Tony and Christine Harding

Our volunteer team are the heart and soul of the Barn. Without their passion, dedication, expertise, and experience, we wouldn’t be in the fortunate position we’re in today. As the building phase nears completion, we’ve been speaking to volunteers who have been involved in the project over the years to find out how the Barn has changed, and what it’s been like to volunteer here.

Our first recording is with Tony and Christine Harding who have been involved in the Barn since 2000. They talk about the evolution of the Barn and those early volunteer activities including “scrub bashing”.

We’ll publish more edited interviews over the coming weeks on this Latest News page.

A very Happy New Year from all of us at Winterbourne Medieval Barn.

New floor in the main Barn

2020 is going to be a big year for us as we get ready to open our Barn doors once again later in the year. Our building works are due for completion in the Spring and the site is really starting to take shape.

In the Main Barn a new underfloor heating system has been laid at one end with a new floor going in on top. Aside from a clean up and a few coats of lime wash, not much else has been done in the main part of the Barn.

It’s around the rest of the site that the main striking transformations are taking place. The old cow byres are shaping up to look like wonderful artisanal workspaces. These will be available to rent from the Spring.

Inside the cow byre spaces

External view of the cow byres

Elsewhere, the old dilapidated West Barn is looking very different having been initially gutted and then split into two levels with new seminar rooms, a kitchen, and toilet facilities. New glass doors have been added on the North side to make a light and airy entrance hall.

Inside one room of the West Barn

External view of the West Barn

The interpretation corridor is now weather tight. This space links the Main and West Barn to allow people to travel between both without having the need to go out of doors. It will also contain our interpretation display about the history of the Barn and surrounding area.

Interpretation Corridor

Into the West Barn

When we re-open later this year, we’ll be back with our full programme of events including music, film, and theatre performances. We’ll be a local learning centre with schools able to visit for workshops about life in the past, as well as adult learning opportunities with the continuation of regular craft workshops, and our lecture series. The Barn and seminar rooms will be available to hire for a range of celebration events, conferences, and meetings.

Keep an eye on our social media pages for regular Barn updates. We look forward to welcoming you back at the Barn very soon!

Thanks to Ryan from Corbel Construction for the site photographs.

We’re well into the build now, just over the half way mark and the works are moving at quite the pace!

Inside the main Barn, underfloor heating is starting to go in at one end which should help to take the chill off if you’re watching a performance, and a coat of lime wash has been added to the walls.

The Main Barn

Around the site elsewhere, the West Barn which was dilapidated has been transformed. The upstairs floor has gone in, and partition walls are going up to mark out what will be seminar rooms, a kitchen, and new toilets. Work has also begun on the new interpretation gallery which will link the main Barn to the West Barn so you’ll be able to access both without going outdoors.

Inside the West Barn

The New Interpretation Gallery

The extension to the cow byres is in place, and the roof tiles are now on. The doors are being hung and work is continuing inside to make them artisan workshop spaces.

Cow Byres

Cow Byres

We took part in Heritage Open Days again this year with a Cartshed drop in over the weekend where you could find out the latest Barn news and listen to some of our volunteer stories and memories of the Barn. We also ran a mosaic taster session where participants could mosaic their own plant pot to take home, and we had a behind the scenes hard hat tour of the building works.

If you weren’t able to join us over the weekend but are interested to know what’s been happening at the Barn this year and what’s in store for the future, take a look at our latest presentation by clicking the button below.

Barn Slides HOD 2019

Keep an eye on the website as we’ll be adding a page for our Barn Sounds project where you can listen to our volunteers talking about life at the Barn past and present.

Mosaic Taster Workshop

Volunteer Hard Hat Tour

The summer might feel like it’s on hold, but building work at the Barn certainly isn’t!

With demolitions and groundworks having taken place, the Corbel team have turned their attentions to the West Barn at the far end of the site. What once was a dark, pokey space with breeze blocked rooms is now a bright open space. Scaffolding has been erected to enable repair works to the roof. Some of the windows are being blocked up, and bat roosts and bird boxes have been put up to minimise any impact to wildlife.

Work on the cow byres is progressing well with preparations having been made for a large additional workshop unit on the end of the existing byres. An old french drain was found under the main grassy area onsite which explains why water was always quick to soak away after heavy rain.

Speaking of heavy rain, with the onset of relentless bad weather over the past couple of weeks, Corbel moved inside to do some jobs on the main Barn including giving the whole space a good clean (goodbye cobwebs!), and applying a coat of limewash to the walls.

Walking around on the volunteer hard hat tour, we started to get a sense of how the site will look and feel upon completion next Spring. Although we won’t be running large scale events at the Barn site until we re-open, there’s still plenty going on. See our events page for the latest information.