Barn with Palace Roof Restored
One of the jewels of English vernacular architecture, the Grade I listed grand barn with hammerbeam roof at a forgotten royal country house Westenhanger Castle in Kent, has been restored to its former glory. This follows a two-and-a-half-year conservation project largely funded by a £500,000 English Heritage grant.
The restoration of the barn, which dates from around 1580, is the latest milestone in a 12-year partnership between English Heritage and Westenhanger's owners, the Forge family. As well as advice, English Heritage has given almost £2 million of repair grants in total.
Westenhanger Castle originates as a Saxon manor but the major visible remains belong to a 14th century moated castle that was subsequently converted into a major country house of sufficient grandeur for it to have been owned and stayed in by first Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The house transferred to her collector of import taxes, Customer Smythe, the builder of the barn. Smythe's role made him very wealthy and was fined by Elizabeth for withholding too great a proportion of her revenues. The money he accrued from this and other ventures, not all of them legitimate, he used to embellish his properties in extravagant style.
Today Westenhanger barn is one of two grade I listed barns in England with a hammerbeam roof. They are usually normally found in grand palaces such as Westminster Hall, Hampton Court Palace and Eltham Palace.
In the early 18th century, this once great house fell on hard times and much of it was demolished. The presence of a large house fit for a king or queen was almost wholly forgotten. The Forge family acquired Westenhanger Castle from the Ministry of Transport in November 1996 and the barns from Folkestone Racecourse in 2003, reuniting the castle and the architecturally-significant barns in one ownership. The Smythe barn had suffered substantial damage to the roof in the 1987 hurricane and continued to deteriorate further as it was exposed to the weather. As well as restoring the barn, the family have repaired the manor house which is grade I listed and have established the site as open to the public and available for hire for hospitality.
English Heritage Chief Executive Simon Thurley said: "I am delighted that we have been able to help save this cathedral of rural architecture for the nation and remove it from our Heritage at Risk register. This is an awe-inspiring space. Standing inside it is like being in one of the greatest cathedrals in England. Hammerbeam roofs are an impressive technical achievement and it is extraordinary to find one in the middle of rural Kent and now in such magnificent condition. The Forge family should be congratulated for all that they have done and are doing to bring Westenhanger back to life and open it to the public to enjoy."
Thomas 'Customer' Smythe, lived at Westenhanger Castle near Hythe from 1552 to 1591. He spared no expense in the barn's construction and even used imported Caen stone from Normandy for the windows, doors and plinth. The barn has two pairs of full height wagon doors and spans the East Stour stream by means of a well-constructed vault.
The restoration project has been a family affair, led by the Managing Director of G. Forge Ltd, John Forge, who is the son of the owner of the castle and is skilled in building conservation. His team consisted of Peter Massey, a framework carpenter with specialist knowledge of medieval buildings and stonemason Martin Horne. Peter Kendall of English Heritage has helped the project from the start.
John Forge said: "There are no books of instruction on how to dismantle medieval timbers so it was a delicate and difficult task. By supporting a section of the roof, it was possible to drive out the joint pegs piece by piece. It was important not to damage the intricate jointing as we had assured English Heritage we would reuse 90% of the original fabric."
There were more than 1,000 oak pieces weighing from between half a ton down to 20 pounds which all needed to be labelled, removed, re-made and reconstructed with new peg fixings. The roof also had to be covered – a big job requiring 58,000 tiles and 5 ½ miles of riven oak battens.
The castle is open to the public from May to September on Tuesdays. Guided tours are given by the castle's owners and historians, and people have the opportunity to explore the castle, otherwise only open to private groups.
For more information on Westenhanger Castle visit: www.westenhangercastle.co.uk
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