The history of Cruck Barn

Cruck Barn

How it was built 

Previously known as the New Shipton Barn and dating back to 1424, we’re located in one of only seven cruck framed medieval buildings in Birmingham. The barn has five pairs of oak crucks which have been dendrochronologically dated to the spring or summer of 1425. All five pairs survive to this today and each pair was formed from a single tree. Although recently refurbished, many of the original features have been retained.

New Shippen means “New Dairy Farm”, and the lease of it was a valued possession for John Verney, being the Earl of Warwick’s Receiver General at the time. Most of the land lay between Penns Lane and Wylde Green Road, but the buildings were to the north of Wylde Green Road, fronting the open common (now Walmley Road).

Some time in the 17th century, the 120-acre farm became part of the New Hall estate. George Sacheverell of New Hall mortgaged New Shipton in 1673 to raise £1.000. In his will, George Sacheverell left “his Antient Messuage or Farmhouse called New Shipton now in the occupation of John Dawson” to his niece Katherine Floyer, wife of Ralph Floyer of Hints.

When George Sacheverell died in 1715, the buildings consisted of a dilapidated farmhouse and a huge barn. The Floyers were good landlords, and soon the old farmhouse had been replaced by an up-to-date brick building.