HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1977-04-21, Page 19r
tabrliurou
SECTION PAGES 14 8A SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY , APRIL 21, 1977
Beautiful old wooden barns
re fast disappearing
these trees supplied the massive
beams that were used to frame
large barns. As the century wore
on .and forests diminished,
builders had to use smaller
timbers and more intricate joints,
and bracing to obtain the
necessary strength.
The great wooden barns are no
longer built, and the skills that
made them possible are largely .
lost. But they remain a thing of
beauty and a link to Our past,
when hand tools and great: effort
could turn huge trees into simple
and strong, designs.
' Much will have been lost when
the last of thetn are gone.
in place with braces until a second
was standing, then the two were
linked usitig smaller, horizontal
beams. called "girts". , Other
bents could then ,be added. Once
the framing was done, an exterior
covering, usually of sawn timber
laid vertically, could be applied.
Large barns were often completed
and in use in less than three
weeks.
A CENTURY OF USE — This barn, on'the farm of Laurence and Edith Taylor,
R.R.5, Seaforth, was sold at an,auction Saturday. It brought $25. The barn was built
about 1875 by John and Agnes Leiper, Scottish immigrants who came to the area in
the 1860's. Trees for the massive timber framing were cut on the property. The
barn has an additional bay on the right and the resulting longer roof is known as a
"saltbox" roof. The foundation is of "rubble", or field stones of varying sizes.
. Barns -of this type are no longer used by most farmers, 'and are fast disappearing
.from the landscape. _(Expositor Photo)
barn at Upper Canada Village at
Morrisburg, Ontario.
TheEnglish, or Three bay barn,
is more common. It was usually
small and rectangular, 60 feet by
30 feet being a common size.
These barns had a pitched roof in
the ratio of 3 to 1, or 33 degrees,
and kables at each end. The
.angle of the roof was sometimes
steeper in areas of heavy snow
load-. Doors were placed in the
front and rear on the long side of
the barn 'to give access to horses
and machinery.
The frame structure of the
English barn, comes very close to
the ground. Sills and vertical
posts wereset on a low stone wall
just high enough to prevent the
wood from rotting, Bays on the
left and right of the centre drive
bay were used to store grain and
equipment. There was usually no
provision for keeping fivestock in
the English barn.
' (By Len Pizzey)
One of the most striking, and
rapidly . disappearing,
architectural links with our past,
is the great wooden barns that
stand in firiris throughout
Ontario. Sometimes gaily
painted, sometimes grey _and
weathered, they are a reminder of
the early days of Ontario agricul-
ture, when huge crops and mixed
farming made threshing and
storage a necessity.
Today, as farm operations grow
larger and , more specialized,
wooden barns are fast losing their
importance. Those that remain
seem fated to decay from wind,
weather and neglect. Hundreds
have given up their boards to
decorate the interiors of modern •
homes, and there seems little
chance that many will ,exist in a
few-decades:—
Barns are impressive from the
outside, often dominating the flat.
horizons of southern Ontario. But
it is only ,from the inside, where
the light of the sun plays on time
worn beams and the-golden hues
,,of hay fill the air with a soft, dusty
light, that barns can be
appreciated as things of
structural beauty.
Barns are almost as old as
- agriculture, but the great wooden
barns familiar to us all are of
recent date, usually less,-.than-150
Years old.-
Hand Hewn
Timbers in most Ontario barns
were hand hewn. Smaller posts
and braces were usually made
from sawn 'timber purchased at
local mills.
-The main bean-is rising to
support the rafters were normally
placed outside the line of the roof
peak, providing a long centre
corridor and an, aisle on either
side along the length of the barn.
Because of the similarity between
this framing design and the floor
plan of old churches, barns of this
type are said to use the
"Basilican Plan". The framing
provided large open spaces for
storage, combined with great
strength., The fact- that many
wooden barns have stood up to a.
century of use is a testa ment to
the soundness of the. design.
Most Found
The thirdtype of barn, and the
one most often, found in Ontario,
is the Pennsylvania barn. It is an
adaptation of•Northern Europsan
barns, where animals were kept
on the lower floor and one or two
upper floors contained the
farmer's lodging as well as. feed
and equipment. The barn was
usually-banked into the side of a
hill. In flat Ontario settings an
earth ramp gave access to the
upper floor,
Pennsylvania barns have a
stone or masonery wall of six or
seven feet inTheight and pens on
the lower floor for livestock. The
upper floor was used for
'threshing and for . storage of
.fodder. Most of the large and
impressive barns left in Ontario
are of this type. •
•,-
In nearly all cases, barns were. '-
,built without the aid of plans or
architects. They were a kind of
folk art, the techniques of
building being passed on from'
generation to generation as' the
,country grew.
Built on Ground
Three Types.,
INTERIOR FRAMING — Here, three" bents", framing units are seen in the
Taylor barn: The vertical beams support cross ties that span the width of the barn.
A. second beam is morticed to the cross'tlearid-rrses to support the rafters. The
beam on the upper right against the rafters is called a "purl in . It takes some of the
load of the roof via the purlin posts which are angled and joined to the cross ties.
The whole-structure is securely pegged and braced in both Planes. (Expositor Photo) a
North American barns can be
classified 'according to three
general types, though, as in
'nearly all buildings on the
continent, there is a good deal of
• variation and, adaptation within
the general categories.
The Dutch- barn was a modest
sized structure, square or ,Slightly u,
rectangular in plan. Wagon doors
were placed in both gable ends of
..the building, so machinery and
horses could drive right through.
roofs were usually two sided, but
were sometimes hipped, or four
sided, This type of barn was built '
early in• the settlement of North
America, and is not commonly
found in Ontario, though. a
variation of it is .preserved in
Hard to Date
—The technique of framing barns
changed little • throughout the
century, and barns are difficult to
date. The size of the' interior
timbers is usually the only clue to
a barns, age,
In the early days of Ontario, the
land was covered with forests of
huge tree's; often over-100 feet•
tall.—When cut and trimmed,
The whole barn; except for the
exterior .covering, was built on the
ground, under the direction- of a
master Carpenter, and thei, r aised
in a day in a "raising bee".
Neighbours of . ' the farmer
needing the barn would volunteer
their labour a day or two at a time
to-build the frame pieces. Trees
were stripped of • bark, then
flattened and slquared using
adze's and broad axes. The pieces
for each "bent", or unit of the
frame were cut and all the joints
careftilly cut. On the day of the
framing bee, frame members
were joined on the ground'using
hardwood pegs, then raised by
muscl e or horse power to a -vertical
position.
The first "bent" would be held
CORNER FRAMING — Hand hewn .beams, hay and
sunlight make barns things of beauty. The Intricate
framing and support structure Is-clearly seen here,
as are the marks of the hand tools used to square the
timbers: The tie beam, on the left runs across the
width of the barn and is held into the corner post by -a
mortice and tenon joint, which is pegged -with
hardwoOd. The corner post also supports the
"plate", or horizontal beam that provides a footing
for the rafters, to the right of the post.
(ExpoSitor Photo)
MUSIC'S PRICE $199.
Retail Price 214L95
Under-the-Dash Cassette car stereo
with the New FM Supertuner
Separate Base &Treble Control
8 Watts RMS Power
No More•than 0,3% WRMS -
Wow & Flutter
Crinvelene, Trevira,` Double-Knits, Se4r6
suckers, Plain And Printed Polyester
Crepe, Cottons, Broadcloth and ,
denims.
I'Ve,handle only first quality materials.—
Just Arrived'
Complete Line of Sewing Aceespiories
J•ti
.16 Ontatio gtreet, r n -
BOOKS .A.NiligTATIONERY STORE
WHERE SHOPPING IS A PLEASURE
OPEN SPACE * The inside of wooden barns often
*' resembles cathedrals, with a centre nave,, aisles
down each side, and huge open spaces filled with
• sunlight. The support structure, seen here is typical
of framing techniques. In most wooden barns. A
vertical beafn--supports cross ties . The lower ties are
.morticed Into the post and- are pegged, while the
upper cross tie IS in one piece. Since the pressure on
this upper joint is doWnward, or in compression, it
would not have to be pegged. The smaller, braes
strengthen the structure against the pressure of the
wind an the .sides of the barn. "Purling" supporting
the,rafters part way along their length can also be
ga6hat upper right arid -left. (Expositor Photo)
IA,