The Granary & Cart Sheds

History of The Granary & Cart Sheds

The buildings that join onto the barn are known as the cart sheds with the granary being the last building on the end.

The cart sheds were built to store all the agricultural implements that would have been used on the farm including ploughs and hay carts. Originally, the sheds would have stored horse drawn ploughs and implements, who were eventually replaced by tractors over the years, though the use of horses were still pretty common up until the 1940’s and 1950’s when the cost of machinery began to fall from mass production.

As its name suggests the granary was intended for the storage of wheat grain that had been threshed but not milled. The grain was stored in heaps on the floor. Brick arches raised the floor off the ground, and allowed air to flow underneath the floor. It was believed that movement of air below the floor would help keep the grain sweet and prevent spoilage by mildew, rice and rats. After milling the wheat grain would have been used to make bread and beer for the household and for sale.

The whole wheat farming aspect of High House is an interesting social history and indicator, as its decline mirrors that of the rest of the country which suffered as an industry due to American imports. This example shows us that globalisation had its victims even then.