Field barn on Occupation Road, Muker

Description

Field barn on Occupation Road, Muker MYD36689 (c) YDNPA, 2023

This is an unusual barn in that it has a date stone over one of its doors. The last number is missing, but what remains dates the barn’s construction to sometime between 1800 and 1809. This places it near the start of the widescale process of replacing timber barns with stone ones in the Yorkshire Dales in the 19th century. In construction, this barn is typical of the small stone field barns scattered around the hay meadows of this part of Swaledale. Over the winter, cattle were housed in the shippon below while their food, hay from the surrounding fields, was stored in the mew alongside and also in the loft above. Muck from the cows was spread on the fields as fertilizer in the spring. This barn has been recently restored with the aid of a grant from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.