Dutch barn
Encyclopedia
Dutch barn is the name given to markedly different types of barn
s in the United States
and Canada
, and in the United Kingdom
. In the United States, Dutch barns (a. k. a. New World Dutch barns) represent the oldest and rarest types of barns. There are relatively few—probably less than 600—of these barns still intact. Common features of these barns include a gabled roof, paired doors on the gable ends with a pent roof over them, and smaller animal doors at the corners of the same elevations. In the United Kingdom a structure called a Dutch barn is a relatively recent agricultural development meant specifically for hay
and straw
storage; most examples were built from the 19th century. British Dutch barns represent a type of pole barn in common use today. Design styles range from fixed roof to adjustable roof; some Dutch barns have honeycombed brick walls, which provide ventilation and are decorative as well. Still other British Dutch barns may be found with no walls at all, much like American pole barns.
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The New World Dutch barn is the rarest of the American barn forms. The remaining American Dutch-style barns represent relics from the 18th and 19th century. Dutch barns were the first great barns built in the United States
, mostly by Dutch settlers
in New Netherlands.
New Netherlander
s settled along the Hackensack
, Passaic
, Raritan
, Millstone
rivers and their tributaties in New Jersey
. In New York
, they concentrated in the Hudson Valley
, and along the Mohawk River
and Schoharie Creek
.
Many Dutch barns also were built in other portions of the American Northeast
.
The Dutch Barn Preservation Society has cataloged hundreds of standing Dutch Barns throughout the Hudson, Mohawk, and Schoharie Valleys as well as in New Jersey. Schoharie County Historian Harold Zoch regularly speaks on Dutch barns.
are the Wortendyke Barn
and the one at the Caspar Getman Farmstead
.
The exterior features a broad gable
roof, which, in early Dutch barns extended very low to the ground. The barns feature center doors for wagons on the narrow end. A pent roof, or a pentice, over the doors offered some protection from inclement weather. The siding was usually horizontal and had few details. Dutch barns often lacked windows and had no openings other than the doors and holes for purple martin
s to enter. The design of the Dutch barn allows it to have a massive presence, giving it an appearance larger by comparison to other barns.
Inside the barns are supported by heavy structural systems. The mortised and tenoned
and pegged beams are arranged in "H-shaped" units. The design alludes to cathedral
interiors with column
ed aisles along a central interior space, used in Dutch barns for threshing
. It is this design that links Dutch barns to the Old World
barns of Europe. Another distinctive feature of the Dutch barn is that the ends of the cross beams protrude through the columns. These protrusions are often rounded to form tongues. This feature is not found in any other style of barn design.
, Illinois, and Kentucky in the United States Midwest. The Illinois
and Kentucky
examples may have been misidentified when recorded, and might have been Midwest three portal barns instead. However, New Jersey Dutch are documented as having settled in Henry and Mercer counties in Kentucky so there may be reason to believe that the barns in Kentucky may actually be Dutch Barns. Further research is warranted.
, Ontario
, Dutch barns were found in the Dutch settled areas.
What are called Dutch barns in the United Kingdom are a specific type of barn developed for the storage of hay
. They have a roof, but no walls. These are a relatively recent development in the history of British farm architecture, most examples dating from the 19th century. Nowadays they are more commonly used to store straw
. They also are called pole barns and hay barns.
for permanent storage. Following the agricultural revolution
of the sixteenth to mid-19th century, with its emphasis on the improvement of farming techniques, there was a marked increase in the amount of hay that was produced (partly due to the use of water-meadow
s and partly due to crop rotation
). The hay barn was developed in response to this: formerly the small amounts of precious hay produced had been stored in the hayloft
s over the cow house or stable
s, or in hay
stacks. However, haystacks are prone to spoiling in the rain, especially after the stack has been 'opened' for consumption. As the weather in the U.K. is often wet, several different types of hay barns evolved, but all shared certain characteristics: they were roofed and well-ventilated. Hay barns came into use at the end of the 18th century. Dutch barns are still very common in the U.K., and are nowadays most commonly used to store straw rather than hay.
The term 'Dutch barn' has been used in the U.K. both to describe such structures with fixed roofs and those with adjustable roofs. The latter type are also, confusingly, sometimes called French barns. Due to their ease of construction these structures are often considered temporary and appear and disappear in the landscape; the interval is often determined by the life of the pole upright or the corrugated iron roof. They are often constructed with a rounded or arched corrugated iron roof and with metal uprights, although frequently, telegraph poles are used for the uprights.
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In the United States, Dutch barns (a. k. a. New World Dutch barns) represent the oldest and rarest types of barns. There are relatively few—probably less than 600—of these barns still intact. Common features of these barns include a gabled roof, paired doors on the gable ends with a pent roof over them, and smaller animal doors at the corners of the same elevations. In the United Kingdom a structure called a Dutch barn is a relatively recent agricultural development meant specifically for hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
and straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
storage; most examples were built from the 19th century. British Dutch barns represent a type of pole barn in common use today. Design styles range from fixed roof to adjustable roof; some Dutch barns have honeycombed brick walls, which provide ventilation and are decorative as well. Still other British Dutch barns may be found with no walls at all, much like American pole barns.
Dutch barns in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, mostly by Dutch settlers
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
in New Netherlands.
New Netherlander
New Netherlander
New Netherlanders were residents of New Netherland, the seventeenth century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the northeastern coast of North America, centered around the Hudson River and New York Bay, and at the end of the colony in the Delaware Valley.The...
s settled along the Hackensack
Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River,...
, Passaic
Passaic River
The Passaic River is a mature surface river, approximately 80 mi long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey,...
, Raritan
Raritan River
The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.-Description:...
, Millstone
Millstone River
The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows northward through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by...
rivers and their tributaties in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. In New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, they concentrated in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, and along the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
and Schoharie Creek
Schoharie Creek
Schoharie Creek in New York, USA flows north from the foot of Indian Head Mountain in the Catskill Mountains through the Schoharie Valley to the Mohawk River. It is twice impounded north of Prattsville to create New York City's Schoharie Reservoir and the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project.Two notable...
.
Many Dutch barns also were built in other portions of the American Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
History
Relatively few—probably less than 600—Dutch barns survive intact in the 21st century. Those that remain date from the eighteenth and early 19th century. Dutch barns rarely remain in a good, unaltered condition.The Dutch Barn Preservation Society has cataloged hundreds of standing Dutch Barns throughout the Hudson, Mohawk, and Schoharie Valleys as well as in New Jersey. Schoharie County Historian Harold Zoch regularly speaks on Dutch barns.
Examples
New World Dutch Barns included in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
are the Wortendyke Barn
Wortendyke Barn
Wortendyke Barn, at 13 Pascack Road in Park Ridge, New Jersey, was built in 1770 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 1972. The historic Dutch barn...
and the one at the Caspar Getman Farmstead
Caspar Getman Farmstead
Caspar Getman Farmstead is a historic home and related farm outbuildings located near Stone Arabia in Montgomery County, New York. It includes the main house and ell, two lateral-entry English barns, a New World Dutch barn , limestone smokehouse , and former chicken coop...
.
Design
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
roof, which, in early Dutch barns extended very low to the ground. The barns feature center doors for wagons on the narrow end. A pent roof, or a pentice, over the doors offered some protection from inclement weather. The siding was usually horizontal and had few details. Dutch barns often lacked windows and had no openings other than the doors and holes for purple martin
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.-Description and taxonomy:...
s to enter. The design of the Dutch barn allows it to have a massive presence, giving it an appearance larger by comparison to other barns.
Inside the barns are supported by heavy structural systems. The mortised and tenoned
Mortise and tenon
The mortise and tenon joint has been used for thousands of years by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90°. In its basic form it is both simple and strong. Although there are many joint variations, the basic mortise and tenon...
and pegged beams are arranged in "H-shaped" units. The design alludes to cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
interiors with column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
ed aisles along a central interior space, used in Dutch barns for threshing
Threshing
Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain...
. It is this design that links Dutch barns to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
barns of Europe. Another distinctive feature of the Dutch barn is that the ends of the cross beams protrude through the columns. These protrusions are often rounded to form tongues. This feature is not found in any other style of barn design.
Distribution
The Dutch barn was widely distributed in areas of New Jersey and New York. Dutch barns have been identified in southwestern MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Illinois, and Kentucky in the United States Midwest. The Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
examples may have been misidentified when recorded, and might have been Midwest three portal barns instead. However, New Jersey Dutch are documented as having settled in Henry and Mercer counties in Kentucky so there may be reason to believe that the barns in Kentucky may actually be Dutch Barns. Further research is warranted.
Dutch barns in Canada
North of TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Dutch barns were found in the Dutch settled areas.
Dutch barns in the United Kingdom
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
. They have a roof, but no walls. These are a relatively recent development in the history of British farm architecture, most examples dating from the 19th century. Nowadays they are more commonly used to store straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
. They also are called pole barns and hay barns.
History
Early barn types in the U.K., such as aisled barns, were primarily used for the processing and temporary storage of grain. Processing comprised hand-threshing (later in history replaced by machine threshing): the grain would then be removed to a granaryGranary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
for permanent storage. Following the agricultural revolution
British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...
of the sixteenth to mid-19th century, with its emphasis on the improvement of farming techniques, there was a marked increase in the amount of hay that was produced (partly due to the use of water-meadow
Water-meadow
A water-meadow is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries...
s and partly due to crop rotation
Crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons.Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals...
). The hay barn was developed in response to this: formerly the small amounts of precious hay produced had been stored in the hayloft
Hayloft
A hayloft is a space above a barn, stable or cow-shed, traditionally used for storage of hay or other fodder for the animals below. Haylofts were used mainly before the widespread use of hay bales, which allow simpler handling of bulk hay...
s over the cow house or stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
s, or in hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
stacks. However, haystacks are prone to spoiling in the rain, especially after the stack has been 'opened' for consumption. As the weather in the U.K. is often wet, several different types of hay barns evolved, but all shared certain characteristics: they were roofed and well-ventilated. Hay barns came into use at the end of the 18th century. Dutch barns are still very common in the U.K., and are nowadays most commonly used to store straw rather than hay.
Design in U. K.
Various types of hay barn included those with 'honeycombed' brick walls, forming a decorative as well as practical form of ventilation, and the Dutch barn, which has a roof but open sides. The roof kept off the rain but the lack of walls allowed good ventilation around the hay and prevented spoiling.The term 'Dutch barn' has been used in the U.K. both to describe such structures with fixed roofs and those with adjustable roofs. The latter type are also, confusingly, sometimes called French barns. Due to their ease of construction these structures are often considered temporary and appear and disappear in the landscape; the interval is often determined by the life of the pole upright or the corrugated iron roof. They are often constructed with a rounded or arched corrugated iron roof and with metal uprights, although frequently, telegraph poles are used for the uprights.
Further reading
- John Fitchen, The New World Dutch Barn; A Study of Its Characteristics, Its Structural System, and Its Probable Erectional Procedures (Syracuse University Press, 1968) ISBN 0815621264
- John Fitchen, Greg Huber editor, The New World Dutch Barn: The Evolution, Forms, and Structure of a Disappearing Icon (Syracuse University Press, 2001) ISBN 0815606907
- Dutch Barn Preservation Society Newsletter http://www.dutchbarns.org/dbpssitemap.htm