The Great Barn in Great Coxwell village is the sole surviving part of a thriving 13th-century grange that once provided vital income to Beaulieu Abbey.

It is an impressive reminder of the skills of Gothic carpenters and the wealth and influence of the great monastic orders. William Morris, one of the Barn's most ardent admirers, called it 'unapproachable in its dignity'.

The grange also consisted of a windmill, which was used to grind grain, a pig farm and a dairy herd. Cheese, butter and honey would also have been made.

The Barn was built of Cotswold rubble-stone walling, with a Cotswold slate roof. There are several slit windows and on the outside are small, square putlog holes in which mason's poles were placed during construction.

©NTPL / Nick Meers

Unlike many large medieval barns which have two doors, the Barn has one. The doors in the gable walls were probably added in the 18th century.

Having been part of the Coleshill Estate since the 18th century, the Barn was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1956 by Ernest Cook.

Careful repairs have been carried out during the Barn's history. In the 19th century rafters were replaced, in the early 1960s all the roof slates were renewed, and in 2002 the stonework was extensively repaired.