SNN112144 - Historic Building Recording: Barn at Priory Farm, Sulgrave Road, Helmdon

In July 2019, a programme of historic building recording was undertaken on a Grade II-listed, derelict 18th-century barn at Priory Farm, Helmdon, Northants, as a planning condition relating to is reconstruction and conversion for residential use. Priory Farm appears in the historic record to have originally been the site of Netherbury, one of three medieval manors in Helmdon. From at least the early 14th century until the Dissolution it may have belonged to Biddlesden Abbey. In 1538 it was granted to Sir John Cope of Canons Ashby, and held by his family and others until the early 17th century, at which time it began to be known as ‘Priory Farm’. Following a gap in the historical record of over two centuries, the farm belonged to the Wood family before being purchased by the client’s great-grandmother in the 20th century. The farmhouse, which is also Grade II listed, is believed to date from the early 17th century, with 19th-century additions. The barn is an 8-bay structure aligned west-east, with walls of coursed limestone rubble and a slate roof. Access is by cart doors both sides of one of the central bays and four smaller doors near the east and west ends. North and south walls each have five ventilation slits. The two westernmost bays have an inserted upper floor, accessed by a loading door to the south, with animal stalls or byres on the ground floor, partitioned off from the rest of the barn. The roof is of fairly lightweight construction, comprising simple trusses with no diagonal bracing, and is pitched far steeper than necessary for slate cladding