The Rural Voice, 2000-11, Page 23amazing are the many examples of
stone barns dotting the landscape of
Wellington County. The Scottish
pioneers of the area brought their
stone -working skills from the "old
country" and took advantage of the
plentiful stone resources in the area.
Whether built from logs, stone, or
framed, any form of barn raising was
a craft. And with most things crafted
by hand, the builder is always
tempted to leave a personal mark.
People of Pennsylvania -German
origin commonly decorated their
barns with decorative cutouts and
motifs. A circa 1840 example of this,
hayloft door and all, now hangs in
the Richmond Hill Library as folk -
art. While they can easily go
unnoticed, such fine art can still be
found on barns today — such as the
cutout motifs on the barn of Ed
Haelzle of Bruce County.
Various explanations as to why
the geometric cutouts were
used have been suggested
including perhaps letting bad spirits
out (or good ones in), attracting barn
swallows, or simply enjoying the
look of them. As is the case with
many modern barns adorned with
painted stars, shamrocks, maple leafs,
or even happy-faces,•the old cutouts
also provide a bit of light when
inside the barn. Early pioneers where
quite used to all buildings, including
their homes, being dark on the inside
with only small open flames to light
the way. And while we flood our
lives with light today, no attempt to
increase lighting except for a small
cutout or window above a door or
under a sill was necessary to the
pioneer — especially in the barn.
The familiar two-level barn, either
on a bank or with an earthen ramp,
did not appear on most farms in
Ontario until the 1870s. For one, it
took most pioneer families a decade
or two to clear enough land and
accumulate enough livestock (or
wealth as it meant in those days) to
require a larger structure. Secondly, it
wasn't until the 1870s that the
predominantly wheat based
agriculture was replaced by mixed
farming practices, integrating
livestock and crop production.
By this time most barns were now
framed (and "raised" rather than
"built" due to the wider availability
of milled lumber. The two-story
The gambrel -roof barn, like
this one in Oxford County,
looks like a hybrid of the
earlier gable and Finnish
styles.
frame structures were built with stalls
below for livestock, while
implements (which were still small
and light -weight in comparison)
could be stored on the second level.
Some familiar layouts lived on, such
as the open doors on both sides of the
barn that could now be used to allow
horse drawn wagons to be driven
through.
The older roofs were usually a
straight gable or saltbox design.
These steep roof designs were
leftover from earlier European
thatched -roof designs when steep
straight slopes were required to
ensure rain and moisture quickly ran
off. Finnish settlers brought their
own distinctive style of steeply
sloping round roofs. As livestock and
corresponding hay production (and
thus need for hay storage) intensified,
barns moved to the classic Gambrel
roof design — looking like a hybrid
of the earlier gable and Finnish
styles. Round or octagonal barns
were first introduced by Shakers due
to religious beliefs — the circle being
a perfect geometric form and, it is
said, with no corners for spirits to
lurk. The octagonal adaptation made
it easier to construct and mount doors
flush to the walls. These structures
were copied by others right up to the
early part of this century due to some
of their functional advantages such as
the economy of having all the stalls
face inwards where livestock could
be fed from a central hayloft or
central silo.
From the inside of a barn one still
gets a glimpse of the ingenuity and
labour involved in their construction.
Huge squared beams, sometimes
with bark still intact, are lined with
the marks of the hewers axe. Beams
with mortise and tenon joints
fastened with wooden pegs or
[runnels (treenails) were actually
stronger than if they were fastened
with iron. The all -wood structure
continuously adjusted in unison to
changes in temperature and humidity,
while the flexible joints made the
structure more resilient to strain
during strong winds.
Millwork around the barn will
expose its individual character. Hand
wrought hinges and fascinating early
Batten or Sheathed doors are a
crafter's mark and can also help to
date a barn. One may also notice the
odd iron ring or wrought nail
appearing out of place — but
certainly once purposely placed for
hitching horses or hanging herbs or
tobacco to dry. And a barn can
literally tell a story, ours not only had
the age-old carved initials, but also
calculations of long -past barter
penciled beside the grain bin.
By the last half of the 19th
century paint was becoming
more accessible and the red
barn soon dominated. Why red? The
most logical explanation seems to be
economics — or, as mom would say:
"you take what comes". Red paint
was the easiest and cheapest to make,
and barns are big canvases. The red
colour was a result of the naturally
occurring iron oxides used in paint
making. Likewise, the colour of local
brick was no coincidence. Early Krick
varies from red to yellow across the
province, all depending on the
properties of the local clay used to
make them.
The well-maintained barn can 1.1.1
upwards of 200-300 years. Sortu• Ill
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