The Willowbank Documentation Program’s purpose in recording the Seburn Barn is to capture the historic qualities that make it unique and to provide a snapshot of what it is like in 2009. Hopefully, the study will encourage an appreciation of the heritage value of the site within the community.
The barn was built to accommodate farming in the late nineteenth century. Farming has changed dramatically with new methods, equipment and regulations which are not always adaptable to the old structures. The present owners, brother and sister Joan and Hebert Olley, have done a remarkable job maintaining the massive building which has been in the family for generations. As there is no one to take over the family operation when they decide to retire from the operation, it is hoped that someone in the community will take an interest in restoring and finding an appropriate adaptive reuse for this structure.
The large timber framed, gambrel roof barn at 2500 Seburn Rd. in Thorold was built around 1885 by Benjamin Seburn and his son Hamilton, to accommodate two dairy farms, both part of the family operation. The original hundred acre farm remains intact although about fifteen acres are now rented back from the hydro company. The other farm is located on the other side of Cataract Road and remains in the hands of the Seburn family as well.
The original beams in the barn were cut from the bush on the farm and were milled at the nearby Morningstar Mill at Decew Falls. The stones for the foundation were quarried from the rock bed in the creek located on the property. The upper north and south windows along with the dormers provided interior light. The upper windows were six over six, replaced at some point with two over two. Remnants of the muntins of the twelve pane windows of the dormers remain.
There was a large cupola on top used for ventilation. The cupola could be accessed from the interior by a ladder which still rises from a beam located about twenty five feet above the barn floor which can be reached by climbing one of the two vertical two story ladders built in place. When the roof was reshingled in May of 1982, the cupola was taken down because its deteriorated state became a safety concern. The roof of the cupola rests nestled in a heap of vines a short distance to the east of the barn. When the cupola was in place the barn rose to about eighty five feet in height.
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