English barn

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The English barn, or three bay barn, is a barn style that was most popular in the northeast region of the United States.[1] New barns in this style were constructed for over a century, from the 1770s through the 1900s.[2]

[edit] Design

The early American pioneers brought with them a barn design inherited from the first colonists. An average English barn measured thirty feet by forty feet and had a large double wagon door on its lateral side and unpainted vertical boards covering the walls. English barns were normally without a basement and stood on level ground. The interior of the barns were characterized by a center driveway which acted as a threshing floor, similar to the breezeway of a crib barn. The double doors generally opened onto the center drive which divided the building into two separate areas, one for hay and grain storage and the other for livestock.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Auer, Michael J. The Preservation of Historic Barns, Preservation Briefs, National Park Service, first published October 1989. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  2. ^ a b Historic Barn Types, Taking Care of Your Old Barn, University of Vermont, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. Retrieved 7 February 2007.