LISTED BARNS, NAILSEA
Grade II Listed Barn Conversion Project
Client:
Completion:
Private domestic
Approved 2023
This project in North Somerset involved a full planning and listed building application for the conversion of a large two storey barn, which was successfully approved in late 2023 following extensive preapplication consultation with the Conservation officer. The 17th century manor house that the barns are connected to was Grade II listed, although the outbuildings were not mentioned in the listing description, as is often the case. However, these were considered to be ‘curtilage’ listed buildings as they were part of the estate when it was listed as a whole. As such they are afforded the same protection and have the same restrictions imposed upon them as a listed building with its own listing entry.
The listed barn to be converted was arranged as various separate storage rooms that became largely redundant when farming on the site ceased some decades ago, inevitably leading to some neglect. It was proposed to suitably adapted and thermally upgrade the building for ancillary accommodation to the family home. Converting the storerooms into guest accommodation, along with facilities for the swimming pool area, gave the building a viable new use that would enhance the historical nature and significance of the barn. As areas of the barn were already showing signs of decay, it was suggested that the proposals would secure the necessary investment to save the heritage asset for future generations.
The conversion of the barn into ancillary accommodation included two bedrooms and a new bathroom on the first-floor, with a kitchen, home gym, and pool changing/showering facilities on the ground floor. The plans included the replacement of the rudimentary staircase and the retention of the historic winnowing door. Flagstones were retained and reused, and the existing stone work repointed and repaired externally and internally with lime mortar, alongside a breathable insulating internal lining system. The west elevation required a sensitive programme of structural repair and partial rebuilding, and as such was proposed to locate two new openings in these walls. It was further proposed to install solar panels on the West facing roof, and to replace the existing rooflights with new Conservation Rooflights. Key historic features were retained and preserved including the internal winnowing door and the various fowl holes.
Historic Analysis
Four Gables Barn contains some typical historic barn features that evidence its past use. The irregular fenestrations have likely been added at different times indicating the development of the building through changing farming methods. The humble vernacular structure suggests small scale arable farming with associated animal housing. A probable function being a threshing barn with grain/hay storage and shippon.
A – The original hayloft pitching door with reinforced stone cill. Grain may have been hauled up through a floor hatch, however the original floor, if it still exists, is covered with a modern plasterboard ceiling with gypsum plaster. No external access has been identified, usually in the form of stone steps, therefore an internal ladder access is probable.
B – This door appears to be a later addition as it is likely this part of the barn was originally open to the rafters. The door is squeezed in between door D (which is taller than the other two) and the eaves, and is flush with the dividing wall. The cill of this door is not reinforced.
C – Door C is possibly a ‘shippon’ door and slightly wider & shorter than door D, suggesting it could be older and from a time when stockier oxen were used on the farm instead of horses. The original door was probably partly slatted for ventilation.
D – This door is a later addition, probably when part of the right-hand threshing barn was part converted to form a stable with hayloft above. The taller, narrower opening suggests horses instead of oxen. Horses were used with early forms of mechanised threshing and needed year-round housing. Keeping horses also increased the need for extra hay & straw.
E – This small opening is most likely to be a threshing wheel hole which would have had an external flywheel probably powered by horses. Hand threshing was common place until the mid-19th century; however, mechanised threshing was possible from the late 18th century. It is probable the stable alteration stems from somewhere between the two.
F – This low wide door is mirrored on the opposite side of the barn, which indicates the buildings use as a threshing barn. The crop was beaten on the floor to remove the grain, the straw used for animal bedding or thatching. The doors allow a through draught for winnowing the chaff from the grain, which would be stored in the grain loft. The chaff was also stored for animal feed. The flagstone threshing floor is mostly intact. Carts would access the threshing barn through the double doors in the north elevation.
