Barn again – from ruin to rural idyll

But the historical facts have deepened the mystery over why Pasture Barn, near Lockton, was built and why it was blessed with its own name and a place on local maps. The answers are locked away in the past, but at least the future of the 300 year-old building is secure thanks to farmer James Todd and his wife Joanne.

The couple have rescued the barn and given it a new life as holiday home. "We've no idea why it was built, but it's certainly unusual for this area," says James. "My parents bought the farm 22 years ago and at first we let the cows go in the field barn, but over the years it became more dilapidated. It rained in and the floor was flooded.

"We didn't need it for the farm and we couldn't justify spending money on repairing it for no good reason other than for it to just be there."

Building his own home next to the original farmhouse, which is occupied by his parents, was the catalyst for the barn project. "I enjoyed the building work. It's different to farming and there's a whole new terminology to learn, which I found interesting," says James, who helps to run the family's 250 acre beef farm.

"I kept driving past the barn and thinking it was going to fall down. The only option was to use it as a holiday home and when I approached the national park they were supportive and very helpful."

Planning permission wasn't a problem as the national park authority recognised that the alternative for the historic agricultural property was rack and ruin. It also fit neatly into the farm diversification category, especially as the Todds had reduced their herd of beef suckler cows.

It sits a few fields away and makes a pleasant walk from the Todd's home. Its proximity was a bonus for James who spent many working days and much of his spare time labouring on the build. "We started in spring which was a good time as the farm work isn't as intense then. In winter there's a lot more to do on the farm with cows to feed and defrosting pipes.

"So I'd work all day, come home for tea, see the children and then go back down to the barn," says James, who installed insulation, drains and flooring.

Joanne juggled work, caring for children Kyle, 15, Emma, 10, Victoria, nine and Anna, two, with keeping the home fires burning and planning the dcor for the project.

The starting point was making the barn watertight, which meant using reclaimed stone pointed with traditional lime mortar. The pantile roof was replaced, a concrete floor laid along with RSJs to hold the building and its new first floor together.

Inside, block walls were created with insulation between them and the old stone. The interior space on the ground floor is largely open plan save for a twin bedroom at the side. The kitchen dining area leads to the living space, which is filled with natural light from the glazing covering the original barn opening. A newly-created first floor features a spectacular master bedroom and a bathroom. James and Joanne were keen to retain original features and managed to save the old timbers, which were weather beaten with woodworm scars. The exposed trusses and the beams, which were wire brushed and oiled, are exposed as is the stone wall in the kitchen.

Window sills were made from an old stone water table and internal doors made bespoke from old smoked pine.

Joanne did all the painting and designed the interior, which is simple, modern and practical with wood and stone flooring downstairs and tasteful furniture and furnishings from Next and Dunelm. The renovation

took just over a year and was completed last July with the minimum of fuss, unlike many of the self-builds we see on TV shows. Down-to-earth James took a pragmatic approach and is not a man who indulges in hissy fits or what he calls "silliness".

"It wouldn't have made good TV. I knew that renovating an old building wouldn't be completely straight-forward so we didn't have a set budget. We were careful but there was no pressure there. There were no fights with planners and I appreciated their input and the building control officer's common sense approach."

He and Joanne are now learning to be landlords. "We wondered whether we'd have to get big screen TVs and internet access but the feedback was that guests don't want that. They come to enjoy the countryside and here is secluded and safe for children and all the visitors mention the views."

Pasture Barn is in walking distance of Dalby Forest, with views over miles of countryside, and is minutes from the main Pickering to Whitby road.

"It's very satisfying to read those comments about the barn in the visitor book, but my way of thinking is that we saved its life," says James.

Pasture Barn costs from 280 to 545 a week. Tel: 01751 460337

Useful contacts: S Taylor and Sons, Pickering, joiners and joinery manufacturers tel. 01751 472143

John Martindale at Jewsons, Pickering, for building supplies, tel. 01751 476565

M. Fenby, Whitby, for reclaimed stone and timber, tel. 01947 880702

Historic farming methods left legacy of unwanted barns

Edward Freedman, building conservation officer for the North York Moors National Park explains the field barn picture. "In the Yorkshire Dales, field barns are numerous because animals, fodder and hay from the fields needed to be over-wintered on site. It is due to the fact that many farmers farmed on a small scale with fields scattered across the landscape, often at some distance from their village homes. This was a consequence of a system of inheritance – called partible inheritance – which split landholdings between a number of heirs, rather than the more common system of primogeniture, which allowed landholdings to pass to the eldest son and therefore remain in one piece.

"To ensure a fair distribution of the best land, small-scale Dales farmers may have inherited fields that were far apart rather than in a block. This meant that bringing animals back to a single farmstead in the winter was not viable – hence the construction of numerous field barns.

"Moors farms tend to be more extensive loose courtyard farms which would house animals, hay and fodder on site. Where field barns do exist, they tend to be fairly close to the farmstead rather than very isolated, and sometimes were built as threshing barns, with horse-engine houses, for onsite processing of the wheat."