Montjoy Barn

Montjoy Barn. circa 1798. , Montjoy Barn is a hand-hewn oak and chestnut English wheat barn dating to 1798, and the only surviving barn of this type in Maryland. It was moved here in 2007 from a property in Ellicott City that was slated for development. Montjoy is a timber frame barn with heavy, hand-hewn timbers. Posts, beams and braces are held together by wooden pegs pounded into holes through the mortise and tendon joints. Prior to the erection of the frame, the joints were assigned numerals, known as marriage marks, that indicate which pieces were to be joined or "married.", The barn served many purposes over the years. It was likely first used as an English wheat barn. Wheat was beaten with a threshing flail, breaking the grain and separating the seed from the husks. Then, on a windy day, the huge barn doors were opened and the threshed grain was scooped up in a sieve and tossed into the air. Unwanted chaff was carried away by the wind while the heavier grain fell back into the tray., Mountjoy Barn was rebuilt onsite in 2007.