Project Purley

The Local History Society for Purley on Thames

The Barn

The Barn located at Goosecroft has had a rather complex history. It started out as part of the Tudor manor house constructed around 1550. When this was demolished around 1740 many of the timbers were reused to provide a new barn. These can easily be recognised as they include mortices and other joinery features which have no current use.

When the new manor house was again demolished around 1800 and a new mansion built on the hill above, the barn was moved to a new site by the newly constructed Belleisle Farm. It was used initially as a farm barn, then when the South Berks Hunt took over the premises in 1900 it was used as stables and as a Remount Deport in the First World War.Then when Trenthams took over in 1950 it was used variously as a machine store, tractor shed and archive.

Trenthams evolved into around 1985 and moved to Theale. The surrounding area was redeveloped for housing, mainly by Bryants who were at a loss as to what to do with the bar. Eventually it was decided to move it to a new location adjacent to the recreation ground to be used as a scout hut Since then it has developed into a valuable community resource providing two timbered halls and becoming a venue for a very wide variety of events.

We are telling the story of the Barn in a series of articles so click on one of the headings below to continue the story in more depth

Summary History

The Barn by the Church

The Barn at Belleisle

The Remount Depot

What to do with the Barn

Moving the Barn to Goosecroft

The Barn as a Community Resource

The Dendrochronology Report

Architectural features

N3001 23/7/2017

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