Suffolk man spends five decades turning old barns into new homes

Tom Webster has dedicated 50 years to barn preservation

A man has spent five decades rescuing old Suffolk barns and turning them into new homes and restaurants.

Tom Webster, from Blythburgh, began his business in 1976 to save antique barns from being destroyed.

The preservation expert has dismantled and recycled about 100 oak-framed structures, creating new premises as far away as Japan.

Mr Webster said: "These barns are a work of art and are so beautifully constructed."

Tom Webster relocated this barn, which incorporates French oak and roof joists from a medieval house in Tattingstone, to Blythburgh

Working with his son, Daniel, the duo label every beam like "an airplane model kit" before the frame is dismantled, relocated and rebuilt.

"They're kept together as a unit because they are actually constructed as one building - that's the beauty of it," Mr Webster continued.

The concept has taken the pair overseas, with buyers purchasing barns for use in other countries.

"A Japanese gentleman wanted the oldest building we had. We had one dating from 1490, so we repaired it and took it out to Japan for him," Mr Webster said.

"He is fascinated by having something from England."

Each beam is individually labelled before the barn is dismantled

Mr Webster added that many Suffolk barns were lost during the Great Storm of 1987 and people used the broken beams as firewood.

But not all the barns that are preserved are made into something new.

"We can repair them and put them back to exactly as they were originally built, for a customer who wishes to live in a period home," he said.

"It takes a lot of skill to restore a barn frame. I still love the work and go out every day on site."

The company's latest project is a 17th-Century barn in Colchester, Essex, which measures 19m x 6.5m (62ft x 21ft).

Mr Webster said: "It will make a lovely manor-type house and if we haven't found a buyer by the time we take it down, then it'll be put into storage and kept for a future customer."