| Description | Steps Lane Barn, Warley. Double aisled stone and timber framed barn of possible late 16th century origins.
'Barn. C17, probably 2nd half. Coursed rubble with timber framing; stone slate roof. 5 bays, aisled. Quoins. South front: aisle only to left hand bays. Central cart entry with renewed chamfered quoined surround and monolithic lintel set back under eaves. 2 chamfered arched vents to right. Aisle on left has blocked doorway with chamfered surround, tie stones and deep lintel; 2 similar vents; an inserted window; and, in right return, an inserted doorway.
Rear: roof lower (over aisle). Central quoined cart entry; 2 chamfered arched vents; window on right with shaped head, lowered cill and chamfered jambs with tiestones. Left and right gables have chamfered arched vents and, in right gable, an inserted window.
Interior: to either side of rear cart entry are chamfered quoined doorways with deep lintels giving access to aisles. Frame has jowelled posts on padstones with braces to wall plates and tie beams. 4 roof trusses, originally with king posts braced to ridge piece, but in 3 trusses the king post has been cut short to rest on collar supported by angled braces. Large scantling purlins'.
(English Heritage listed building description. Date listed 19/07/1988. http://list.english heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1134446. Web site accessed 27/01/2014).
The barn was archaeologically assessed by Colum Giles in 1980 as part of the WYAS/RCHME Rural Houses Survey. Giles described it as a large double aisled barn. The presence of such a large barn implies the existence of a former high status house in the near vicinity. Giles identified a reused 1661 date stone in another barn to the north (Giles, C. (WYAS/RCHME). 1980).
The Steps Lane barn was the subject of a planning application in 2002 for 'LBC conversion of the barn to two dwellings' (Calderdale Council planning reference number 02/01211/LBC). The architect's plans associated with this application have been retained by WYAAS (John Roche, Corporate Building Surveyor. 2002).
In the consultation response, Peter Thornborrow (Senior Historic Buildings Officer. WYAS Advisory Service) considered this to be one of the finest stone built barns that remains externally untouched in Calderdale. Thornborrow considered the grade II designation should be changed to II* and disputed English Heritage's 17th century date, instead attributing a late 16th century date. Typical for the period, it has rectangular ventilators with arched heads and sunken spandrels; the doorways to the mistals have deep lintels with composite jambs and tie stones with chamfered surrounds. It also has an unusually positioned Tudor arched domestic style doorway at first floor level in the west gable. It is possible that this part of the barn may have had a function beyond being a hayloft; the storage material relating to the textile industry and later a workshop.
The barn is well constructed of un mortared coursed stone with long and short irregular quoins at the angles. It has wide gables, its roof sweeping wide over the double aisles. The roof over sails its recessed cart entry on the south side carried on a stone lintel. Originally the doorway would have been set back with an internal porch. There are doorways set within the re entrant angle leading into the aisle. Its east gable is set on a slightly projecting stone coursed plinth and has an impressive arrangement of arched ventilators. |