Bushcroft Barn, Warnham

It was very warm when I took this picture and was much hotter at work, as the radiators were on all day and nearly hot enough to fry an egg on! It was very nice to go out after work and feel a bit more comfortable as it takes me a long time to cool down. Although it's not hot now, those who know me well will know that I absolutely detest heat and humidity!

This barn is part of a group of buildings in the parish of Warnham. A network of paths passes nearby and makes a very good circular walk. The path that passes here leads to the main road, so it is out and back, but passes over pleasant open arable land. I have a great interest in barns and it is even better when you find one not being used as a house! This barn has a gabled roof and 2 pairs of double doors. These would have been to allow carts in and out to unload corn for threshing. The doors were left open to allow a draught in to carry away the waste chaff. Threshing by hand was hard work and was often done in the winter when other farm work was scarce. The section on the right now used for stabling horses was likely used as a cattle shed. The roof is also of interest as it is made of Horsham Stone. This is a sandstone found in layers in the Weald Clay. This would have been obtained locally, literally yards away as it can be seen in the sunken banks of a footpath before you reach here. The stone also has ripple marks on it when it would have been part of a sandy beach when the tide was out in the Cretaceous period - the time of the Dinosaurs.