26: The Bark Store

Barklade fra Langeland, nu i Den Fynske Landsby.

Barklade fra Langeland, da den stadig lå i Tolsbjerg skov.

Intro

The Bark Store (no. 26) is from the island Langeland south of Funen. The store tells the story of a niche production in forestry on Funen, i.e. bark processing.

Building history The early history of the building is virtually unknown. Being an isolated building it was probably never insured. As a consequence, it is not possible to use the fire insurance archives to discover its age and function. When The Funen Village acquired the building, no-one remained who could remember that it had been used in the bark industry. But it had never been referred to as anything other than the Bark Store. As forestry has been carried out in the area for centuries, it is, however, likely that the building has, in previous times, served as its name suggests. In the period prior to its transfer to the Museum, the building had primarily housed forestry implements and hunting parties who sought shelter from the weather.
Building tradition The Bark Store is built with a robust oak timber frame. Solid oak posts bear the roof construction both in the walls and internally along the central axis of the building. The solid construction was to ensure that the loft could bear a heavy store of bark. The panels are covered with two-inch-thick oak planks attached with hand-forged nails. This wooden cladding is a rarity. Most of the known stores of the same type were clad with wattle, with or without daub. The fact that it was decided to use the very robust and durable oak timber cladding for a service building of this character bears witness to the economic capacity of the estate.

When taken over by the Museum, the building stood in the forest of Tolsbjerg Skov, at the manor of Lykkesholm on Southern Langeland. An oral account reveals that it previously had stood in the forest at the manor of Broløkke, 4-5 km further south. Building investigations revealed that the timbers were numbered with two sets of numbers. This supports the idea that the building had been dismantled and re-erected. The removal presumably took place prior to 1877. The Bark Store was dismantled and re-erected in The Funen Village in 1997.