Listed Building: BARN WEST OF BROOK FARM (495053)

ALL SAINTS AND ST NICHOLAS, SOUTH ELMHAM 1852/0/10001 THE STREET 26-FEB-07 (South side) Barn west of Brook Farm II Former threshing barn, dating from the mid 16th century. MATERIALS: Timber-framed with later external render over wattle-and-daub infill supplemented in places with modern materials. Steeply-pitched gabled roof clad in asbestos-cement sheeting. EXTERIOR: The frame is arranged in five bays, the centre bay originally containing the threshing floor. In the east wall of this bay is the full-width waggon-entrance opening with the upper door leaves remaining; the arrangement for the lower doors and threshold boards is masked by the insertion of a later door frame. Opposite this entrance, in the west wall, the framing has been altered to give access to a projecting 'porch' of three bays under a catslide roof. There is a pantiled lean-to across the north gable. Both these additions are constructed of timber-framing on red brick plinths; they are clad in weatherboarding and render and both appear to date from the 19th century. Attached to the south gable is a lower red brick range of mid/late 19th century date. It is of two storeys with a parapeted and coped south gable with a loading door to the upper floor. There are ground floor openings in the east and west walls, all with segmental-arched heads; the low opening in the west wall is now blocked. INTERIOR: The timber frame is arranged in five bays divided by arch-braced tie beams on jowled posts. The tie beams each support a pair of queen posts, also jowled, carrying collar beams and longitudinal plates. There is three-way bracing from the queen posts to the collars and plates. The common rafters are not arranged in any regular pattern and rely for support at their upper ends on inserted ridge-pieces. There is no wind-bracing above plate level. The wall framing is exposed internally: full-height studs with added diagonal braces arranged in roughly five-bay panels between the posts. The northern bay is partitioned off with a full-height wall of stud and daub; the queen posts are embedded in the partition wall. There is an inserted first floor in this bay supported on two main beams spanning N-S. Access to the upper level is via a loading door in the partition wall. At ground floor level in this bay a considerable amount of original infill survives between the frame members and the sole-plate is visible, set on a low brick plinth. The southernmost bay of the barn is also partitioned off, but only to half-height. The 19th century brick range to the south has a first floor carried on two beams spanning E-W; the floor originally stopped short of the north and south walls, leaving a gap through which fodder or other material could be dropped to the ground floor. The outer edges of the upper floor were carried on lighter-section trimmer beams. HISTORY: The adjoining farmhouse is listed at grade II* and is described in the list entry as 'early to mid C16'. A reasonable date for the barn on visible evidence would be mid 16th century. There is no visible evidence of principal roof timbers relating to the queenpost frames that might suggest an earlier aisled structure and the framing is, in some members, relatively light. The quality of carpentry is good, but the rafter system is rather disrupted and illogical; it must have been reworked on several occasions. This is possibly indicative of periodic ad-hoc repairs necessary when the building was re-thatched. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The barn at Brook Farm is a good quality and rare example of a mid C16 timber-framed, queenpost structure with later additions and modifications which have enabled continuous agricultural use. The timber-framing is remarkably complete with remains of cart entrance doors and infill. Some repairs to the roof as well as C18/C19 alterations and additions do not detract significantly from the special architectural interest of the building.