22 Tithe Barn, Place Farm, Tisbimj. 



centuiy. I think tliere was a connection between the hall and 

 the room over the second entrance. The great fireplace of the 

 kitclien still exists, and the very beautiful fifteenth century 

 chimney is still in use. To the east of the open space before 

 alluded to are the farm buildings, forming a parallelogram — the 

 stables on the nortli, the cow-houses on the west, and the cart 

 shed on the south ; these, though modernized, are on tlie original 

 site, and the walls are largely old. On the east side of the yard 

 is the barn, which, though plain, is a very fine and perfect one; it 

 is divided into thirteen bays by means of buttresses, the centre 

 bay being carried out as a porch on either side, and having pointed 

 arch doorways. There are four other doorways with segmental 

 arches, but these are modern, though there seem to have been 

 smaller entrances at a former time. Between each buttress is a 

 long narrow slit for light and air ; the gable ends have a central 

 buttress each, as well as side ones, with shnilar slits for air and 

 also one high up above the central buttress. The roof is thatch. 

 Internally, the principals correspond with the buttresses outside; 

 they are massive, rough-cut oak timljers with double collars and 

 curved braces, the lower collar and braces forming a rough four- 

 centred arch. The portion of the arch below the principal is let 

 into a chace in the wall without any brackets; between each 

 principal are three rows of purlins upon which the rafters carrying 

 the thatch rest. Near the bottom of each curved piece there is a 

 notch cut on the face, apparently for the purpose of propping the 

 principal whilst getting it into position. The posts seen in the 

 photograph are modern. The internal length is 188ft. 3in., and 

 the breadth 32ft. 3in., the area of the roof 1,450 sq. yards — between 

 one-quarter and one-third of an acre ; the external length from 

 out to out of the buttresses will be about 200ft. 1 am indebted 

 to J. H. Bracher, Esq., the tenant, for these dimensions, and also 

 for permission to have the photographs taken by ]\Ir. Britten. I 

 may add that Mr. Bracher's family have been tenants for over 

 two hundred years. The sketch plan showing the relative position 

 of the various buildings referred to is not in any way to scale, but 

 gives a general idea of their arrangement. 



