In Yorkshire County in northern England, there is a former pigsty that is now operated by The Landmark Trust for those taking a holiday break. And, by appearances, it’s quite a charming getaway and an alternative to a more typical historic hotel experience.
The Pigsty, Robin Hood’s Bay was designed and built by wealthy shipowner John Warren Barry in the late 19th century. According to The Landmark Trust, a charity which rescued and restored the building, the date of its construction is not certain. It’s believed construction was begun in 1889 and completed in 1891.
While pigsties were typically simple structures in a backyard or at other nondescript location on a property, Barry was inspired to provide a more lavish facility for his livestock. Set on a hill overlooking the North Yorkshire countryside and nearby Robin Hood’s Bay, the design was inspired by Barry’s travels around the Mediterranean in the 1880s.
According to stories told by a man who was a young apprentice on the project, Barry changed his mind frequently about the architectural details. Several column styles were considered before settling on the final version. The Landmark Trust notes, “Perhaps this is why the building has a somewhat hybrid quality — neither fully Ionic nor Doric nor Tuscan, but containing elements of all these three styles of Classical antiquity.”
This structure was recently highlighted by The Landmark Trust for Yorkshire Day, a holiday celebrated on August 1 to promote the historic county of Yorkshire. Founded in 1965, upon restoring historic buildings the charity rents them to vacationers. This income goes back into the charity to maintain the buildings. The organization took ownership of the Pigsty in 1988, and then set out to restore and renovate the structure to its current state. A popular site for holiday-takers, The Pigsty, Robin Hood’s Bay sleeps two.
