Great House Barn is a 16th-century barn and

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Rivington Rivington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. Built as a

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

it is believed to be one of the oldest of its type in the county

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

p. 127. and is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History

Built using

cruck A cruck or crook frame is a curved timber, one of a pair, which support the roof of a building, historically used in England and Wales. This type of timber framing consists of long, generally naturally curved, timber members that lean inwards and ...

framing of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, the original building is of, at the latest, 16th-century construction, but is likely to be older. Major changes were made to the building by Thomas Anderton, the owner in 1702. The west gable of the barn is dated 1702 but is possibly older and has the initials A TAR (Thomas, Alice, and Robert Anderton). By the early 20th century the

Rivington Hall Rivington Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was the manor house for the Lords of the Manor of Rivington. The hall is of various builds as successor to a 15th-century timber-framed courtyard house that was ...

, farm and barns were owned by

Lord Leverhulme William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools, he joined his f ...

and on his instructions the architect Jonathan Simpson made further substantial alterations to the barn. Architecturally, the barn is as Leverhulme had it restored, with the cruck beams infilled with sandstone block walls and a slate roof. The Tudor-style timber-framed porch and mullion windows are 20th-century additions During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the barn was used by the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

as a food storage depot. The barn is owned by Salmons and is a cafe and forms part of an information centre about the Leverhulme estate.

References

Notes Bibliography * * {{Borough of Chorley buildings Grade II listed barns in England Rivington Buildings and structures in the Borough of Chorley Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire