Notice: First 2019 Open Day For Oldest Wooden Building In Surrey

Published on: 10 Apr, 2019
Updated on: 10 Apr, 2019

The 630-year-old Great Barn of Wanborough will open to the public for the first time in 2019 on Saturday, April 13.

Opening hours are between 2pm and 5pm. Entry is free and all are welcome – including dogs.

Built in 1388 by the Cistercian monks from Waverley Abbey, the building is of major heritage significance.

Wanborough Great Barn

The internal structure is much as the monks will have seen it. They left for the last time when Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell closed down Waverley Abbey in the 1540s, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

As well as the huge cathedral-like wooden structure, an audio-visual presentation will explain to visitors the link with the Abbey.

An exhibition also features 10,000 years of Wanborough history and human presence in the area.

The cathedral-like interior.

This includes information on the famous nearby Celtic/Roman Temples and the looters that robbed the undiscovered site in the 1980s.

There is also a large section on the Special Operations Executive which took over Wanborough Manor and the Great Barn during the second world war to train the secret agents who went into enemy occupied Europe.

Further open days are planned for Saturdays May 11, June 8, June 23 and July 6 and on Sundays July 21 and August 11, all between 2pm and 5pm.

The Great Barn will also be open on Heritage Weekend, Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15, between 2pm and 5pm.

Teas will be available in the Great Barn on Sunday open days.

For more information and directions visit www.wanboroughgreatbarn.co.uk,