A chance visit in 1943 to a farm known as “The Farm Fold”, Chaddesley Corbett, led to the observation of an ancient barn, which does not seem to have been hitherto described. The barn had long since ceased to serve its original purpose and was then almost a ruin. There was nothing especially interesting about the exterior; it had a tiled roof and its sides were covered with tarred weather-boarding. But a glance at the interior revealed it was a timber building of early type, the framework of which was composed of bent trees known as “crucks” or “forks”.
A detailed examination made in 1944 enables us to give …. a detailed description of the barn as it was at that time. In this description we have omitted as irrelevant any reference to the innumerable props, ties and shores in every conceivable position which had been added from time to time to prolong its life, neither have we referred to the fact that the tiles had been removed from a portion of the east side, leaving a gaping hole in the roof which doubtless hastened the final dissolution of the building. In 1945 the greater part of the building collapsed and in 1946 nothing remained but the stone foundation and a confused mass of fallen timbers and broken tiles.
