NHER 60591 (Building record) - Wood Lane Farm

One of twelve so-called 'red barns', built by the East Anglian Property Company in 1936–1937. The barns were painted red, and were next to fields which had obstructions such as hedges and ditches removed, to create one large, flat field. The barns and associated fields were identified by the RAF in 1940 as potential landing grounds for a planned German invasion. The farm owners, all Dutch nationals, were arrested in one night, the barns camouflaged and the fields obstructed (S1). The owners were later released.
The barn is 40m x 25m, with two 5m bays flanking a 15m centre section, accessed by a sliding door in each gable.
The East Anglian Real Property Company were one of the pioneers of sugar beet production in East Anglia. Wade-Martins and Williamson describe the barns as built for the storage of sugar beet (S2).
There are two East Anglian Property Company barns at Sporle, the other being NHER 60592.
K. Hamilton (NHES), 9 February 2015.