Dol-y-dre barn, a late-16th century cruck-framed structure of 5-bays, standing on a level site to the S. of the farmhouse and forming a court with later farmbuildings; a Ca.1800 cowhouse is attached to the W.end of the barn on the N.side. The barn, with central threshing bay, has a stable unit under a loft in the end bay on the E. where the gable-end wall is box-framed.

Although there are four cruck-couples dividing the 5-bays of the barn, only one couple at the E. end appears to have been original made for the structure, all of the other three couples being made up of re-used cruck-blades which probably came from a medieval house on the site; two re-used cruck-couples remain in the roof of the present house which has a central chimney that shows evidence of having been inserted into an earlier cruck-structured dwelling. The barn, as it now
stands, has large opposing doorways to the stone-flagged central threshing bay and the two-tier framing is covered by weather-boarding. This square-panelled framing and that of the cross-partition between barn and stable was all originally wattle infilled.

The cruck-couples all differ somewhat in form, although all have their cruck-blades seated into notches in the main posts of the wall framing. The couple on the E. (section B-B) had a new tie-beam with the cross-partition underneath and at the apex there is a king-post seated on the re-used collar. As with all the couple that re-use cruck-blades there are peg-hole visible on the underside of the blades indicating that three side purlins were attached to them in their original form, whereas there are only two over the barn. The next couple to the W., adjacent to the threshing floor, has a sadlle at the apex and was again fitted with a new tie-beam; in each case where there is a new tie-beam it is of narrow scantling and required packing timbers to fill the larger lap-joint of the original. The cruck- couple on the W.of the threshing floor (Section A-A) has a tie-beam fixed into the lower of two lap-joints and at the apex, above a lap-jointed collar, the blades are butt jointed; when first recorded in 1973 this couple had a fence over the cill beam along-side the stone flagged threshing floor. The last cruck-couple on the W. of the barn has well fitted lap-jointed tie-beam and collar while the blades are butt-jointed at the apex. This couple is the only one that has no re-used timbers and is designed to support the two side purlin which carried the rafters of the roof along with a diamond-set ridge piece. At the W. end of the barn the roof is hipped and this now aligns with the roof of the cowhouse to the N. All the rafter are now missing and the roof is covered by sheeting.

The stable at the E. end of the barn was originally lofted over and had an entrance doorway in the centre of the box-framed gable-end wall (Section C-C); this doorway, with a depressed Tudor-arched head over and ovolo moulded jambs on the outer side, is now blocked. The two-tier square-framed partition between barn and stable is now removed. The gable-end wall has down braces from the main post cutting trough the studs and rail of the square-panelled framing and above the collar ther are raking struts. On the outside small brackets rise from the corner posts to support the ends of the wall-plates.

[Additional:] Surveyed in 1973 with additional notes in 1993. Farmstead = NPRN 22773. (RFS/2001)