In the 1980s, a farmer and artist called Colin Stokes bought a field in the Wiltshire countryside for storing hay and other supplies. Then, he started to build a rectangular hay store barn by using dry-stone walling techniques before securing the walls with concrete. However, he did not leave the building with four walls which took eleven years to build and began extending it. As a result, the barn took a form that reminded the houses from the Hobbit. He also added beautiful handmade stained glass windows to this handbuilt hobbit house. These windows had symbolic meanings. That is, they represented four seasons as well as four classical elements namely earth, air, fire, and water.
Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk- Dan Circa
Stokes said he originally had planned to build a hay store barn, but then “got a bit carried away.” So, the barn eventually became the handbuilt hobbit house that exists today.
Stokes said that he preferred building a more complex barn with turrets and dovecots to a modest barn. He now farmed sheep, poultry, and angora rabbits, but the barn was also home to several birds including an owl. Nevertheless, after the establishment of Forest Marble near Stokes’ land, he got uncomfortable with all the lorries and decided to sell the barn in 2000.
