Paston Great Barn
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Paston Great Barn is a medieval barn near Paston Hall on the southeast edge of the village of Paston in northeast
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, owned by the North Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust. Dating from 1581, the building has a long association with the
Paston family The ''Paston Letters'' is a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impor ...
. A
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
and a grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, the barn is the centre of a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Nature Reserve and a
Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...
. It is in the Norfolk Coast
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
.


The barn

The barn is a long, low building, with a thatched roof, and walls built of brick,
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
and
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, with large doors with timber lintels. The barn was commissioned by Sir William Paston III as a grain store and threshing barn. It is approximately long, wide and high. It has been granted Grade II* listed building status by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
due to its architectural and historical importance. There are three long Victorian wings on the eastern side of the barn, added to house cattle. Unusually for a barn it has two date stones, one over an entrance and one in a gable end. Additionally, a plaque over the south door records: "THE BILDING OF THIS BEARNE IS Bl SIR W PASTON KNIGHTE". The barn and its immediate surroundings was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest by
English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environmen ...
in 1999, and from April 2005, the site has also been designated as a Special Area of Conservation. In 2002, English Nature, took on a 50-year lease of the barn. There is currently no public access into the barn, partly in order to minimise disturbance to the bats, although some educational interpretation at the site is being considered for the future.


Bats

The barn is one of only six known maternity roosts in Britain for the
barbastelle ''Barbastella'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats. There are seven extant species in this genus and one only known from fossil remains. Species The genus consists of the following species: * ''Barbastella barbastellus'' – western barbastelle ...
bat, a species which is rare at a European scale, and it is the only roost in a building. The colony was discovered in 1996. The barbastelles mostly roost in large crevices in timber lintels over the barn doors. Their feeding grounds are believed to include nearby coastal cliffs. Breeding colonies of
Natterer's bat Natterer's bat (''Myotis nattereri'') is a European vespertilionid bat with pale wings. It has brown fur tending to greyish-white on its underside. It is found across most of the continent of Europe, parts of the Near East and North Africa. It fe ...
(''Myotis nattereri''),
brown long-eared bat The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was o ...
(''Plecotus auritus'') and
common pipistrelle The common pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus pipistrellus'') is a small pipistrelle microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and may extend into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the Brit ...
(''Pipistrellus pipistrellus'') also inhabit the barn.


References


External links


BBC News coverage of the leasing of the barn by English Nature
{{SSSIs Norfolk Scheduled monuments in Norfolk Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Norfolk Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1999 Special Areas of Conservation in England Barns in England Grade II* listed buildings in Norfolk National nature reserves in England