SNN111869 - Harringworth Lodge, Harringworth, Northamptonshire: Historic Building Recording

Planning permission and listed building consent (15/00918/FUL and 15/00919/LBC) were given by East Northamptonshire Council for the installation of a new biomass heating system in a stone barn at Harringworth Lodge, Harringworth, Northamptonshire (Grid ref. SP 93210/95310). Harringworth Lodge originated in the 13th century as a hunting lodge associated with a deer park. A condition requiring a programme of archaeological works was attached to the listed building consent. The works comprised historic building recording of the barn and archaeological monitoring during groundworks. The archaeological monitoring forms the subject of a separate report. The building dates from the 19th century. It is rectangular in plan and forms part of a north-south aligned range of buildings on the east side of the farmyard. Internally, it is 11.8m long, 5.4m wide at the south end and 5.06m wide at the north end. When surveyed it was open to the roof with walls c. 4.5m high to eaves level. It has opposed single doors in the middle of the side walls and three high-level taking-in doors, two in the west elevation and one in the east elevation. The walls are in coursed rubble with some dressed stone. The roof has tiebeam, collar beam trusses and staggered butt purlins and is covered with Welsh slate. Variations in the masonry suggest the building represents more than one phase of construction but the details are unclear. A stone used in construction of the eastern door opening is clearly reused from an earlier building and it is likely that some other dressed stone is also reused. The building is double height with opposed single doors and high-level taking-in doors in both side walls. It has triangular vents in the upper and lower parts of the side walls. These details indicate that it was used for crop storage. It lacks the full-height double doors of a traditional threshing barn and was probably built at a time when the traditional type of barn was going out of use due to the introduction of mechanical crop processing. The project archive will be retained by Albion Archaeology until deposition at the Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre (NARC) when this opens. A digital copy of the site archive will be deposited with the Archaeology Data Service. This report will be uploaded onto the Archaeology Data Service’s OASIS website (OASIS ID no. albionar1-243560).