Site Event/Activity record ESF20850 - Barn at Mount Pleasant Farm, Rendham

Mount Pleasant Farm lies on the crest of a hill in open countryside approximately 1 km north-east of Rendham village. The barn is a timber-framed and weatherboarded threshing barn of three bays with a central entrance in its southern elevation and a contemporary lean-to porch to the north. It preserves an intact roof of staggered butt-purlins which contains tie-beams to the central bay but pairs of A-framed trusses to the two long outer bays; an unusual method of increasing headroom. Both the tie-beams and A-frames incorporate bolted knee-braces rather than tenoned arch-braces and indicate a date of circa 1820-30. The building survives largely intact and represents a good 'Napoleonic barn' illustrating Suffolk's agricultural boom in the wake of wartime import restrictions: It is accordingly of both historic and structural interest. A threshing floor of stone flags is probably an original feature, and the external weatherboarding preserves good evidence of its original grey pigment where protected within a number of later additions. Despite these points of interest, however, the building has lost its thatch and much of its cladding and probably fails to meet the strict English Heritage criteria for listing - although the case is marginal. The piecemeal addition of numerous animal sheds and shelters in the late-19th century is also typical of the region, which compensated for lower grain prices after the Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 by introducing mixed animal husbandry. The resulting complex is unusually complete, having altered little in outline since 1904. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous No, Future Not known Associated Identifiers: Sitecode RNM 019 NMR No. 1534659 Project Type: Building Recording Methods and Techniques: Photographic Survey, Survey/Recording Of Fabric/Structure Reason for Investigation: Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 Site status: None Current Land use: Other 2 - In use as a building Monument Type(s)/Period(s): BUILDING Post Medieval Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): NONE None PROJECT LOCATION Area 504.00 Square metres Grid Reference: TM35856487 Point PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Local Authority Archaeologist and/or Planning Authority/advisory body Design originator: Edward Martin Director/Manager: David Gill Supervisor: Leigh Alston DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: other Media: Images raster / digital photography, Text PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: other Media: Miscellaneous Material, Report BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: The Barn, Mount Pleasant Farm, Rendham, RNM 019 Histroric Building Record Author(s)/Editor(s): Alston, L. Date: 2010 Issuer/Publisher: SCCAS Place of Issue or Publication: Bury St Edmunds Description: Comb bound, A4, colour, white cover (also available as PDF)