Southmire Field Barn, Lowgill, Lancashire- Building Investigation

Proposals to develop Southmire Barn, Lowgill, Lancashire (NGR SD 65884 64520) were judged to affect the original character of the building so an archaeological condition was attached to the planning consent. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) produced a project design (Appendix 1) in response to a verbal brief issued by the Lancashire County Archaeological Services (LCAS), which was subsequently approved. OA North was commissioned to undertake an English Heritage Level-11 type building investigation of the field barn, prior to development works taking place.
The subsequent map regression analysis and building investigation at Southmire Barn has revealed that it dates to at least 1848, when it is illustrated on the earliest available Ordnance Survey map. It is apparent that the general layout of the barn has not altered greatly since its construction and the only major changes are the insertion of a loft floor, roof trusses and slight change of use of the shippon.
There appear to be four phases of building and alteration at Southmire Barn commencing with its construction sometime prior to 1848. Phase two includes the addition of the porch, which according to map evidence is also pre-1848. Phase three probably included insertion of the two trusses, which might date to the late nineteenth century. The final phase, dating to the twentieth century, comprises the blocking of the shippon door and insertion of the additional floor in the sink mow, and the addition of the concrete floors.
During the building investigation, no significant or unexpected archaeological or architectural features were revealed. Therefore, further building investigations and/or recording, were unlikely to provide any further information and no recommendations for further archaeological investigations were made.