Reasons for Designation
The Shire Barn is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a substantially complete example of a two-storey C17 barn, with a later wing added in the C18 or early C19.
* The structure of the earlier barn shows the historic evolution of the building and comparison between construction techniques employed is also of interest.
* It is of historic interest as part of the evolving farmstead at Manorhouse Farm, and has group value with Manorhouse Farm Barn and Manorhouse Farmhouse, both listed at Grade II.
Details
1346/0/10037 COLDHARBOUR LANE
18-DEC-07 The Shire Barn at Manorhouse Farm
GV II
Barn; C17 with C18 or early C19 addition; timber frame on a brick plinth, weather boarded with a slate roof.
PLAN: The barn is 'L' shaped, of two storeys. The earlier building to the north is on a north-east to south-west alignment, and has pitched roof with catslide roof to south; at a right angle to this is the later extension, with pitched roof.
EXTERIOR: Both sections of the barn are clad in weather board, which seems to have been recently renewed, while the bricks of the taller plinth of the earlier section are also modern. The north-west elevation has double doors with double loft doors offset above, while the later south-east addition has double doors next to a stable door in the north-east elevation,
INTERIOR: The C17 barn to the north is of three bays and two storeys. The upper floor is supported on two pairs of arcade posts set on modern brick plinths, which support the crossing point of transverse and axial chamfered beams, the axial beams supporting transverse cogged joists. Wooden partitions for animal stalls on the south-west side continue into the later addition, which is of two bays, with upper floor joists supported on transverse beams. Half of the floor of this later wing is cobbled, and has a drain running parallel with the stalls for its length. The south-east corner of the original C17 barn has been subdivided by later partitions.
On the upper floor the division between the earlier and later phases is clear, with the open rafters of the C17 barn separating it from the later addition, although the wall studs have been removed to allow access. The construction of the two roofs is quite different. The timbers of the C17 barn are substantial, with closely placed wall studs, the main uprights supporting the wall plate. The roof is of queen strut construction, with tie beam resting on the wall plate and braced to the upright. The queen struts have collars with clasped purlins and wind braces to the rafters of each bay. There is no ridge piece.
The roof trusses of the later wing are slighter and consist of a pair of raking struts attached to the side of the tie beam, angled to clasp the purlins.
HISTORY: Until the dissolution of the monasteries, the village of Thorpe and its land were in the ownership of Chertsey Abbey. Manorhouse Farm is on the north-east edge of the village, and consists of a series of buildings which form an irregular arrangement around a yard at the centre of which is a pond. The earliest of these buildings are two barns, both probably C17; one of these is Shire Barn, and the other is a threshing barn, centrally placed towards the south side of the site, which is already listed Grade II. The present farmhouse, at the west end of the site, is dated to the C18 and also listed Grade II. The layout of the farmyard has remained essentially the same since the time of the First Edition OS map in 1870, although buildings were added and others replaced in the late C19. The distinctive 'L' shape of the Shire Barn has remained consistent from 1870 up to the present, although structural evidence suggests that the south-east wing is a later addition to the original C17 structure.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
The Shire Barn is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a substantially complete example of a two-storey C17 barn, with a later wing added in the C18 or early C19.
* The structure of the earlier barn shows the historic evolution of the building and comparison between construction techniques employed is also of interest.
* It is of historic interest as part of the evolving farmstead at Manorhouse Farm, and has group value with Manorhouse Farm Barn and Manorhouse Farmhouse, both listed at Grade II.
