Renovating Thirsk Lodge Barns

The stunning buildings that make up Thirsk Lodge Barns were bought back into hand in March 2020 and renovation works started… just as COVID-19 hit!

It took until July 2021 to finish the build; which involved everything from realigning the walls, re-roofing throughout and creating our entrance link to join the Dining Room with the Main Bar area.

The layout of the original buildings can be seen in the image above, which was taken at the start of March 2020 just before the builders came on site. Quite the transformation to today don’t you think?!

The photos throughout this post are a selection of the hundreds we took during the renovation. You can see in a lot of them the amount of muck that had to be removed from the barns and out onto the farm as these buildings were home to livestock including cows and sheep – some of which were onsite until May 2020!

The Main Barn was originally used to store straw/hay, and the ‘crosses’ in the walls would have been put in to create a flow of air through the building.

The Courtyard and Bar Area were all covered (with a lot of asbestos!) and used for lambing and calving. The Loos and Storage area around the outside of the courtyard were stables, and if you have a good eye, you can make out a picture of the Ladies Loos in the photos below!

Throughout the renovation we tried to keep as many of the original features as possible – so when you walk through the venue, keep an eye out for old gateposts above doors and all of the original brickwork.

We were thrilled to have saved some of the amazing, old features in the barn including the curved pillars and arches around the courtyard. The arches had been blocked in and now create our amazing covered, heated outdoor seating area!

Some fun facts about the renovation:

• On one day we had around 60 tradesmen working on site
• We have approximately 18km of pipes under our wild flower meadow which heats the whole venue through the means of ground source heating
• Our roof tiles had to come from France to fit in with building regulations
• The Farmhouse is listed, so we had to work within regulations of ‘buildings within the curtilage of a listed building’
• The original bricks were all made on the Farm, just a mile from the venue in an old brick house
• The olive tree was installed by hand by the owners of the venue, Letty and Will – who dug the hole and lowered it in using a fork lift truck