Building record RAT 038 - Barn at Shelland Hall

Shelland Hall lies in open countryside approximately 2 km north-east of Rattlesden village. The timber-framed and rendered former farmhouse is listed at grade II and dated to the 17th century. During the 1839 tithe survey the farm was a tenanted holding of 114.5 acres on the estate of the Tyrell family who owned most of Shelland parish. The barn to the south-west of the house is a substantial timber-framed and rendered structure of six bays which is separately listed at grade II and was built in circa 1640. Despite several modern alterations and the re-use of some timbers, the timber frame is unusually well preserved, with a full complement of wind-braces to its intact clasped-purlin roof and most of its tie-beam braces. Much of the exterior is now rendered in cement but large areas of original wattle-and-daub with external roughcast render survive within a series of later lean-to sheds adjoining the southern elevation. The remains of an inserted partition suggest the eastern bay was converted into a stable during the 18th or 19th century. The contemporary southern porch is unusual as it was designed to extend the length of the threshing floor at the back of the building rather than as its principal entrance (which lay in the opposite wall to the north). Rear porches of this kind are common in the 19th century but rare in the 17th century (S1).