The restoration efforts of an 18th century listed limestone barn were carried out in Woughton on the Green, Milton Keynes, UK. Woughton comes from Old English words wudu, meaning “wood”, and tun, meaning “enclosure” or “settlement”. The barn is located in central Milton Keynes which is known as one of the new towns of the 1960’s intended to relieve housing congestion in London. Although Milton Keynes is now a fully developed city, it still contains multiple historical villages, one of which is the quiet medieval village of Woughton on the Green, still to this day next to a forest.

Working along side Tim Mason, a well established stone specialist, Laura assisted with the construction of a three meter tall mortared limestone buttress as well as re-pointing the historic walls. The project also included a dry stone wall which was built to mark a property line. The stone used for construction was sourced from a local limestone quarry, the Weston Underwood Limestone Quarry, as well as from reclaimed limestone found on site. A pair of steel beams were inserted under the wooden beams to further stabilize the building. Through these minimal restoration efforts the barn now has an extended life span. Laura has documented the barn through photography and technical drawings in order to analyze the building and gather information from its construction techniques.