Gripping rural history

Ernie Margetson in 2010 on the site of a home that was constructed on Chase Road in Hillier from a very large timber from a barn he found near Georgetown.

Traditional barns fading from Ontario’s landscape

Barns. They were once the defining part of Ontario’s rural horizon. The image is still easily conjured in the imagination: the majestic wooden structure soaring over the treeline resting on a stone foundation. A thin silo rises above the barn peak anchoring one end. A drive shed housing the farm implements and tools is nearby. Between them in the barnyard, a few chickens roam in unpredictably, pecking at the ground eversearching for a dropped bit of grain. A sow lounges in the shade while her piglets scramble around the pen in the corner. A garden lush with bean and tomato plants, punctuated by onion stems is squared off from the nearby pasture, out of sight of the animals that might be tempted to stage a breakout to feast on the bounty.

The other architectural feature is the farm house standing proudly in front, with large trees lining the lawn and laneway. It is a formation we know and are familiar with. It evokes memories and, for many, a sense of identity.

It is an image that is steadily slipping away—returning to the soil that once gave it purpose. Modern farming has changed and has little need of the large barns that defined farming in this province for nearly a century. And with it fades a way of life that dominated rural Ontario just a few decades ago.

Ernie Margetson spoke about barns last week to a very large and attentive gathering in Hillier presented by the Women’s Institute. Part lament for a passing era and part history lesson, Margetson’s message was mostly a plea to those interested to actively seek out and “see these barns” before they are gone.

Margetson worries that we lose sight of these structures and a bit of our heritage because we are accustomed to them on the skyline. That we no longer truly see them. He says historically significant barns are being lost every year in Prince Edward County—with barely a murmur of recognition.

He presented a set of slides he assembled in the early ’90s of barns of interest, mostly from the County. He walked through the history and evolution of barns—key architectural features and their significance.

Did you know that very old barns feature clapboard siding, which is fastened horizontally rather than vertically? Or that the hip roof (a double-angled roof design also known as a gambrel or Dutch roof) was adapted from the traditional roofline to accommodate the addition of a hay fork that ran on a track at the peak? It was an innovation that made it much easier to move hay in and out of the mow.

Margetson exudes a passion for his subject that seeps through his solemn professorial manner. He has a particular enthusiasm for timber frame barns, which he admires for both their elegant engineering and durability.

Typically a farmer would begin a barn project by cutting the logs, drawing them from the woodlot to the barnyard and hewing them into 10″ x 10″ timbers. Often the backbreaking shaping work was done by hand with a variety of tools.

Then a barn building specialist would arrive and prepare the timbers and assemble the frame. When that was done neighbours and friends from miles around would assemble to raise the barn. This was delicate business. Each section of the frame had to be hoisted and then attached to connecting pieces, which were in turn tied into the next section of frame. Once the process was begun it had to be finished or risk losing the entire structure.

They are marvelous bits of engineering that in many cases continue to defy the elements a century after they were erected. Yet they continue to disappear and fade into history. Sadly, no barn in the County has been protected by official historical designation.

“Every year we lose a few more,” said Margetson. “We take them for granted. And unless we see them we don’t notice them when they disappear.”

He notes that this is a discussion that has been going on for nearly 40 years in Ontario. And that there is very little repurposing of these structures to restore vitality into these traditional barns.

Yet in Prince Edward County there are several good examples of great barns that have found new reasons to be. The large red barn at Fields on West Lake, now used as a special event hall, is perhaps the most visible example. Several wineries have also restored traditional barns to house their tasting room and processing facilities. The County’s new distiller and producer of fine spirits is restoring the distinctive Norton family farm. Humble Bread has converted the barn on the former Hall farm north of Bloomfield into a bread making facility and soon a retail location.

But, for every barn salvaged in this way, more disappear from the horizon. Margetson has been watching and lamenting the fading image of the traditional barn for a few decades. He isn’t calling for rapid regulatory intervention—he knows that isn’t coming. Instead he is asking folks simply to seek out great barns and truly see them. Before they fade entirely from view.