Traditional Farm Buildings

Historic farm buildings are an important contributor to the character of all but the most remote landscapes of England. Like the landscapes in which they sit, these traditional buildings provide a wide range of benefits to modern society:

• They hand down messages from our past, telling us how our ancestors farmed and lived, thought and built; 
• They are an essential, if often undervalued, contributor to local distinctiveness in the countryside and to the sense-of-place enjoyed by rural communities and visitors alike;
• They provide an important economic asset for rural businesses, both in their current state or through adaptive re-use.
• Their reuse can alleviate pressure to build on green-field land and reduce the demand for new buildings which may otherwise compromise the character of the countryside.   
• They are critical to our understanding of settlement patterns and the development of today’s countryside;
• They are irreplaceable repositories of local crafts, skills and techniques, in harmony with their surroundings and using traditional materials sometimes not available or too expensive for new building projects.   
• They represent an investment in materials and energy which can be sustained through conservation and careful re-use;
• They may provide important wildlife habitats.

Traditional farm buildings are under great pressure for change.  This pressure originates in the change of use experienced due to mechanisation and intensification of farming processes since the 19th century.  The result is the redundancy and disrepair of many historic structures or large numbers of conversions which are often insensitive to the architectural and historic interest of buildings and their landscape setting.  This pressure for change is likely to accelerate further over the next few years as global influences on farming increase.

In partnership with the former Countryside Agency (now part of Natural England), English Heritage has published Traditional Farm Buildings: Building the Evidence Base.  English Heritage is currently conducting further research to update this evidence which will be published shortly.

We have also published Farming and the Historic Landscape: Caring for Farm Buildings which provides advice to land managers and others on the maintenance and repair of these important structures.

Both of these publications are available on the HELM website at:

www.helm.org.uk