Conservation & Heritage Issue 52 Summer/Autumn 2026 - Flipbook - Page 73
Above, Barn At Lanefoot Farm © Crosby Granger
“Different valleys might use stones or have less timber, so the
roof structures are constructed differently,” said Amy, adding
that the work highlighted not only the beauty of the buildings
but their practical importance to farming communities.
According to Julia Pritchard, whose family has farmed
the land for generations, preserving a group of listed farm
buildings dating back more than 200 years had become
increasingly urgent.
“It’s trying to keep those functional, practical bits of building
construction going and make sure you repair in a sensitive
way as well.”
As their condition deteriorated, a land agent suggested
exploring grant funding for restoration work, which led to
CGA’s involvement.
The surveys are feeding into funding applications to DEFRA,
with Crosby Granger Architects co-ordinating input from
ecologists, structural engineers and quantity surveyors to
help determine the scale and urgency of repairs.
The work required painstaking attention to traditional
building methods. One of the most challenging aspects was
the lime pointing, a specialist conservation technique that
required builders to learn historic skills.
Amy said the barns tell the story of how the Lake District
landscape evolved through farming and industry.
Preserving the barns’ historic character was just as important
as making them structurally sound. Original features were
carefully retained and reinstated wherever possible.
UNESCO recognition of World Heritage Status was not
about an unspoilt landscape but specifically pointed towards
the agricultural and industrial nature of the Lake District.
“They had some old-fashioned washstones,” Julia explained.
“When there was plague, people used to have to wash the
money. It’s things like that that they had to put back in.”
“Some people might think this is a charming untouched
landscape, but it’s so engineered by agriculture and industry,”
added Amy.
While conservation was the primary goal, the family also
wanted the barns to remain practical working buildings.
“It’s crucial and very pleasing that we’re helping save these
buildings from disappearing and being forgotten.”
“Predominantly, it was to preserve them,” said Julia. “But,
equally, the tenant farmer that’s in there now would want
them. They now contain hay, he’s putting sheep in them, and
we’ve got things that my mum Dorothy wants to store, like
old farm implements.”
Among them, in an earlier phase of work completed by
Crosby Granger Architects prior to the current project, were
barns at Thwaite Farm in the Howgill Fells.
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