Barn at Down Farm

Summary

The barn was initially constructed as a threshing barn. It dates to at least the mid-seventeenth to mid-eighteenth centuries with possible earlier origins. The porch had been added by the mid-nineteenth century.

Reasons for Designation

The barn at Down Farm, Breamore, New Forest, Hampshire, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* a significant proportion of the original construction survives, including the wall frame, prinicipal trusses, and substantial roof structure;

* several sets of corresponding carpenters' assembly marks are visible and provide evidence for the timber-frames good level of survival, as well as for the method of construction.

Historic interest:
* the barn at Down Farm helps to illustrate well historic regional building traditions, including evidence for timber-framing and masonry.

History

Down Farm barn’s construction indicates a date of at least the mid-C17 to mid-C18. There are several carpenters’ assembly marks within the timber frame. These are expressed as Roman numerals; it has been noted that some of the Roman numeral conventions, such as IIII and VIIII, were more often adopted in the C16, rather than the later conversion of IV and IX; this suggests a possible earlier date for the barn’s initial construction of C16 or C17. Between the mid-C18 and mid-C19, a porch was added to the north side of the barn. The building was originally constructed as a threshing barn, and later used for housing animals and storage.

The building appears on an estate survey of 1770 within a field called The Barn Baack. The barn is shown with an east to west axis and is depicted as an isolated structure. The barn is recorded on the Breamore Tithe map (surveyed 1838, published 1840); the site was identified as New Barn. By this time a narrow extension had been added to the west, a porch had been added to the north. Newbarn House had also been built to the south-west (the farmhouse has not been assessed); occupied by a tenant as part of a land parcel which included the barn and other buildings. By the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (published 1870), a stable wing (excluded from the listing) running north to south had been added to the south-east corner of the building; by this time the site was identified as Down Farm. By the mid-C20 the west wing had been largely removed, leaving a small detached structure (also excluded from the listing).

Details

Barn, initially built as a threshing barn, dating to at least the mid-C17 to mid-C18 with possible earlier origins, porch added by the mid-C19.

MATERIALS: a timber-frame structure with a brick and stone plinth. It is clad in weatherboarding, and the hipped roof is covered in clay tiles.

PLAN: the barn has five bays and is orientated east to west, with a central pair of opposing entrances; there is a porch on the north side. The building is located on a slope running north down to the south.

EXTERIOR: a single-storey building with a substantial hipped roof. The wall base is constructed of stone and brick. Areas of brickwork have been replaced in the C20 or C21, including most of the eastern half of the south elevation. The upper half of the walls are timber-frame and clad in weatherboarding. A large section of weatherboarding has been lost within the western end of the south elevation; there is also a reused multi-pane window inserted between the studs. At the centre of the south elevation is a large opening; there are no extant doors. Opposite, on the north elevation, is a timber-frame hipped-roof porch with a brick base; it includes a pair of C20 or C21 timber doors.

INTERIOR: several of the timbers within the barn’s frame have corresponding carpenters’ assembly marks, indicating much of the original structure survives within the main barn frame. The timber frame consists of jowelled posts with straight braces. Between the principal posts, the wall frame consists of studs with diagonal passing braces, as well as cill beams and wall plates. The end walls have a further row of studs and posts and the hipped roof ends. There are four principal trusses with tie beams, queen posts, additional raked struts, and collars. The roof structure includes two rows of staggered trenched purlins and a square ridge purlin, as well as four pairs of principal rafters joined by yoke pieces, and further pairs of common rafters. The north wall plate and cill beam have been cut into with the addition of the porch. Within the main body of the barn there is evidence of some replacement C20 timbers, as well as a small number of reused timbers. Later timbers have also been added to reinforce the frame. The porch, added between the mid-C18 and mid-C19, has stud walls with passing braces, wall plates, and cill beams. The roof has a raked-queen-strut truss with a tie beam resting on the wall plates and a pair of principal rafters, common rafters, a pair of staggered purlins, and a ridge board. The frame of the porch indicates that most of the timbers have been reused from elsewhere. Near the centre of the barn are two pairs of C20 concrete-block stall partitions; attached to one set of walls are a pair of historic timbers which have been reused in the barn as posts.

The stable wing attached to the south of the barn, the detached remains of the former west wing and a detached pump house to the south-west are not included in the listing.

Sources

Other
Estate Survey map (1770)
Breamore Tithe map (surveyed 1838, published 1840)
First Edition Ordnance Survey map (published 1870)
Pritchard Architecture, Heritage statement: REVB B2005 Down Farm Barn, Barn Conversion (March 2025)
Andrew Waring Associates, Structural Review: Down Farm Barn Breamore Estate (February 2025)

End of official list entry