Rosebank Barn

Summary

Bank Barn, C18 with earlier origins indicated by the survival of earlier cruck construction; later lean-to attached to north east corner.

Reasons for Designation

Rosebank Barn, of C18 date with earlier origins, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Significant early fabric: a largely unaltered bank barn retaining part of an early roof structure of cruck construction and the survival of almost all original stone wall fabric, pierced by original openings;
* Rarity: dating from before 1750, this barn sits firmly in the period when there is a presumption that all buildings that are generally intact will be listed;
* Evolution: the survival of part of a cruck framed roof structure is relatively rare in bank barns and provides evidence of the building's early form;
* Group value: Rosebank Barn has clear group value with more than twenty listed domestic and agricultural buildings in Troutbeck, several in the higher grades.

History

The character and detailing of this stone barn, such as the use of through-stones and a possible boulder plinth, is consistent with others in Troutbeck which are generally dated to the C18. The survival of an in-situ cruck truss might date the building's origins to an even earlier period; a second cruck truss which existed in-situ until the later C20 has been remodelled to create a triangular roof truss and at a similar time, the interior of the lower floor was refurbished. The building, including the attached lean-to and stone platform, is depicted on the first edition 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map of 1860, and it retains the same footprint on all subsequent editions to the present.

Details

Materials: local slate-stone with elongated quoins, traces of a boulder plinth and Lakeland slate roofs laid in diminishing courses.

Plan: a two-level variant bank barn oriented east to west and built into the rising slope. The upper level is occupied by a barn with a stable to the right and the lower level comprises a cow house, all accessed through separate entrances. The added lean-to to the north east corner probably also served as a stable and there is a later stone platform attached to the north elevation.

Exterior: the main (north) elevation facing into the farmyard has a wide entrance with a pentice roof and is fitted with heavy wooden double doors. Small square openings to the right ventilate the upper parts. Further to the right is a single entrance with a timber lintel and drip mould over, flanked to the right by a rectangular window with a stone lintel. To the left of the main double entrance there is an added lean-to. The rear (south) elevation has a number of through-stones and a central single entrance interpreted as a winnowing door. The west gable is not visible being placed into the slope, and the east gable has a centrally placed single entrance, with drip mould. The added lean-to to the right also has a single entrance with a rectangular window.

Interior: the main double entrance leads into the upper threshing barn; immediately to the right of the entrance there is a full cruck truss with a yoke and blades that formerly carried side purlins; the truss is modified in its upper parts by additional timber supports. Immediately to the left of the entrance there is a triangular truss, the three members formed by the re-used remains of a second cruck truss. Some of the purlins and the ridge piece may be reused original timbers but the remainder of the roof structure is formed of modern replacement timbers. The single entrance on the north elevation leads into a small room with a renewed roof structure, probably the former stable. The door through the east gable enters into the lower level formerly the cowhouse; this has been refurbished with plastered walls although a single, later stone stall division remains. The interior of the added lead-to, interpreted as a later stable with hayloft over has been similarly refurbished and is featureless.

Sources

Books and journals
Brunskill, RW, Traditional Buildings of Cumbria, (2002)
Denyer, S, Traditional Buildings and Life in The Lake District, (1991)

End of official list entry

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