Uploader's Comments

Stone built field barns are one of the iconic features of the Yorkshire Dales, but as the years pass by, so the number of barns slowly decreases. In terms of farming, they are mostly redundant and date back to a time when maybe half a dozen milking cows could be kept in a barn, together with a plentiful supply of hay through the winter. Any dairy farmer now will require a large barn close to the house and road where maybe upwards of 50 cows can be housed and there is easy access for the tanker lorry. Without substantial grants and possible other uses for barns, they seem destined to gradually disappear.