Building record MDO45650 - Flint Field Barn, Melway Lane , Child Okeford

A three bay open barn or cart shed. It is constructed from random rubble and flint cobbles with dressed quoin stones. The pitched roof is half-hipped to the gable ends and is covered in modern concrete tiles. It includes a chamfered beam reused from an earlier domestic building. The opening has been narrowed with corrugated sheeting, and the walling above has been rebuilt in brick in the 20th century. Visible on 2002 aerial photograph and reported on by Historic England Heritage Protection Advisor in September 2007 but appears to have been demolished since then.

The precise date of construction of this agricultural building is not known but is considered to be of early or mid-19th century date. It stands in isolation on the southern edge of the village of Child Okeford. The owner believes that may have once formed part of a smallholding, of which the other buildings have since completely demolished. The building is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1887.

A three bay open barn or former cart shed dating from the 19th century. It is constructed from random rubble and flint cobbles with dressed quoin stones. The pitched roof is half-hipped to the gable ends and is covered in modern concrete tiles. The building is a simple, single-depth range that is rectangular on plan and aligned south-west to north-east. The south east elevation formerly had a wide entrance with timber lintel to its left hand end. The opening has been narrowed with corrugated sheeting, and the walling above has been rebuilt in brick. The east gable wall has a full width opening, probably to allow cart access, with the remains of timber framing above. Internally the building is open to the roof, which retains its simple collared trusses that are pegged at their apex, with trenched double purlins. Some of the timbers appear to have been re-used from elsewhere and include a chamfered tie beam with a label stop that may date from the 17th century. The roof has been incrementally repaired in more recent times with machine-cut timbers. In the west gable wall are regularly-spaced slots to support the joists for a first floor, probably a hay loft.

The barn on Melway Lane is built in a vernacular style and although its precise date is not known it appears to be of the early to mid-19th century on stylistic grounds. It is a modest agricultural building, typical of its date and location, using local materials. It is fairly plain, open-fronted, and apparently undivided internally. The partial infilling of the original opening on the south side of the building, particularly in unsympathetic modern materials, has affected its interest. The re-use of a probable domestic timber in the roof is of some interest. However, although much of the original structure survives, including the roof trusses, overall the building is not architecturally noteworthy in a national context, and does not exhibit a specialist function or technological innovation in its form or design. <1>

[NGD note 20-02-23: The building is visible in the 2002 aerial photograph visible on QGIS map but not on the latest version currently in use so must have been demolished at some point between these dates. Heritage Protection Advisor’s report dated 14-09-07 indicates that building was still standing then.]

<1> English Heritage, English Heritage Listing File, Adviser's Report dated 14-SEPT-2007, by Ms Guthrie (Scheduling record). SDO17502.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1467511 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 21 2023 10:01AM