Oxfordshire Woodland Group

Frequently one sees granary buildings standing on staddle stone (mushroom) foundations in the English countryside.

The explanation for this is twofold i.e. mainly vermin exclusion but also demonstration of ownership of these "chattel" buildings by a tenant farmer rather than by a landlord.

If the building was anchored or secured to the ground then it would have been deemed to belong to the landlord and thus tenant farmers simply set their chattel buildings on top of short pyramidal stone pillar type foundation which in turn sat on top of brick pier foundations.

Above is shown a picture of another granary staddle stone foundation whilst under construction during Apr 2021 where the underlying brick piers can be seen in clearer detail.

The passage of centuries has demonstrated that this building practice is perfectly satisfactory but probably not best employed in earthquake zones.