Update from the Barn

The team have met to discuss COVID-19 and the impact that has on our future plans. We have made the difficult decision to postpone all of our events until the end of June 2020. The health and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, and the community comes first and we don’t want to put anyone at a greater risk of becoming unwell. We will review the situation at the end of April when we hope to be able to start booking and confirming future event dates.

We have suspended all event ticket sales for the time being. All current ticket holders have already been contacted directly. We will be aiming to reschedule all events and tickets will remain valid for the new date. Once we’re confident we can re-open, we’ll transfer tickets and will reinstate ticket sales.

In happier news, we welcome a new member of staff, Hazel, who takes up the role of Business and Development Manager. Barn business will not grind to a halt as the team will be planning educational activities, rescheduling events, and making plans for the rest of the year.

We’re so looking forward to being able to properly welcome visitors to the new improved Barn site not too far in the future.

Take care of yourselves and we shall see you soon.

Best Wishes,
Jasmine

Applications are now closed

Are you looking for a new challenge where you can use your commercial and operational skills working in an exciting heritage redevelopment project?

Winterbourne Medieval Barn is preparing to re-open its doors to the public in Spring 2020 and we need your skills to help deliver our vision for the future.

Please click on the following links to download documents.

1. Job Advertisement
2. Applicant Letter
3. Job Description
4. Application Form
5. Equal Opportunities Form
6. Winterbourne Barn Information

Please download, complete, and return the Application and Equal Opportunities Form.

For an informal conversation about this role, please email suefox42@btinternet.com and include your contact number and availability.

The closing date for this role is 9.00am on Monday 9th December 2019 with interviews taking place on Monday 6th January 2020.

The Big Build

Work is progressing well on the Barn site, despite some very wet weather in June. There is scaffolding everywhere!  From the outside many changes are obvious, including the re-roofing of the West Barn, and the start to the cow byres’ extension to provide an additional workshop unit.  

The scale of the internal work can only be seen on an official ‘Hard Hat’ tour like the recent one for barn volunteers pictured above. The West Barn has been completely gutted and is full of scaffolding and props while the structure is made safe.  The insides of the Medieval Barn and South Barn have been cleaned, and new limewash is being applied – you can certainly see where the builders have got to.  Whitened walls are making each space lighter and brighter, and the barn rafters look even more stunning now that they have been ‘relieved’ of all their cobwebs and dust. 

If you would like to see for yourself, there is a Hard Hat tour on 17 September as part of the Heritage Open Days – it is free but spaces are limited and pre-booking is essential.

What’s On 

The programme of events for the rest of 2019 has now been announced and new leaflets are available.  All details are on the website and online bookings can be made now at  www.ticketsource.co.uk  . Numbers are limited by the space we currently have available on site, and so early booking is advised.  There are still a few tickets available for the July events but you will need to book very soon.  To allow more space, the West Gallery Music day in July and the Male Voice concert in August will be held in St Michael’s Church nextdoor to the Barn.

Coming up in 2019:

Fun summer clubs for children – archaeology or art activities

Workshops – Wine-tasting, Singing, Basket-weaving, Mosaics, Wet Felting, Christmas fabric wreath

Talks – Newport Medieval Ship, Apples, Bees and Honey, Female Brewers in History, and Christmas plants

A summer concert from Bristol Male Voice Choir and the Frampton Shantymen

Heritage Open Days – see how the building work is going, plus craft activities for children

Workshops at Hallowe’en and Advent for children and families to make seasonal things

And in February 2020 there will be another Apple-grafting workshop

We’re approaching the end of April and the recent glorious weather has been bathing the Barn grounds in spring sunshine. From our position in the Cartshed, the view is starting to look very different already. Corbel Conservation have moved onto site, the cider press and mill stone have been dismantled and moved into storage, and demolition work is well and truly underway.

The South Range

Donning a hard hat and looking around with the site manager, it’s easy to see where the builders have been. Stepping into the main Barn, very little has changed. However, as you round the corner to the South range, the view opens out. What was the sad looking lean-to adjacent to the kitchen garden has been demolished to slab level. From there entering the West Barn, what was a dark rabbit warren of breeze block rooms, has now been gutted to reveal a large, bright space. On the North range, another lean-to has been demolished, exposing the side wall of the main Barn.

Demolition of the North Lean-To

Inside of the West Barn

As the demolition progresses, Corbel are cleaning and storing stone materials that can be repurposed elsewhere. This is an approach that will continue throughout the build with an emphasis on reusing and recycling.

We’ll be writing a monthly building update so do keep coming back to check on the progress. We’ll also introduce you to different tradespeople with a closer look at some of the specialist techniques used in renovation. And of course, although the main site is closed, we are still running small events in our Cartshed so check our events page for the latest information.