Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This large three-level bank barn is built on an east-west axis with its east gable-end facing River Road, the main highway through South Willington. The building is clad in unpainted narrow horizontal clapboard siding with corner board trim. The south side is in poor condition while the other three sides appear to be in fair to good condition. The basement level is constructed of roughly-quarried mortared granite masonry in a random joint pattern. A pair of doors is located in the west gable end and along the north (Depot Road) side. Small basement-type windows are located below each of the first floor windows. The configuration appears to be of a basement for storage rather than for animals.

The main level has a sliding door (probably modern) mounted on the exterior of the east facade, on grade facing River Road. A paneled hay door is above in the wall of the second level. The doors are flanked by twelve-over-twelve double hung sash windows on both the first and second levels. A round window is above in the peak of the gable. The long eave sides have six twelve-over twelve double hung sash windows each on the first level, and none on the second level. Several of the windows on the south side are recent replacements.

The west facade windows match the east elevation. A single passage door is located in the center of the main level above the basement door, but without a porch or steps. A similar single door is on the south wall near the west corner.

The roof overhang is approximately two feet on all sides, with sloping closed eave and gable soffits. Roofing is slate in a random pattern of reddish tiles among a predominantly gray ground, with a copper ridge cap. A large hipped cupola sits at the center of the ridge, clad in horizontal clapboard siding. Above a belt course, a pair of arch-topped double hung sash is on each of the four exposures. The roof overhang is trimmed with ornamental brackets, larger at the corners and smaller along the side fascias. A tall flagpole surmounts the peak of the hipped roof, carrying an American flag today just as in historic photographs.

Historical significance:

The New England barn or gable front barn was the successor to the English barn and relies on a gable entry rather than an entry under the eaves. The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end. Although it was seen by many as an improvement over the earlier side-entry English Barn, the New England barn did not replace its predecessor but rather coexisted with it; both types continued to be built.

The 19th century also saw the introduction of a basement under the barn to allow for the easy collection and storage of a winter’s worth of manure from the animals sheltered within the building. The bank barn is characterized by the location of its main floor above grade, either through building on a hillside or by raising the building on a foundation. This innovation, aided by the introduction of windows for light and ventilation, would eventually be joined by the introduction of space to shelter more animals under the main floor of the barn.

This barn may not have been in primarily agricultural use. It is in close proximity to the Gardiner Hall Jr. Company thread factory and to the railroad which parallels the Willimantic River just to the west, and is thought to have been a livery stable relating to the factory operations or a storage facility.

Field Notes

On the corner of Depot Rd.

Use (Historic)

• storage

Use (Present)

• storage

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Other

Environment features

• Commercial
• Industrial
• Residential
• Rural
• Scattered Buildings

Relationship to surroundings

The Grey Barn is located at the corner of Depot Street and River Road in South Willington, a village of the Town of Willington.  Just to the north along River Road are the Hall Co. mill buildings and Hall’s Pond. To the east across the road stand the historic homes of the factory owners. Village houses and commercial buildings are loosely spaced along River Road and side streets. To the west is the railroad line that served the area, connecting with Norwich and Long Island Sound shipping.

Building Typology

• New England Bank

Materials

• Clapboard

Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Slate

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

4608 square feet

Date Compiled

12/17/2009

Compiled By

Charlotte Hitchcock,

Sources

Photographs by Kim Szkudlarek (9/28/2009), Charlotte Hitchcock.
Field notes from Sue Schur, Willington Historical Society.

Town of Willington Assessor’s Record; Map/Lot 15/016-00.

Demers, Ronald F., Modernization in a New England Town: A History of Willington, Connecticut, Willington Historical Society, 1983, W. Willington CT, 431 pp.

Sexton, James, PhD, Survey Narrative of the Connecticut Barn, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Hamden, CT, 2005, http://www.connecticutbarns.org/history.

Visser, Thomas D., Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings, University Press of New England, 1997.

Willington Historical Society website - South Willington district:
http://www.geocities.com/willingtoncthistory/mapnarrative.htm

Willington Historical Society, Chronology of Willington CT – 1727-1927, 1977.

Email correspondence with Willington Historical Society, 12/28/09.