Background
- Listing: Grade 2
- Date of building: n/a
- Web: www.yarnertrust.co.uk/restoration/restoration.html
- Welcombe Barton Gallery
- Welcombe Barton Virtual Tour
The Barton is a smallholding and comprises a two-storey, cottage-style farmhouse surrounded by a barn, bake house, granary, pigsty, well house and other agricultural buildings. Each building is constructed of locally sourced slate and stone with pitched timber roofs. Different roofing materials have been employed over the years, but it is likely that the original material was straw thatch.
The current owner of the Barton is the Yarner Trust, an educational charity whose headquarters are based in the main manor house building. The Barton was gifted to the charity in 1979 as part of a working farm. Sadly the buildings have gone without repair for many years and urgently require restoration. The barn in particular is suffering from damp penetration and some cracking due to movement. Despite an ongoing process of restoration, several of the outbuildings cannot currently be used.
The charity intends to expand the Barton's role as a venue and accommodation for educational courses in ecology, organic farming, horticulture, agriculture, conservation, and other subjects relating to the preservation of the farmed environment. It is hoped that the restoration of the manor and barn will significantly expand the facilities offered by this valuable historic resource and enable it to generate enough income to pay for its future upkeep.
