Paston Great Barn

The barn is a long, low building, with a thatched roof, and walls built of brick, flint and limestone, with large doors with timber lintels. The barn was commissioned by Sir William Paston III as a grain store and threshing barn. It is approximately long, wide and high. It has been granted Grade II* listed building status by English Heritage due to its architectural and historical importance. There are three long Victorian wings on the eastern side of the barn, added to house cattle. Unusually for a barn it has two date stones, one over an entrance and one in a gable end. Additionally, a plaque over the south door records: "THE BILDING OF THIS BEARNE IS Bl SIR W PASTON KNIGHTE". In 2002, English Nature took on a 50-year lease of the barn. There is currently no public access into the barn, partly in order to minimise disturbance to the bats, although some educational interpretation at the site is being considered for the future. ==Bats==

The barn is one of only six known maternity roosts in Britain for the barbastelle bat, a species which is rare at a European scale, and it is the only roost in a building. The colony was discovered in 1996. The barbastelles mostly roost in large crevices in timber lintels over the barn doors. Their feeding grounds are believed to include nearby coastal cliffs. Breeding colonies of Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri), brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) and common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) also inhabit the barn. ==References==