Five Ditteridge Barns Mary Finch First published August 2018
St Christopher's id the oldest barn
Not one historic building but five and the youngest built in 1797. Of the thirteen houses which make up the hamlet of Ditteridge, five started their life as barns of Cheney Court Farm. Since the earliest (now called St Christopher’s) to the youngest (the cart barn at Top Barn), they have gradually fallen out of use as farming changed and, one by one, they have been reincarnated as homes or for Cheney Court Barn as a language school for many years.
St Christopher’s
The first and oldest, St Christopher’s (right), appears on a 1626 map as a barn but may well be older. Originally a three-bay thatched barn, it was used for the storage of unthreshed wheat until strip farming gave way to enclosed fields and yields increased, when it became too small to be of much use. St Christopher’s became two small houses in the 18th century for workers on the Cheney Court Farm estate and a third cottage was added in the 20th century. The tie beams holding up the roof were sawn through at some point and an upper storey inserted, probably during the 19th century. How the building stayed up is a miracle. By 1921 it was a single house.
St Christopher’s
The first and oldest, St Christopher’s (right), appears on a 1626 map as a barn but may well be older. Originally a three-bay thatched barn, it was used for the storage of unthreshed wheat until strip farming gave way to enclosed fields and yields increased, when it became too small to be of much use. St Christopher’s became two small houses in the 18th century for workers on the Cheney Court Farm estate and a third cottage was added in the 20th century. The tie beams holding up the roof were sawn through at some point and an upper storey inserted, probably during the 19th century. How the building stayed up is a miracle. By 1921 it was a single house.
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Top Barn
By 1750 St Christopher’s needed a larger field barn to replace it, one that was big enough to take heavily laden carts through its entrance midstrey (porch). The solution was to build Top Barn and for 200 years it was used to store unthreshed sheaves on one side and hay and straw on the other. The sheaves were taken by cart down to Cheney Court Farm for threshing. Dutch barns are far more convenient nowadays and you can’t get a combine harvester into a field barn, so by 1997 Top Barn had become a beautiful house which still manages to look like an 18th century barn. |
Top Barn (courtesy Carol Payne)
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Cheney Court Barn
Cheney Court Barn is also shown on the 1626 map and was built by the Speke family of Cheney Court and later extended to a magnificent 120 feet long. This was a threshing barn, wheat at one end and barley at the other, with a large pigeon loft. There were several other barns around the farmyard but these were swept away in the 1960s.
Cheney Court Barn is also shown on the 1626 map and was built by the Speke family of Cheney Court and later extended to a magnificent 120 feet long. This was a threshing barn, wheat at one end and barley at the other, with a large pigeon loft. There were several other barns around the farmyard but these were swept away in the 1960s.
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Rectory Cottage
Very little survives of the original barn in what is now called Rectory Cottage. Old photographs (above) show it to have been a small 18th century limestone thatched barn. As it belonged to the church, it was probably used to store tithes or the produce from the glebe land to the south of the churchyard. The lane through Ditteridge has wandered about during the centuries. On one old map it ran to the east of the church and the land on which Rectory Cottage was built joined the churchyard. In the early 19th century, it was converted into a school by the rector and in the 188s it became a vestry for the church. When the church built a new vestry on its north side in the 1960s, it was abandoned and by the 1970s was derelict. It was almost demolished and rebuilt as a small house. If you look carefully at the photo below, you can see traces of the original barn still hanging on defiantly.
Very little survives of the original barn in what is now called Rectory Cottage. Old photographs (above) show it to have been a small 18th century limestone thatched barn. As it belonged to the church, it was probably used to store tithes or the produce from the glebe land to the south of the churchyard. The lane through Ditteridge has wandered about during the centuries. On one old map it ran to the east of the church and the land on which Rectory Cottage was built joined the churchyard. In the early 19th century, it was converted into a school by the rector and in the 188s it became a vestry for the church. When the church built a new vestry on its north side in the 1960s, it was abandoned and by the 1970s was derelict. It was almost demolished and rebuilt as a small house. If you look carefully at the photo below, you can see traces of the original barn still hanging on defiantly.
Modern Rectory Cottage (courtesy Carol Payne)
Top Barn Cart Shed
The most recent stone barn (less than 300myears old) is a cart shed for Top Barn, built in 1752 or possibly 1787. Both dates are scratched into the wall together with two Marian signs for warding off the Evil Eye, very important in those days. This is the most recent barn to become a house.
Conclusion
Change came slowly to Ditteridge which is probably the reason why so many barns have survived. Since 1368 the hamlet and farm have only had three owners, the Spekes, the Northeys, and the Goulstones who as tenants and owners have farmed the land for over 150 years. The most recent house to be built in Ditteridge was in 1925 after the previous cottage fell down. Houses come and houses go but not in Ditteridge – we just convert another barn.
The most recent stone barn (less than 300myears old) is a cart shed for Top Barn, built in 1752 or possibly 1787. Both dates are scratched into the wall together with two Marian signs for warding off the Evil Eye, very important in those days. This is the most recent barn to become a house.
Conclusion
Change came slowly to Ditteridge which is probably the reason why so many barns have survived. Since 1368 the hamlet and farm have only had three owners, the Spekes, the Northeys, and the Goulstones who as tenants and owners have farmed the land for over 150 years. The most recent house to be built in Ditteridge was in 1925 after the previous cottage fell down. Houses come and houses go but not in Ditteridge – we just convert another barn.