This C16th orearly-C17th, stone-built, slate-roofed, 4-bay, raised-cruck barn is built down-the-slope, and situated at right-angles to the barn/cow-house range. The walls were formerly timber-framed on a high stone plinth. Surviving wall studs exist embedded in the stone wall behind the uphill cruck-couple. One stud of wall-framing survives, although the full height may origianlly have been 2-tier square wall framing on a lower stone plinth.
The upper end cruck's tie-beam is lap-jointed and extends through the wall-studs (like a spur), which are tennoned into the wall-plate, where peg holes and mortises of the former framed walls survive. The spur is notch jointed to locate and lock the wall-stud. The wall stud is morticed and pegged to a low outer wall-plate. The cruck base is seated at the same height on an inner low wall-plate and has probably been cut back from a full cruck. This cruck-couple has a lap-jointed tie-beam with soffit mortises for studs and stave holes for wattle in-fill below the tie-beam. It has a mortised collar and apex, and is seated on a lower wall-plate than the others. It is different to the two lower cruck-couples which are seated on a higher tie/ceiling-beam with morticed collar and a saddle (one has had its tie-beam cut away). However, they do have a lap-jointed spurs to former wall-framing in the same position and height. All the trusses have an extra lap tie-beam, which is pegged and spiked by an iron nail, possibly early C19th. The trusses have two pairs of side-purlins and a diagonal ridge-piece, which link the roof as one build.
The uphill cruck is probably re-used from the early-C16th house nearby, as it has mortices for a partition. The low end crucks have no surviving framed partitions or smoke blackening and are original to a barn range that has been re-built and are probably cut-back full crucks of C16th origin. These low end crucks are similar to those in the stable, both resting on tie-/ceiling-beams, although the stable has spur timbers that are morticed rather than lapped, indicating they were always separate structures.
This building is very similar to The Croft barn, SO3796817829, NPRN43250, which has the same cruck spurs to wall-plate and has existing 2-tier square wall-framing (see RCAHMW plan & section, account in Cyril Fox & Lord Raglan, Monmouthshire Houses, Pt 1 Medieval, p. 62-66.).
The bank has been cut back around the lower part of the building and a wide stone base made around its lower half.
This building's roof is racking downhill and a modern wall built at the low end to prevent this has cracked badly and it may soon require remedial action.
Visited, 2/3 August 2006 Geoff Ward, Buildings at Risk List, Mons.