ball in
Arch. Gant., xxvili (1909), taking the church glass as its text, is largely genealogical.
28
SOME MAJOR KENTISH TIMBER BARNS
from a sole-plate. This is unexpectedly early, but the barn was not to
be judged by 'vernacular' standards. The estate was in wardship from
1454 to 1468.
It had neither hips nor aisles (the outshots on three sides were
recent lean-to's), but depended on 30-ft. tie-beams, and lay north-east-
south-west in eight bays, 117 ft. in all (two central and two narrower
passage-bays, each with a single high waggon-porch), giving plenty of
room for a large loaded waggon to manreuvre (Fig. 9, X). It stood on an
unusually well-finished ground-wall, faced in squared rag, with a hollowchamfered
plinth-mould. Each bay-length, counting two lengths to
the end-walls, had an intermediate post and half-height rail, into which
were squint-trenched the grandest braces ever seen (Pl. IX, B), in a
perfect arc from the heads of the main posts to the feet of the intermediates.
Where the barn overlapped the gatehouse a blind half-truss
abutted a normal bay-length forming the rest of the end-wall. The tiebeams
were deep and cambered upwards in the centre, with wellcentred
and well-pegged, double arch-braces. These carried a true
double-framed roof, with butted side-purlins, curved wind-braces, and
heavy collars supported on broad king-struts and small arch-braces or
'knees' (Fig. 9, Y). The walls of the porches were like typical baylengths,
but without braces.
The affinities of the structure, conceived in quadn1ateral panes,
each originally containing two light studs, were with Wessex: rather
than Kent, and all the proportions, e.g. the very deep tiles, were consistently
late in character. There had been some rebuilding, especially
towards the north, where short braces had been contrived in the upper
half of the walls. Some of the arch-braces had been removed and some
timbers and joints were obscured by flitches. Many of the joints must
remain unknown, but certain details revealed after the fire were rather
unorthodox. In at least one case the lap-joint of tie and plate had two
longitudinal notches (much a.s in an ordinary overlap of jettied joists
over upper plate), in others it had the usual transverse dovetail
(Fig. 1, H, i; compare Fig. 1, E). The post-heads were likewise
of two forms-one plain enough (Fig. 1, H, ii), the other with two
upstanding tenons (Fig. 1, H, iii).66 This may have been to secure a
scarf, which appears to have been halved vertically, and where it
came over an intermediate post, the butted ends were pared back and
pegged from the outside, thus disguising the joint. The posts were
grooved to hold the cladding of edge-to-edge horizontal boarding,
which remained in a few places. The structure of the door-frames, with
156 Prof. Horn has prepared a generalized drawing of the complete aasembly of
wall-frame and cladding, showing the more normal forms of post-head and lapjoint,
aa were no doubt used through most of the barn. The aberrant instances,
Fig. 1, H, i, H, iii, were drawn after the fire; their exact position is unknown.
29
SOME MAJOR KENTISR TIMBER BARNS
arched lintels and basal jowls to the posts is shown inset on Fig. 9, X.
The main corner-posts were rebated internally, and the plates over those
in the porches mitred at the junction-both late and 'domestic'
refinements.
.ADDENDUM TO CLAss V
Ightham Mote (TQ 585535). This bam was burned out in September
1966, and the still largely complete frame was examined after the fire.
It was a wide (40-ft.) but short (68-ft.), aisled, thatched barn of elm.
From the east end, from which it was assembled, it comprised three
normal bays (two 10½ ft. and 11½ ft.), an 11-ft. passage-bay, with
midstreys, and another normal 11½-ft. bay, separated from a terniinal
13-ft. bay (there were no terminal outshots) by a continuous transverse
sole-plate, instead of short post-plates, originally with a half-height
rail above it-six bays, including the eccentric passage and the partitioned
end-bay. The body of the barn was wide-22 ft. between the
faces of the posts, which were slender (7 in. by 8 in.) and 15 ft. high
with long and beautifully finished jowls. The very eccentric transverse
arch-braces were reversed quadrants of a.bout 4-ft. radius, i.e. curved
convexly; the arcade-braces were short, thin and nearly straight.
There were originally no angle struts ot any form of bracing in the
aisles, and no proper wall-posts, but only normal slender studs. The
main trusses had angle-struts and relatively low-set collars. There were
two tiers of alternating purlins, one above the collars, the other below
the point of support from the angle-struts. .All this indicates a delicately
finished barn of one build, not earlier than the seventeenth
century, but the scarfs of the oblong-sectioned main plates were
horizontally halved and bridled in traditional fashion, much as at
Davington.
30
