History

The area around The Barn at Beal is part of a dynamic landscape, which has been subject to change through a combination of environmental, social and economic factors.

A principle factor in the settlement of the area came in 793 with the raids on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne by Viking raiders. The immigration continued over the following years, until it was noted that by 876, the Anglo Saxons dominated the region and, “Shared out the lands of the Northumbrians” between themselves.

From these times approaching the medieval period, Northumberland was populated mainly by small groups of houses and villages which went out of existence as quickly as they were established due to a constant state of warfare and feuding within these “Debatable lands”. A village at Beal was first recorded in the early 13th century.

In 1603, the union of the English and Scottish crowns brought peace and prosperity to these once volatile borderlands and allowed the establishment of permanent settlements with agriculture becoming a viable economic industry and bringing about the planting of thousands of miles of hawthorn hedging as permanent field systems were established.

Thanks to thriving economic prosperity, agriculture entered a phase of technological innovation in order to aid productivity and reduce waste such as the seed drill and the iron plough drawn by teams of horses. The prosperity at Beal Farm during these times is evident by the presence of a dovecott dating from the 18th Century which was once seen as an acknowledged symbol of high status.

During these times thanks to the generally rich silt-heavy soils, the area became the “breadbasket” of Northumberland, providing much of the cereal for the livestock farms further inland as well as for flour mills, brewers and malsters. During this so called, Agricultural Revolution, granaries were built to centrally house grain at nearby West Kyloe supplying Berwick and further down the coast by sea transport.

However, not all voyages were successful and the remains of two stricken ships lie in the sands at Beal near Crag End.

With the rapid introduction of technology in the years following the industrial revolution, the social landscapes of farming and the farmsteads changed dramatically. Where once agriculture was hugely labour intensive requiring gangs of labourers and their families all year round, now inventions such as the tractor, binder and threshing machines meant that it was now possible to complete tasks faster with far less labour
input.

Consequently the make up of farmsteads changed with less cottages required by workers and their families, and more buildings specifically developed to house machinery - In fact, like the principle building of the Barn at Beal which was probably constructed as a storage area for one or two ploughing engines and their associated implements.

Wartime brought changes to the landscape in the form of sea defense blocks and concrete pillboxes as well as the construction of a radio surveillance system located near the shore. However it was probably the populations need for increased food production in the post war periods which brought about the most dramatic environmental changes to the farms in this area. Increased production meant farmers had to adopt more intensive production methods.

Larger machinery meant field sizes needed to increase to accommodate them and some hedgerows and trees were removed as well as the draining of marginal wetlands to make more agriculturally viable acres.

As agriculture developed into a global business thanks to improvements in transport and logistics, this need for food subsided as foreign food imports meant less reliance on regional producers. For the consumer, this meant the availability of any foodstuff all year round and reduced the reliance on the natural seasonality of produce.

As this global trade in agricultural produce became the norm and with much of the consumers weekly shopping made up of a high proportion of often subsidised, imported goods, brought about a severe downturn in the economic fortunes of agriculture as a business and farmers found themselves forced to diversify and adapt to a changing economic climate in order to survive.

Greater public awareness in food production and concerns over the environmental impact of such international “Food Miles” has created an opportunity for producers to market their own produce direct to an ever growing customer base. In turn this has also introduced more and more consumers to the qualities of locally produced seasonal food.

While such obvious outlets have been suitable for some producers, others have pursued diversification projects of a different nature, including tourism based schemes such as developing vacant farm cottages into holiday units or bed & breakfast establishments.

Tourism and a general awareness of environmental issues such as climate change has created opportunities for farmers who now have the incentive to develop areas of sustainable environmental diversity to encourage native wildlife and bio-diversity. Working with organisations such as Natural England, Beal Farm which is located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has several areas designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)