Great Coxwell Barn
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Great Coxwell Barn is a large 14th century barn on the northern edge of the village of Great Coxwell, in Oxfordshire, England.
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[edit] Name and use
There is some (dispute / confusion) about what the name of this barn (is / should be) - although nearby (old) signposts direct visitors towards the Great Coxwell Tithe Barn - the visitor's guide Munby (1996) published by the National Trust (the owners since 1956) is entitled Great Coxwell Barn.
Although the barn may well have been used as a tithe barn sometime in its history - when it was built, it was as part of a monastic grange under the control of Beaulieu Abbey, in Hampshire - Munby (1996). And as such - the barn would have been used to store most, if not all, of the crop of the grange.
Since the barn is very large - the internal measurements of the main 'hall' being 144ft (43.94m) by 38ft (11.63m) - it could be argued that the barn should be named the Great Barn - Great Coxwell. The barn is one of a number of barns termed great barns in Aston (2000):
The real glories are however the great barns (erroneously called tithe barns or by estate agents tythe (sic) barns). These were the warehouses of the Middle Ages where vast quatities of food was stored, and they show the skill and craftsmanship of the medieval workman at its best. The biggest are enormous - Bradford on Avon and Tisbury in Wiltshire, Great Coxwell in Oxfordshire ... (p107).
—Aston
[edit] Location
It is situated at located at grid reference SU269940, above the village of Great Coxwell, near the market town of Faringdon, in the Vale of White Horse in the English county of Oxfordshire (though formerly in Berkshire).
Faringdon is close to the A420 - roughly half way between Swindon and Oxford - Google Maps gives about 12 miles to Swindon and about 18 miles to Oxford.
There is parking at the barn - though not quite a car park - there's room for about half-dozen cars within the yard, and as much again alongside the road.
[edit] History
The tithe barn was part of the Royal manor of Faringdon, given to the Cistercian monks by King John, in 1203. The centre of the manor was Wyke, now lost and Great Coxwell was an outlying village. The abbey moved to Beaulieu, Hampshire in the New Forest but the Faringdon and its granges remained under its control. The barn is now in the care of the National Trust.
[edit] Structure
The barn, built in the first decade of the 14th century, is constructed of Cotswold stone and the roof is constructed of Stonesfield slates. The barn is aisled, to support the massive roof. There is a dovecote over the door of the east porch. The floor area is 5,502 sq feet (i.e. 511 sq metres).
[edit] Gallery
This gallery shows general views of the Great Barn.
 The Great Barn from roughly SW |
 The southern-gable |
 Interior showing western aisle |
 Interior showing roof structure |
[edit] Sources
- Sue Clifford and Angela King, England in Particular (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006), ISBN 0340826169, pp. 410-411.
- Timothy Darvill, Paul Stamper and Jane Timby, England: An Oxford Archaeological Guide to Sites from Earliest Times to AD 1600 (OUP, 2002), ISBN 0192841017, pp. 285-6.
- F.W.B. Charles, The Great Barn at Bredon (Oxbow Monographs 76; 1997), ISBN 1900188279, pp. 14-16.
- Aston, Mick (2000), Mick's Archaeology, Tempus Publishing Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
- Munby, Julian (1996), Great Coxwell Barn, The National Trust (Enterprises), Swindon, Wiltshire.
[edit] External links
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