Cruck Barn

Details

The building was down-graded from Grade II* to II on 18th March 2008.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 20/07/2015

267/3/21

BROADWAS
LITTLE GREEN
Cruck Barn

(Formerly listed as Butts Bank Farm Barn. BUTTS BANK. Previously listed as: Buttsbank Farm and attached barn to rear, BUTTS BANK)

15-OCT-84

II

Barn, formerly longhouse. Circa 1496.

MATERIALS: Timber frame with wattle and daub infill, later brick infill with clapboard and corrugated metal cladding to the sides and plain tiled roof.

PLAN: The building, originally had a full-height hall with soot-blackened timbers to the east of the current portion. This had at least two bays, with decorative, cusped timbers to a central truss and similarly cusped wind braces, which has now been demolished, and this may have had a further bay and service rooms on the site of the present early-C19 farmhouse. The remaining portion retains its original two-storeyed plan and has three bays with paired cruck blades. The western bay was added at a later date and may re-use the cruck blades from the eastern end. The two western trusses both have base crucks which do not meet at the ridge, probably indicating a former half-hipped roof line, when the building was thatched.

EXTERIOR: The north face and western gable end have clapboarded cladding of C18 or C19 date above a plinth of rubble stone and C19 brick. The south side is clad in corrugated metal with some brick infill to the timber frame at the south-eastern corner. The east gable end was formerly an internal end wall of the hall. This has a pair of cruck blades with collar, tie and yolk and cruck spurs. The infill is a combination of wattle and daub and timber boards and some soot blackening is still apparent, despite exposure to the weather since c.1984. There is a C19 plank door at right, set in an original, late-C16 doorway.

INTERIOR: The trusses all have ties, collars and yolks as at the eastern end and are jointed with dovetail joints. All of the upper truss sides face to the east, save for the later, western gable end truss. the trenched purlin to each side of the roof is original and has peg holes for the original common rafters. The side walls have a central upright to each bay with mortice holes for the cross-axial beams which support the upper floor. Each side has its original wall plate and mid-rail.

SOURCES: Dr Martin Bridge, The Barn, Butts Bank House, Broadwas, Tree Analysis of Timbers (2006); Alan Brooks & Nikolaus Pevsner, Buildings of England, Worcestershire (2007), 40, 175; Paul Williams, Comment on an Historic Building at Butts Bank Farm, Broadwas, Worcestershire, Mercian Archaology (November 2006); Nick Joyce Architects, The Cruck Frame Dwelling at Butts Bank House, Broadwas, Worcester (May 2007).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
The Barn at Butts Bank Farm was down-graded from Grade II* to II for the following principal reasons:

* The building which was surveyed in the early-1980s and recommended for designation at Grade II*, has now been significantly altered by the demolition of the surviving hall bay at the eastern end.

* The demolished portion was the most architecturally significant portion of the building and constituted roughly a quarter of its fabric.

* What remains is still a notable example of a cruck-framed building and a rare building type, with the principal parts of its framing still intact and deserves designation at Grade II.

* The early-C19 farmhouse building which was attached to the barn, prior to demolition of the hall range, does not have sufficient special interest to be listed in its own right and is therefore recommended for removal from the list.

Listing NGR: SO7637155401

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

151688

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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