Archaeological Building Recording Level 2 - Morton House Farm Barn, Birdy Brow, Clitheroe

Photographic Recording, Drawn record The map regression demonstrates that the central barn, stable and shippon were extant in the 19th century, possibly as early as 1847, however, the shippon and the stables both butt up against the central barn indicating that these were later additions. And the central barn represents the primary phase of construction on site. A heritage statement by Chris O'Flaherty suggests that the barn dates from 1800 and the roof trusses over the barn appear to be of early to mid 19th century date. The latter part of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th century, saw seismic changes in farming practices across the country with introduction of new farming methods, and mechanisation. The change was brought about through the increased need to provide cheap and reliable sources of food to the ever-growing population of towns and cities. This led to the development of new model farms and planned farmsteads, however, in smaller hamlets and isolated communities farm buildings were adapted (RCHME 1997), leading to buildings being used for multiple purposes. It is evident within the fabric of the building that the majority of changes to the barn have happened more recently in the latter part of the 20th century with the introduction of the cast concrete stalls in the shippon and the main barn. The addition of a modern milking parlour and cow sheds to the south-west of the barn shows that older buildings were no longer suitable for modern livestock needs and so the process of change and adaption has continued. The presence of breathers at first-floor level seems to indicate that the lofts may be, in part be an early feature of the building with hay being stored at first-floor level; however, the current floors use modern pieces of boarding but are supported on beams, at the south-east end of the barn which show signs of reuse. This indicates that the flooring and the structure of the lofts have undergone change over the years and although the position of the lofts may be an early feature of the barn the material of their construction is clearly not. The small door in the south-west wall of the barn has internal pintle hinges indicating that there was once an internally opening door present in this wall. Prior to the introduction of modern steps and the building of the modern milking parlour, this may have been used as a winnowing door to control a through draft of air for hand threshing when the main cart entry doors were open, however, no threshing floor surface was observed during the survey, and the positioning of this door may be coincidental. The presence of a pitching hole in the north-west gable end of the shippon and in the north-west wall of the barn shows that hay carts could be unloaded either internally or externally at this end of the building and the hay passed between. At the opposing end of the barn no external pitching door was noted and therefore carts could only be unloaded internally at this point. Holes were noted in the curved beam over the main cart entry (Figure 13), this may indicate that the cart entry door has been altered, and the holes represent the sockets for a smaller harr-hung door, however, no apposing socket holes in the floor surface below the beam were noted. The map evidence does not give any clear indication as to the construction date of the barn the shippon or the stable block. The roof trusses over the stable (Figure 30) appear to be later than those in the barn (Figure 22) but would still be typical of a mid to late 19th century date. No trusses were noted over the shippon and this part of the building has been re roofed (Figure 37). The similarity of the door surrounds between the shippon and the barn appears to indicate that the shippon was added shortly after the barn was constructed.