No 8                                 The Old Barn

Barns in this location are on a map dated 1750.  Many people in the village can remember when this was part of a working farm and pigs lived in what now is a garage.  The site had a number of farm buildings.  It and the adjacent Rectory Farm were bought in 1972 by John Vale , a local surveyor, and his mother.  They built Orchard House (off Chapel lane) for resale and partially converted the main barn into living accommodation for themselves. Many of the buildings were demolished.  The Vales planned to move into Rectory Farmhouse when the sitting tenant moved away.  Unfortunately John Vale died unexpectedly in his sleep before they could make that move.  Mrs Vale continued to live in The Old Barn alone until she moved into sheltered accommodation in 1987.

She died in the year 2000. The barn was bought by its present owner in 1987 and the renovation was completed by Foulgers – the local builders.

The barn has some very fine brickwork on the gable ends; this is known as the “waterfall”design.  All restoration work has tried to use reclaimed materials and much of the original restoration used materials brought from Framingham Earl Old Hall.