The History of Heath Barn...
The Heath Barn, Heath Farmhouse and Cottage are 16th Century Grade II Listed buildings. ‘Most traditional farm buildings date from the 19th Century and only a very small proportion, usually older and more architecturally significant buildings, are protected through listing.’ The Heath Barn buildings fall within this ‘very small proportion’, and are consequently hugely historically and architecturally significant.
Under the listing, the buildings are grouped together as one although each have individual listings, this information can be found through Historic Englands website. There's also some fantastic photographs from the past that show the buildings looking their best, here. The Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings gives details of the nature of this ‘group value’. Group value describes ‘the extent to which the exterior of the building contributes to the architectural or historic interest of any group of buildings of which it forms part’. This is particularly significant in the case of the Heath Barn, Heath Farmhouse and Heath Barn Cottage buildings as there is indeed ‘a historical functional relationship between the buildings’, both in their use for centuries as a working farm and later, for decades in their use as a centre for musical education.
Additionally, the continuous square arrangement of the buildings around a courtyard is a ‘fine example of planning'.
The ‘Haybarns’ or Heath Barns was a sub-manor of Hemel Hempstead and was once owned by Lieutenant Colonel F S Brereton. It is thought that the buildings are the second oldest in Boxmoor. As previously mentioned, the majority of the buildings on the site were built in the 16th Century - it must be noted that there are very few structures still standing in this area from the Tudor period. The buildings were constructed using traditional methods, using a timber-framed structure and stone. This is a significant agricultural building type. Barns of this structure and age are specific to Hertfordshire and the East of England.
Colonel Frederick Brereton was the last private owner of Heath Barn together with his wife, Isobel, who outlived him. Born in 1872, Frederick studied medicine and joined the Army medical staff in 1896. Promoted to captain 1899, he served with the Royal Army medical corps and at the outbreak of the first world war he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded a CBE in 1919 and was mayor from 1927-1928.
In the early 20's he modified the front of the Heath Barn farmhouse to include the bay windows. The farmhouse is the large white house that sits to the right of the site. The first floor can be seen from St Johns Road. When he lived there it was originally surrounded by a much lower, white picket fence.
The Colonel wrote around 50 adventure books for boys and many of these books are now in the archives of the Dacorum Heritage Trust in Berkhamsted. He also wrote a book called 'Hemel Hempstead through the ages and later' which is available to read online- sadly he fails to mention his own home of Heath Barn.
Two fabulous bits of information I've only recently found out, mentioned in a 2015 news article, was that he used part of the barn for making anatomical models for the medical profession, so he was both clever and creative!
Interestingly, he was also involved in crusades for the community. In particular, Boxmoor's Defence League. This was formed to protect part of the Box moor Trust lands from local authority ownership and control. The campaign 'Hands off our moor' eventually won. I like to imagine that the moor that we all know and love today may have looked quite different if it wasn't for him.
Jan Chilman, now 92, has fond memories of living in the cottage until around the age of 7. Her father was Colonel Breretons chauffeur for a while and she remembers them being kind people, even paying for her sister to attend school. I hope they would be happy to see us squirrelling away with the project which will allow his legacy to live on.
The Heath Barn and Cottage Buildings were used as a centre for musical education by The Hemel Hempstead School and Dacorum Music School from the 1950s until 2019. The function of the buildings over this period of time, and the musical learning, examinations, performances and collaborations that took place within them, has left a lasting positive impact on the communities of Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead.
Eric McGavin taught music at the school for 18 years. He was a visionary in this field, pioneering methods for group teaching and for adapting wind instruments so that they could be used by students with disabilities. His contribution to music education is still very much alive in the UK today in the form of the National Youth Wind Orchestra, which he founded in 1968 as the British Youth Wind Orchestra, and his work was recognised by the Royal Academy of Music with the award of the title honorary associate (HonARAM). He has an archive dedicated to him at Horniman Museum & Gardens in London which contains tens of photos of the barn, the school and his students. I am very grateful to the archive officer for sending me so many unseen photographs of the barn - particularly those in the snow.
Weddings, christenings and other celebrations were also held here (you'll see some photos and videos from Gill & Tonys beautiful wedding reception at the barn in July 1998 amongst the images.) These events were assisted with the help of David Bryant, who lived in the cottage for 38 years as caretaker. I had the pleasure of meeting David in December and he delighted in sharing many stories with me - including those of the resident ghost- who I'm told is very friendly.
