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The oak-framed Plashett Barn sits comfortably amongst the trees of
Plashett Wood, Isfield, offering shelter, warmth and rustic charm to all who
visit. People often assume the
barn is very old - a credit to those who crafted this delightful building
just over a decade ago.
Plashett
Wood is owned by the Ian Askew Charitable Trust with educational and
conservation objectives and managed by Strutt & Parker. When woodland
management consultant James Noble began advising on this East Sussex
woodland in 1992 he quickly realised that a building was needed to provide a
multipurpose space for educational and training activities. With 150
hectares of woodland, sourcing suitable timber was easy.
Mobile sawmiller Richard Thomlinson processed the felled timber
whilst local framer Henry Russell handled construction with help from
participants on his traditional timber-framing course. Remarkably, no power
tools were used at all in the build. Local businesses and East Sussex County
Council provided funding for the project.
The result: a multipurpose space demonstrating the versatility of
timber as a sustainable building material and a shelter providing a direct
link between the building and the surrounding working woodland.
Hundreds of children and adults have visited the woodland since the
barn’s construction. The resident Plashett forester regularly takes groups
of school children and occasionally groups of adults from rehabilitation
projects, around the woods using the barn as a warm base.
In 2004 the barn featured for the first time in the East Sussex Wood
Season, providing an atmospheric venue for a diverse series of fully
subscribed events. Julia
Behrens, local herbalist, ran a one-day children’s workshop: ‘Learn
Woodland Plant Healing’; John Russell, local carpenter and timber
framer, ran an ‘Introduction to Timber Framing’; Harvey Malthouse,
Plashett coppice craftsman, ran an 'Introduction to Charcoal Making'; and Ali
Bishop, with her 35 strong community choir, offered a twilight
‘Singing In the Woods’ event, attracting well over 100 people from all
over Sussex. All plan to run similar events in the forthcoming Wood Season
2005.
Home-grown and handmade, the Plashett Barn is a timeless building,
providing a tangible and accessible link to the very landscape that produced
the raw materials for its construction.
Wood
Season 2005: Look out for opportunities to experience the Plashett
Wood Barn in the East Sussex Wood Season 2005 programme to be published
summer 2005.
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Plashett
Wood is situated a few miles North of Lewes in East Sussex and is one of
the largest blocks of ancient woodland in the county.
Much of the 150 hectares remain semi-natural and are predominantly
100-year-old oak with some pockets of conifer and coppice.
The oak woods are gradually being restructured, with new-growth ash
favoured wherever possible to increase diversity, whilst 2-3 acres are
selectively felled and restocked every few years, significantly increasing
biodiversity.
English Nature is funding the removal of all of the conifers and
sycamore over the next 15 years, whilst rides and coppice structure are
managed to provide suitable habitat for the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary
butterfly.
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