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The East Granby
            
Historical Society

 

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 Barn Book Glossary

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Bank Barn  
A barn built into a hill so that there is ground access at two levels.  
Batten
 
A narrow board used to cover gaps between siding boards or sheathing; also used to brace and stiffen boards joined edge-to-edge as in a batten door.  
Beam
 
One of the principal horizontal timbers in a wood-framed building.  Its primary function is to carry transverse loads such as floor joists or rafters.  
Box stall
 
A walled enclosure in which an animal can move about un tethered.  
Bracket
 
Architectural support found under eaves or other overhangs.  
Broadax
 
An ax with a wide, flat head and comparatively short handle.
Broadleaf tobacco
 
Any tobacco with broad leaves.  In East Granby it was grown in open fields in contrast to shade tobacco that was grown under cloth.  
Chamfer
 
A beveled edge created by slicing off the square edge or corner of anything square.  
Collar beam
 
A horizontal board that connects opposite rafters to stiffen the roof frame.  
Comfort stall
 
A stall where a cow is restrained by a collar chained to posts.  This gives the cow more freedom to move its head than it has in a stanchion.  
Cribber
 
A horse that chews wood.  
Eaves
 
That portion of the roof which projects beyond the walls.  
Feed door
 
A hinged or sliding door covering an opening through which feed is passed into an animal's stall.  
Fodder
 
Coarse food for cattle, horses, sheep, etc., such as cornstalks and hay.   
Free stall
 
A stall in a barn where a cow may rest unrestrained between feedings and milkings.  Segregation from adjacent stalls is often by a single curved pipe railing.  
Gable
 
The triangular end of an exterior wall in a building with a ridged roof.  
Gambrel roof
A roof having a double slope on two sides of a building.
Girt

A horizontal beam that receives the ends of floor joists and summers in timber framing.
Grappling fork

A mechanically operated devise for lifting or moving hay.
Hay bay (hayloft, haymow)

The place in a barn where hay is stored.
Hay door (hay-loading door)

A door near the top of a barn through which hay is loaded into the loft.
Hay drop

An opening through which hay is dropped, usually to the floor below.
Hay hood

An extension of the ridge of a barn roof which protects or supports pulley attachments used to load hay into the loft.
Hip roof

A roof formed by four pitched roof surfaces.
Joists

Any of the parallel timbers that hold up the planks of a floor or the laths of a ceiling.
King post

A vertical supporting post between the apex of a triangular truss and the base, or tie beam, as at the ridge of a roof.
Lean-to

A small addition with a single-pitched roof.
Lintel

A beam with its ends resting on two posts, often over a wall opening such as a window or door.
Mechanical watering bowl

A shallow, round metal bowl at the head of a milking station in a barn.  Water is dispensed into the bowl when triggered by a cow's muzzle.

 

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  Milk house (milk room)
The area where milk is kept cold until it is sent to a dairy.
Milking parlor

In newer barns, a separate room where cows are brought to be milked mechanically
Milking station

A stall in a barn where individual cows are milked.
Mortise

A hole or recess cut in a piece of wood to receive a projecting part of another piece of wood that has been shaped to fit into it.
New England Barn

A three-bay barn with wagon doors at both ends of the central bay.  It is sometimes called a Connecticut barn.
Pirn

Anything like a reel, as the reel of a fishing rod or a mill wheel. 
Plank
Frame
An early style of house or barn frame in which 11/4" - 2" thick oak planks, 12" - 15" wide were placed flat-sided about 2" apart into a rabbet on the exterior of the sill and plate.  These plank studs extended two stories and were attached to the sill, girt and plate with oak pins.  Exterior siding was attached to these planks.
Plate

A beam capping the exterior posts or studs to support the rafters.
Purlin

A timber laid horizontally to support the common rafters of a roof.
Queen post

Either of a pair of vertical posts set between the rafters and the base, or tie beam, of a truss at equal distances from the apex.
Rafter

Any of the boards that slope from the ridge of a roof to the eaves and serve to support the roof.
Ridgepole

The horizontal timber or beam at the ridge of a roof against which the upper ends of the rafters are set.
Shade Tobacco

Tobacco grown under cloth as compared with tobacco that is grown in a open field.
Silage Bunker

An outdoor walled enclosure, open at one or both ends, in which silage is stored.
Stall

A compartment in a stable for one animal.
Stanchion

One of a pair of linked upright bars that fit behind a cow's head to confine it in a stall.
Strap hinge

A long metal strap with a sleeve at one end for a hinge pin.  The strap is attached to an object, usually a door, at points along its length.
 
Strut

A brace under compression used to strengthen a framework.
Stud

Any of a number of upright pieces in the walls of a building to which panels, siding,
laths, etc. are nailed
Tack room

A room near a stable in which a horse's equipment such as saddles, bridles, etc.
is kept.
Tenon

A projection on the end of a piece of wood that has been cut to fit snugly into a socket or mortise in another.
Threshing floor

A floor or ground space for threshing or treading out grain, often the middle bay of the barn.
Threshing wall

A wall, usually about three feet tall, between the threshing floor and an adjacent bay.
Tongue and groove

A joint in which a tongue or tenon in one board fits exactly into a groove in another.
Trolley

A wheeled apparatus that rolls on an overhead rail or track and from which is suspended a grappling fork, for example.
Truss
A rigid framework of beams, girders, struts, bars, etc. for supporting a roof, bridge, etc.
Wainscoting

A wood paneling on interior walls, usually less than the height of the room.
Wind eyes

Small openings into the loft of a barn that may have been for ventilation.  

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M. J. Patitucci