Building record WKM 034 - Barn rear of 2-6 Little Lane

The barn described for planning purposes as lying to the rear of 2-6 Little Lane in Wickham Market in fact lies 20 m east of a gap in the street frontage at the junction of Little Lane and Broad Street, some 50 m north-west of the medieval market place. At the time of the tithe survey in 1843 the building belonged to Hill House at the western end of the market; a substantial grade II-listed Georgian town house with four acres of land owned by a wealthy surgeon. Three-bay threshing barns of this scale, extending to 10.4 m by 5.6 m overall, are typically associated with more substantial arable holdings of between 30 and 60 acres, and it may well have been linked previously to a medieval farmstead on the site of Sycamore Cottage (2 Broad Street) adjoining the eastern yard from which the barn was always approached. The shallow-pitched pantiled roof of the timber-framed and weatherboarded structure is a mid-19th century replacement, but in other respects the original fabric of circa 1600 (with edge-halved and bridled scarf joints) is unusually well preserved. The arch-braces of both open trusses survive intact and the studs are secured by a full complement of externally trenched wall-braces. The central threshing bay was entered by full-height doors which swung on ‘pin’ hinges (i.e. pivoting on dowels projecting into the roof-plate) and the rear (western) door lay beneath a low mid-rail in the standard manner of early barns. The low height of this rail suggests the ground level within the barn may have risen by as much as 0.6 m and that early threshing floors may lie hidden beneath the modern concrete. A vehicle shed with a first-floor granary was inserted into the southern bay during the mid-19th century, and the latter retains a series of large incised apotropaic (evil-averting) circles designed to protect its content from harm. Early urban barns such as this are rare survivals and offer important insight into the nature of the built environment of medieval and Tudor Britain. Given this special point of historic interest and the quality of its original frame the barn in my view meets the strict English Heritage criteria for listing at grade II (S1).