Iconic thatched roof to be repaired as part of £200k restoration of historic barn in Whiston, Rotherham

Yorkshire’s oldest surviving agricultural building is set to undergo £200,000 worth of repairs to restore its iconic thatched roof.

Whiston manorial barn is one of the oldest timber-framed structures in the UK, having been part of a working farm since the 13th century. 

According to the Whiston Heritage Society, the building was used regularly as a barn for much of its life as part of a working farm.

When the farm was sold in 1973 the barn was left to ruin and became at serious risk of collapsing or being destroyed.

Thankfully, the barn was saved when it was purchased by Whiston Parish Council in 1984 and was turned into an events and entertainment space for the people of the village.

Now, almost 40 years after the restoration, the entire roof will need replacing to ensure the barn can continue to be used for events and to generate income for the village.

Tony Griffin, head of the parish council and chair of the Whiston Heritage Society, has said the total cost of refurbishing the building could reach up to £200,000.

He said: “People like the fact we have a distinctive and very large building, and you have to go a very long way to find another building like it.

“What people don't think about is that thatched roofs have a limited life span and the availability of the material they need is not what it might have been in the past,” he added.

Work on the first part of the roof will begin on 9 November at a cost of £50,000, funded through a grant from the Pilgrim’s Trust and money from a special fund the parish council created in anticipation of the repairs.

Less pressing repairs will then be done on the rest of the roof, with the council hoping to fully restore it within eight years.

The repairs are being done in phases to minimise impact on the barn, which currently operates as a private wedding venue and events space.

Mr Griffin said: “For a limited period people won't be able to use it for weddings, and the length of the period depends a little bit on the weather.”

“Most weekends there seems to be a wedding on. If it didn't have that commercial use it's hard to know what you'd do with a space like that so it’s much nicer to see it being used,” he added.

Mr Griffin is excited to get the project started and to repair the barn to its former glory.

He said: “It’s just maintenance but it’s an opportunity to talk about something that lots of people have for years taken for granted.

“They go past it frequently and probably forget that it's so special a building.”