"Round Stone Barn" (Hancock Shaker Village)

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The "Round Stone Barn" was built in 1826. The Round Stone Barn was created in a circular form for several reasons, the primary one being that the shape was simply the most convenient. Inside the barn there are four rings. The inner most is also the smallest and is simply for ventilation. This ventilation is necessary to help draw the moisture out of the hay, and to prevent it overheating. The next ring out is where the hay was stored. It was tossed in from an upper balcony that was over the outer two rings. The third ring out was where the Shaker brothers would walk to distribute the hay in the second ring to the cows standing in the outermost, fourth ring. The barn could hold up to 70 cows at a time. Normally, they would go to the barn twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening to be milked. Once inside the barn they would be put into wooden stantions. From there they would eat complacently while the brothers milked them. The floor of the outermost ring is split level, with the inner part raised up 3 inches so that the milk buckets are not on the same level as the manure.