History

Late C18 - mid C19 courtyard range, built in several phases; The earliest building is the corn barn, dated 1792; the attached stable was probably built shortly afterwards. The granary-cartshed is dated 1829, and the cowhouse-hammel in the range opposite (SE) is probably of a similar date. These buildings are all shown on the Tithe Map of the parish of 1843. The initials 'O.W.' on the datestone set into the cartshed wall probably refer to the Williams family, who owned the farm at the time of the Tithe survey 14 years later. The single-storey cowhouse range abutting the cartshed, and the long NE range were built in the mid C19 to complete the courtyard formation.

In 1843 Braint was owned by Thomas Peers Williams Esq and farmed by Owen Owens. The farm was quite extensive and in the Census Returns for the parish of 1851 is recorded as being 230 acres (93.2 hectares); 6 labourers were employed. A second farmhouse was built in the later C19, and the farm was worked as two units until the mid C20. At this point the two farms were amalgamated and the original farmhouse left empty.

Exterior

Agricultural range in courtyard layout, comprising 4 connected ranges. The SW range has a 4-bay corn barn (dated 1792) with a 3-bay lofted stable attached to the NW gable, and a single storey cowhouse attached to the SE gable, which returns to form cowhouse ranges to the SE and NE. The lofted stable is abutted to the NE by a lofted twin bay cartshed (dated 1829), which is abutted by a single storey 5-bay cowhouse.

The SW range: Corn barn with rubble walls and roof of small slates, with unusual dressed stone ridge pieces. Full-height, wide, opposing central doors with later segmentally arched brick heads with dripcourse. The door is flanked by 2 tall ventilation slits; that to the L end of the SW elevation has been widened, probably to take a drive belt. The attached lofted stable is of similar construction. The loft is accessed via a stone staircase on the NW gable; boarded door to loft. 4-light window to NW elevation. There is a blocked doorway in the SW elevation, with a roofless stone walled lean-to attached to the SW wall. The stable has a single door in the NE elevation; a boarded door with 4-light overlight. Small window to the R.

The NW range: Twin-bay granary-cartshed abuts stable. Rubble walls, slate roof with stone copings. Wide cart bays with shallow basket arches formed of stone voussoirs, with dripcourses. Set between the doorways, at loft level, is a full-height doorway, now mostly infilled with brickwork (with a small 3-light window left). There is an original small 6-light granary window to the L. Above the archway to L is a slate tablet inscribed 'O.W.' over '1829'. The granary loft is accessed via stone staircase against the rear (SE) elevation; boarded door. There is a small 4-pane granary window in the centre of the rear elevation. Brick dove boxes built into NE gable. Attached to NE gable of the cartshed is a 1-storey, 5-bay cowhouse; rubble walls with roof of profiled asbestos sheeting. There is a central door in either long wall, flanked by iron-framed windows. Cut doorway in NE gable wall with brick jambs, with window above to former loft (now removed).

The SE and NE ranges: Single storey cowhouse and hammel range; rubble walls with roof of profiled asbestos sheeting. Wide doors to the SW end of the SE range, opening onto hammel yard. The NE range has 3 former wide openings on the NE elevation (facing away from the yard), now blocked to form narrow openings with doors and windows.

Interior

The corn barn was originally of 5 bays, now 4 bays after the bay to the right was re-modelled when adjoining buildings were added. Collared trusses with pegged half-dovetail collars, and two rows of square purlins. The date '1792' is painted onto the collar to the NW of the threshing floor.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a good and complete late C18-mid C19 estate-built vernacular agricultural range, which forms an important part of the complete farmstead group at Braint, together with the adjacent farmhouse and pig-rearing unit.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29503038

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)