Located in rural village of Carlton Coleville, Rookery Barns were historically part the farmstead of the Rookery Farm. In 1972, land surrounding the farmstead was purchased and transformed from agricultural land to a golf course, which opened in late summer 1975.
The barn complex comprised of historic and modern barns and in 2020, Rookery Park Golf Club obtained planning permission to convert the barns into six dwellings. Whilst the historic barns are not listed and therefore not afforded the protection of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, they were deemed to be non-designated heritage assets.
The National Planning Policy Framework allows for such assets given a material consideration in the planning system. As such a condition attached to the planning decision required the town historic barns to be recorded at Level 2 as set out in Historic England’s document Understanding Historic Buildings; A Guide to Good Recording Practice (2016).
In 2021, Heritage Unlimited were engaged to carry out a Level 2 Building Recording for the two 19th century brick barns, which had been used for various agricultural uses over their lifetime. The record included photographs, archival research, historic maps and a descriptive account.
