ABSTRACT
The Barn in Kenilworth Abbey Fields has been an agricultural building in the recent past, but in the middle ages it stood in the outer court of Kenilworth Priory, later Abbey. This paper analyses for the first time the construction history of this interesting building, and demonstrates through a combination of documentary evidence and the study of masons’ marks that it dates to the 14th century. The original function of the Barn is shown to be connected with the prior’s guest-hall, but the presence of various scribings on the walls and floor suggest that it also had a later use as a tracing-house and workshop for stonemasons.
