Historic farm buildings of Oxfordshire

The siting, design and construction of these buildings all contribute valuable and substantial sources of knowledge and understanding.

They can throw light on patterns of rural settlement, reclamation and enclosures; on the farming systems and technologies for which they were originally designed or later adapted; on the development of building materials and methods, and, not least, on the lives of the farmers who owned and worked in them and the craftsmen who built them.

The Historic Farm Buildings Group is a national organisation which works to promote the study of such structures and, in Oxfordshire, the Oxfordshire Buildings Record includes their history in its own recording surveys.

The Oxfordshire Buildings Record has uncovered a particular style for the construction of rafters that appears to be typical to Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

David Clark, secretary of the Oxfordshire Buildings Record, said: “The interest is in the interior, in the way that the roof trusses are formed — being cranked, or bent. This type of roof construction is very much a feature of this area and of the surrounding counties.

“Some of the earliest date from the 17th century and they go up to about the 19th but most are of the 18th century. This design helps us to put a date on a building, together with other information that we can take into account.

“There are examples at Kelmscott, in buildings on one of the farms. Another is at the Northmoor Trust, at Little Wittenham.

“We want to try to find as many examples as possible. So far we have more than 100, but that is from a few years ago now. If somebody knows of others, we would be pleased if they would tell us about them.

“Once you have seen one, it is very easy to recognise them.”

Another typical local feature is the vertical slit found in the design of the windows at some of these historic barns.

At Kelmscott, there is one of these windows that provided the essential ventilation for a threshing barn. The window has an unusual diamond shape at the top.

Mr Clark added: “It looks rather like a candle, with a little flame at the top.

“There seem to be a few such windows in that part of Oxfordshire and into East Gloucestershire.”

One theory is that the design may be purely decorative, and another that it could be the trademark of one particular craftsman.

Mr Clark added: “Or there may be a particular reason that the owner of the barn wanted it made like that. We shall never really know.”

He said it was important such features were recorded and that he would like to hear of any other examples of these window styles.

One way in which features are preserved is when a threshing barn with its large entrance doors — for the arrival of laden farm carts — is converted into a house; they often take on a new life as floor-length windows.

On the walls of a number of threshing barns there are illustrations of the daily lives of farmers and their workers. Tally marks or ‘daisy wheels’ are among the illustrations. The one pictured left is from Cogges barn.

A tally mark can be seen at Filkins, at the entrance to the threshing barn which now houses the looms and display galleries of Cotswold Woollen Weavers. The barn dates from 1721.

The mark is on the northern side of the barn — the side with the tallest doors for the entrance of the laden carts; those on the south side are not so high, as they were for the exit of the empty wagons.

The device is like a sundial and with indentations. At each of these a chalk mark could be made to count the number of loads going through the doors each harvest time.

Another type of mark can be seen at another threshing barn, at Kelmscott Manor.

Mr Clark believes there are two possibilities for the mark low down on the inside wall beside the large doors — that it could have a religious significance, being strategically placed by the entrance in order to ward off evil spirits, or that it could have been an aid to measurements during the original construction.

“These are possible explanations but there has not been a lot of work done on these symbols as yet. This is something we would like to explore.”

The Historic Farm Buildings Group has members from many fields of interest — farmers and landowners, planners and conservationists, architects and local historians, geographers, archaeologists and museum curators.

Through consultations with Government departments, it has been able to raise the profile of farm buildings both in the planning process and among grant-awarding agencies.

It has highlighted the shortage of information available on the number of farm buildings of value and of their state of repair.

Dr Shirley Brook is one of its organisers. She said: “We are a national organisation for all those concerned for the past, present and future of old farm buildings.

“An important aspect of these older buildings is that the people used the materials that came to hand. This gives them their difference from modern buildings. Nowadays we move materials around and all the buildings are the same.

“There are big issues relating to these farm buildings. They give the countryside its own character. They are one of the most interesting types of buildings, for being typical of each rural area.

“If you lose them, you lose the character of the local landscape.”

In working to preserve these aspects locally, the Oxfordshire Buildings Record carries out work including measured surveys. It studies building materials and building techniques, such as carpentry and masonry.

As well as the recordings of buildings — modern as well as traditional — it aims to promote research, collect documentary evidence and advance education.

Its members have a wide range of skills including photography, sketching, writing descriptions, and technical drawing. The group is always interested to hear of any building that may be worth recording — and for its work on farm buildings, examples of the specific Oxfordshire features.

It can be contacted by email at: secretary@br.org.uk and has a website, obr.org.uk