Hartwell’s Barn & Saunder’s Field : a community project

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what is Hartwell’s Barn?

Hartwell’s Barn is a picturesque, traditionally constructed agricultural building on the edge of Brill Common, 100m or so due west of Brill Windmill. It stands in a four acre field known as Saunder’s Field. The barn and field are privately owned but used regularly by Brill Environment Group (BEG) and other community groups. This special place has been a focus of Brill community life for over a decade, hosting environmental activities, theatrical and musical productions, teaching, and commemorative gatherings.

In early Summer 2023, the barn and the field became available to buy and Brill Parish Council agreed at their June meeting to appoint a sub-committee to explore ways to purchase the barn and field - provided this was the will of the community of Brill.

August 2023

The public meeting on Saturday August 5th was attended by around 100 residents and was lively, positive and generally good-humoured. After nearly two hours debate, the consensus was in favour of Hartwell’s Barn & Saunder’s Field being purchased for the community - and for the Parish Council to continue to take the lead on this process. Read the full report.

September 2023

After lots of behind-the-scenes activity, the Parish Council and The Brill Society released the following message on September 26th:

As most are aware, the opportunity to purchase Hartwell’s Barn and Saunders Field was offered to the Parish Council (PC) several months ago. The barn and Field are nestled on the edge of the Common in a hallow, a hidden gem full of beautiful flora and fauna. The barn is currently a landscape interpretation centre and has been used to inspire and educate young and old about our local biodiversity. The site has also been home to a variety of outdoor performances, including the annual Midsummer Music, the melodic sound of sweet vocals and soulful guitar floating on the summer evening breeze.

When the opportunity arose, the PC were keen to preserve this area for the village, but we needed to first see if the village felt the same way, and so the village meeting in August was agreed. The turnout was fantastic – thank you to all who attended and to those who emailed their opinions as well. There were a lot of differing opinions - some felt the PC should buy it, some felt the PC shouldn’t add to their assets at this time – an overwhelming amount felt that the site should be protected and preserved in one way or another.

We listened to all of the feedback and set about investigating avenues by which we might be able to secure the funds to purchase the site. We sought advice from the County Council, the community board, other Parish Councils, independent advisors, and involved local groups such as Brill Environment Group, The Brill Society and the Fat Daddies.

It became apparent that to move forward in the time available, the PC could not do this alone, and thus the partnership with The Brill Society was born. The Brill Society are a registered charity, governed by the Charity Commission. The Brill Society are able to claim Gift Aid on all qualifying donations and have access to different funding streams than the PC.

The Brill Society and Brill Parish Council will work cooperatively to raise the funds and when the time comes to complete purchase, we will own the site 50/50. Once purchased, a Trust will be set up to manage the site. 

Brill Parish Council and The Brill Society both want what is best for the village and we both agree that securing Hartwell’s Barn and Saunders Field in perpetuity for the community is in the village’s best interest. We also feel that by going about it this way, we stand the best chance of safeguarding the future of the site.

If you are interested in getting involved with the fundraising committee, or with helping at events, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

If you'd like to donate to the project, we'd love to hear from you.

Please ‘stay tuned’ and watch this space because there’s plenty of exciting news on this fundraising project to come!

Read the Memorandum of Understanding signed September 21st 2023 by Brill Parish Council and The Brill Society.

October 2023

The newly formed Hartwell’s Barn & Saunder’s Field Project Team comprising members of BPC, TBS, FAT Daddies, BEG and other supporters designed and hand-delivered this postcard to all Brill residents, launching the fundraising initiative. Note that £35k haas already been pledged. Read questions posed by residents and responses made by the team.

November 2023

Update as it appeared in the Brill Parish Council November newsletter:

Once purchased, this special place would be made available for use by all sections of the community. Popular cultural events such as Midsummer Music and theatre productions would restart and, in the longer term, the barn could be improved so it is a suitable venue for workshops preserving and passing on traditional skills and heritage crafts. Saunder’s Field would form a beautiful extension to the Common, perfect for peaceful contemplation of the natural worl

This new village resource would be managed by an independent Trust, with representatives from The Brill Society, Brill Parish Council and the community. It will be self-supporting; no money from local taxation would be used (or has been used to date).

Thank you to everyone who has already donated or pledged to the appeal. We are more than a third of the way to our target of £150k and donations are still coming in. This month we are opening the appeal to local businesses.

If you run a local business, we would be delighted to recognise your donation on future publicity material - and add your company name to a permanent commemorative plaque in Hartwell’s Barn. Please get in touch!

June 2024

We’re sorry for the long silence but we’ve been busy with fund raising, grant applications - and negotiations. Midwinter Music, Christmas Raffle, Windmill Easter Egg Hunt - and all the on-going administration of contacting businesses, filling in forms, posting fliers and generally spreading the word. Although Brill Parish Council remains an equal partner in all of this, Andy Fisher, Brill Society Chair, is leading on fund-raising - and has taken over negotiations with the vendor.

So, where are we?

• We’re halfway to raising the asking price of £150,000 (thank you everyone)

• The vendor has kindly agreed to extend the time period to allow more time to raise money and plan

• We’ve been turned down by one funding body - but we’re trying another route

And, hot off the press:

• One of The Brill Society’s trustees has offered to buy Barn and Field - and lease it to The Brill Society on a 25 year lease

This seems to be the way forward. The lease arrangement (which would be legally drawn up) would give TBS and Brill Parish Council time to get the money (it won’t take 25 years!) enabling us to buy the Barn and Field from the trustee. Once purchased, both parties would be signatories to the deeds and a community interest company would be created to manage the site, protecting it in perpetuity from unwanted development.

The next fundraising event is Midsummer Music on June 22nd; an 18 hour extravaganza with food, drink and a line-up of fifteen excellent musical acts.

Contact the Hartwell’s Barn project team