Context 154 - May 2018

C O N T E X T 1 5 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 8 55 and was a little shocked when I saw the small but perfectly formed book. As you would expect by something touched by the hand of Rory Cullen, however, it is clear, concise, accessible and full of very useful information. By using good examples of projects undertaken by surveyors at the National Trust, the book provides an excellent basis for working with historic buildings, understanding the challenges and expressing the required works in clear, simple English. The case studies cover a variety of everyday buildings such as cottages and a humble timber- framed donkey wheel, to grander buildings such as Hardwick Hall. This shows not only the wide variety of buildings that the trust looks after, but also how it values the sum of its buildings regardless of size or scale. Each building is clearly regarded as significant and important in its own right, a message which is reinforced throughout the book. Part 1 deals with conservation philosophy and principles, including procurement and specification, while Part 2 presents case studies, taking each building element in turn and providing guidance on how the correct works were specified. The first chapter looks at building recording, and why understanding the building – its significance and management – is just as important as specifying the correct works and materials for conservation. The case studies and the overview of legislation and guidance are worth the cost of the book alone. In addition, the appendices make it extremely helpful, since they provide tried-and-tested of the highest national significance, and in accordance with Conservation Principles the book is a major contribution to our understanding not only of this fine example but also of the purpose and function of large medieval barns in general. Firmly dated to 1425–27 both by dendrochronology and documentary evidence, it was built for William of Wykeham’s Winchester College, which had purchased the estate in 1392. The assembly of former monastic estates to provide an endowment for Wykeham’s complementary foundations of Winchester and New College, Oxford, is described in the opening sections, followed by a detailed discussion of the motivation and possible cost of building the Harmondsworth barn. A minute structural analysis of every element of the fabric is concluded with an instructive exposition on how the details of the carpentry can be used to speculate on the sequence of erection of the timber frame. The argument is clearly illuminated by a staged series of 24 three- dimensional diagrams in full colour. A lengthy exploration of the function of the barn is based on extensive documentation, embracing changes in agricultural practice on the manor, the yields and harvesting of the various crops and their processing, and the officials and labour involved throughout the farming year. The context for the barn and its enormous size is provided by comparison with other medieval barns, with tables listing basic details of the 19 largest barns in England, and the 12 largest barns in France and Flanders. Although this section ranges across much of southern and midlands England and across the channel in northern Europe, it would have been helpful to have looked at some other surviving examples built for pre-Reformation institutions closer to Harmondsworth in the Greater London area. These might have included the great barn on another Winchester manor of Ruislip, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s barn close by at Headstone, which provides clear evidence in its fabric for the farming of the demesne, and the Hall barn at Upminster, Essex, owned by Waltham Abbey and with similar vertical boarding to the cladding at Harmondsworth. The manor of Harmondsworth passed out of monastic tenure in 1543. The subsequent ownership is traced until the barn ceased to be used for agricultural purposes in 1986 and was bought by a building company. Some repairs were carried out before the company fell into receivership and after a lengthy period of uncertainty English Heritage took the brave decision to purchase it ‘for the nation’ in 2011. Under its responsible stewardship the barn was fully restored in 2014 and is now open for public access for the first time in 500 years. It was a remarkable initiative and I would urge everyone to support it by making a pilgrimage to enjoy what John Betjeman described as one of the ‘noblest medieval barns in the whole of England’ before the tranquillity of its setting is shattered by the noise of jet engines. There they will be able to see the quality of the craftsmanship of the original fabric and the sensitive restoration. Armed with the scholarship in this definitive book they will be able to appreciate why it was built and how it has functioned throughout its long history. It is an exemplary study of the design and architectural significance of a great medieval building and is highly recommended. Malcolm Airs, Kellogg College, Oxford As specified Specifications for Building Conservation – Volume 1: External Structure Edited by Rory Cullen and Rick Meier, Routledge, 2016, 204 pages, black and white and colour illustrations, ISBN 978 1 873394 80 9, £37.99 When the parcel arrived, I had expected an item the size of the revised Historic England guidance manuals