The Pigsty facts for kids
The Pigsty is a very unusual building found near Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire, England. It's next to Fyling Hall School. This wooden building looks a bit like a fancy house, but it was actually built for pigs! Buildings like this, made for fun or decoration rather than a practical purpose, are sometimes called a folly.
The Pigsty is a special "Grade II* listed" building. This means it's considered very important historically or architecturally, and it's protected. Today, it's no longer a home for pigs. Instead, the Landmark Trust, an organization that saves important old buildings, has turned it into a unique place where people can stay for holidays.
Contents
Who Built The Pigsty?
The exact year the Pigsty was finished isn't perfectly clear. It seems it was mostly done by 1891, but some changes might have been added later, even up to 1906.
A Squire's Creative Ideas
The Pigsty was designed by a local man named John Warren Barry (1851–1920). He was a Squire, which meant he owned a lot of land and was an important person in the area. He was also a Justice of the Peace, helping with local laws. Mr. Barry loved the look of buildings from the Mediterranean region. He even wrote a book about his travels called "Studies in Corsica: Sylvan and Social," which came out in 1893.
A Dancing Apprentice
During the building of the Pigsty, a 15-year-old apprentice named Matthew Hart (1874–1970) helped out. He later shared that Squire Barry often changed his mind about how the Pigsty should look while it was being built. This meant the plans were not always fixed! When Squire Barry finally approved the finished Pigsty, Matthew Hart was so happy that he climbed onto the roof and did a little dance. But he accidentally fell off and broke his nose!
More Unusual Buildings
The Pigsty wasn't the only strange building Squire Barry created. He had a few other very unique ideas for his farm animals.
A Church for Cows
One of his other creations was a barn for cows, called a cow byre. But this wasn't just any barn; it was shaped like a church! It even had big oak doors and beautiful stained-glass windows. When the cows were being milked, an employee would recite verses from the Bible.
A Pyramid for Chickens
Squire Barry also had a chicken coop built in the shape of a pyramid. However, he didn't realize that real pyramids are mostly solid inside. Because of this, the top stones of his chicken pyramid soon collapsed. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.
Saving The Pigsty
By the mid-1980s, the Pigsty was in poor condition. The owner at the time, Mrs. White, was worried about its future. The inside was filled with old junk, and the wooden columns that held it up were starting to fall apart. Luckily, some papers explaining the building's history were found pinned to a beam inside.
Information about the Pigsty was shared with a researcher who was looking for unusual buildings on the moorland. Soon after, the Pigsty was featured on a TV program presented by Lucinda Lambton, which helped bring attention to its unique story.
After a lot of hard work and careful repairs by the Landmark Trust, the Pigsty was officially reopened on December 17, 1991. It can now be enjoyed by people who stay there for holidays, keeping its quirky history alive.
