BCD 2017

10 T H E B U I L D I N G C O N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C T O R Y 2 0 1 7 BARNS Use, reuse and misconceptions BOB EDWARDS M OST PROFESSIONALS working in building conservation will have at one time or another been involved in the conversion of farm buildings, particularly barns. Wherever they work, conservation professionals should be familiar with the local variations in form, such as the large threshing barns of the south east and East Anglia, or bank barns in the north west, which were built into the hillside so they could be accessed from two levels. A variation on the bank barn can also be found in the south west where crop storage and threshing was combined with cattle housing. In some areas where there was extensive rebuilding of farmsteads in the mid- to late 19th century, the barn was reduced to little more than a room in a range where machinery was used to thresh the grain crops. Although there is often great interest in farm buildings, there can also be a surprising lack of awareness and understanding of the development and features of traditional farm buildings. From experience, there is sometimes a rather simplistic view of what a barn was and how it should be converted. A farmer in the Welsh Marches lamented to a heritage consultant the difficulty he had with his local conservation officer over the conversion of his barn. He had wanted more first floor space and windows to the upper storey, but this had not been permitted and he had been encouraged to use a large existing opening for light. The heritage consultant examined the building, then in the process of being converted, and quickly identified it as a nationally rare example of a 17th-century timber-framed cow house. The building would have been floored end to end and with a series of pitching doors along the front elevation, and had been converted for crop storage by removing the loft floor. Originally, the large opening would not have existed, and had been created more recently to allow machinery to access the building. Through insufficient assessment and understanding of the origins of the building (and the fault for this lies with all parties involved) we now have a 17th-century cow house converted to residential use but made to look like a threshing barn. From any perspective this has to be regarded as a poor outcome which could easily have been avoided. Historic England’s farmsteads and landscape character statements, which have already been published for large parts of the country (and are soon to be completed), aim to give an overview of the various building types and their features that might be expected in a particular area. Awareness of what one might find on a farmstead is important – not knowing what to look for obviously makes finding it problematic. This article will focus on threshing barns, examining some of the smaller features of their construction and evidence for original uses or reuse which is not always identified and thus may not be considered in assessments of significance or proposals for conversion. It is hoped that this brief study will make clear that more frequent use should be made of recording of buildings prior to conversion, so that whether these features are concealed or removed by the development, a publicly accessible record will be available for present and future researchers. A Grade II listed barn in West Felton, Shropshire, currently undergoing residential conversion