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Summary

Double threshing barn with an adjoining byre forming the north-west side of the yard. The barn looks to be late 16th/early 17th century in origin, enlarged in the late 17th/early 18th century at which time the byre was probably added. There was formerly a horse engine house on the north-west side.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1305730: BARN APPROXIMATELY 25 METRES SOUTH-WEST OF WHELMSTONE BARTON

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS70SE/13/4
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 96604

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• THRESHING BARN (Built, XVI to XVIII - 1550 AD (Between) to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Department of Environment, 1986, Colebrooke, 57 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV344581.

Barn approximately 25 metres south-west of Whelmstone Barton. Double barn and adjoining byre. Probably late 16th-early 17th century, enlarged in late 17th- early 18th century and byre probably added at same time. Once-plastered cob on rubble footings with some stone rubble and concrete block repairs; corrugated iron roof (formerly thatch). Long gable-ended block facing north-west away from farm courtyard, with lower and narrower byre with hayloft on left (north-east) end facing onto farmyard. Barn has 2 pairs of opposing doors onto threshing floors. Doorway left of centre has been mended with stone rubble and concrete block and contains a probably 19th century doorframe. Larger doorway right of centre has also been patched with rubble. There is a loading hatch high in the wall near left end and between the doorways is the stub of a massive beam which once projected into a 19th century roundhouse. Towards the right end the wall has been rebuilt with stone rubble and right (south-west) end has been completely rebuilt with 20th century concrete blocks.
Interior is now open from ground to roof throughout. The left (north-eastern) end is the original barn and its late 16th-early 17th century 6-bay roof survives substantially intact. It is carried on 5 oak side-pegged jointed cruck trusses with mortise- tenoned and pegged collars and apexes. They carry 3 sets of threaded purlins. The right end extension has late 17th-early 18th century roof of A-frame trusses with pegged lap- jointed collars. The stubs of the former end wall of the older barn show in the side walls below the break in roof types. The added byre has a ground floor door and open tallet, both facing south-east into the farmyard.

Child, P., 1993, Barn at Whelmstone Barton (Ground Photograph). SDV365456.

Photos of the interior and exterior of the barn, showing the jointed cruck roof and apotropaic, inscribed circular markings on one of the walls.

Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants, 1996, The Barn at Whelmstone Barton, Colebrooke, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV347385.

The earliest barn was built of cob directly onto the natural bedrock. It was 20.6 metres long with a 6 bay roof of side pegged jointed cruck trusses which were jacked up when the barn was extended. Two pairs of opposing doorways opened onto threshing floors in bays 3 and 5. The former had larger doorways, whilst the other pair are blocked up. During the late 18th/early 19th century extension the walls of the older part were raised 300-400 millimetres and a new threshing floor provided in bay 7. Also around this time a horse engine house was added to the north-west side.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Wapshott, E. + Boyd, N., 2017, Whelmstone Barton Barns, Colebrooke. Historic Building Recording. (Report - Survey). SDV360681.

Whelmstone Barton is an ancient freehold estate, in existence before 1249. The barns subject to this
study form a courtyard of agricultural buildings of medieval and 17th century date, lying south of a c.17th century farmhouse, and within walled gardens.
The double barn is the largest building onsite and contains the earliest fabric, extended on its southern end.
The northern portion of this barn is six-bays in length and is of late medieval, probably of 16th century date. It has a breccia stone plinth, with carved/dressed breccia blocks providing pads for the crucks, rubble stone infill between the plinths and with cob above. The lower portion of the outer walls, as seen surviving to the north end of the south-east elevation only, was clad in a single skim of good quality stonework, of regularised rubble, with small shaped blocks and slabs of local stone. The stonework is bonded with clay with flecks of lime, and has several phases of lime and cement mortar repairs. The stonework has not survived as well on the north-west side, where much has collapsed, exposing the base of the cob walls and causing structural issues.
The barn was extended to the south, probably in the 17th century, by a further three bays. Two Aframe
trusses survive from this phase, much altered, with several heavy butt purlins. The south end of the building (visible as the southern end of the north-west elevation) was rebuilt in rubble stone in the 19th century and the south wall again reconstructed in the 1960s; at which time the south end was truncated and rebuilt in concrete block. The 17th century phase was of cob on a rubble stone base, very similar to the original building. We know the north end of the barn became a threshing barn in this period, but the south end has been so heavily altered in the 19th and 20th centuries it is difficult to say what function it had when first constructed. Large threshing doors were forced in its walls in the 19th century, with thin timber lintels and chunky chamfered door frames, both ends of the barn were then used for threshing.

Child, P, Unknown, Farm Buildings in Devon Suitable for Recording (Un-published). SDV346989.

Late medieval barn and attached linhays.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV344581	List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest: Department of Environment. 1986. Colebrooke. Historic Houses Register. A4 Comb Bound. 57.
SDV346129	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2011. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey. Map (Digital). [Mapped feature: #89875 ]
SDV346989	Un-published: Child, P. Unknown. Farm Buildings in Devon Suitable for Recording. File Note. Digital.
SDV347385	Report - Survey: Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants. 1996. The Barn at Whelmstone Barton, Colebrooke, Devon. Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants Report. K468. A4 Stapled + Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV360681	Report - Survey: Wapshott, E. + Boyd, N.. 2017. Whelmstone Barton Barns, Colebrooke. Historic Building Recording.. Southwest Archaeology. 170106. Digital.
SDV365456	Ground Photograph: Child, P.. 1993. Barn at Whelmstone Barton. Devon County Council Historic Buildings Photo. Photograph (Paper) + Digital.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7480 - Historic building recording at Whelmstone Barton Barns, Colebrooke. (Ref: 170106)

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