Collins, T., Price, R., Prosser, L. and Thompson, P. (2012). Godwick Great Barn, Godwick Hall, Tittleshall, Norfolk. Hertford: Archaeological Solutions Ltd. https://doi.org/10.5284/1026250.  Cite this via datacite

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Title: Godwick Great Barn, Godwick Hall, Tittleshall, Norfolk
Series: Archaeological Solutions Ltd unpublished report series
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.5284/1026250
Publication Type: Report (in Series)
Abstract: Godwick Great Barn is the principal architectural survival of a larger mansion complex constructed in the late Elizabethan period. The evidence suggests that when first built, it stood as an architectural introduction to the contemporary hall, standing to one side of an outer court. After three centuries, the house was itself abandoned, and had become entirely ruinous by the end of the 19th century. A decorated porch and various high perimeter walls were all that remained by the mid-20th century, and its ruins were cleared in the 1960s. The barn, by contrast survived because it continued to be useful, but the embellishments of its principal show-facade have given rise to a misconception that it was once a house, latterly reduced in status. However, it can be shown that it has always been a barn, with its northern two bays given over to other uses, possibly as stabling with modest, unheated accommodation on two upper floors. Internally, the barn bears stylistic similarities with examples at Waxham and Paston. Though constructed slightly later, in 1597 or thereabouts, a familial connection suggests some interchange of influences or craft, though the precise nature is impossible to detect in the absence of documentary records. As a working building, later change is discernible, and has not always been carried out with regard to the architecture. The domestic arrangements were probably extended for a further two bays into the interior in the later 17th or 18th century, while the southern end was also given an inserted floor in the 19th, probably to support a granary at upper level. Some external reconfiguration took place with the introduction of pitching doors, and disturbance of the original symmetry. Modern interventions have similarly resulted in changes. Overall, the barn retains many original historic features however, and survives as one of Norfolk's most important buildings of the type and period.
Author: Tansy Collins
R Price
Lee Prosser
Pete Thompson ORCID icon
Publisher: Archaeological Solutions Ltd
Other Person/Org: Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Norfolk HER (OASIS Reviewer)
Year of Publication: 2012
Locations:
Site: Godwick Great Barn, Godwick Hall, Tittleshall, Norfolk
Parish: TITTLESHALL
District: Breckland
County: Norfolk
Country: England
Location - Auto Detected: Waxham
Grid Reference: 590410, 322080 (Easting, Northing)
Subjects / Periods:
UNCERTAIN (Historic England Periods) NONE (Find)
POST MEDIEVAL (Historic England Periods) BARN (Monument Type England)
18th Century (Auto Detected Temporal)
1597 (Auto Detected Temporal)
20TH CENTURY (Historic England Periods)
BUILDING SURVEY (Event)
Mid20th Century (Auto Detected Temporal)
19th Century (Auto Detected Temporal)
Late Elizabethan (Auto Detected Temporal)
17th (Auto Detected Temporal)
Identifiers:
OASIS Id: archaeol7-132230
OBIB: Archaeological Solution Report No. 4029
Source:
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OASIS (OASIS)
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Created Date: 28 Nov 2016