The imposing red building in front of you is one of the few round barns in Quebec. Set within the urban center, against the pastoral backdrop of mountains and fields, it is the only one of the four round barns built in Potton Township still standing today.
Built in 1912 by farmer Robert E. Jersey, this barn adopts an architecture inspired by the New England Shakers which combines functionality and circularity, a symbol dear to this Protestant sect.
The building is composed of three levels: at the top is a vast wooden platform with a central opening around which the hay wagon circulate and into which the hay is unloaded. The hay is stored in the hayloft on the floor below and then conveyed to the barn on the lower floor through four openings in the floor. In the barn, about 50 cows are housed in stalls arranged around a calf pen. The manure accumulates in a narrow circular trench that is cleaned with a mechanical scraper. This ingenious arrangement reduces the workload of the farmers.
The erection of such a building with its large circular roof required great dexterity from its builders. With a diameter of 21 meters, the roof is supported by a hundred beams that converge at a height of nearly 9 meters to form an impressive vault. Complex but very functional, this round shape also offered the structure the advantage of being more resistant to winds.
Listed as a historical monument in 2009, it was sold the following year to the township by its last owner. But the years have taken their toll: the building is warped and requires major restoration. The barn will be preserved thanks to the citizens of Potton who mobilized to finance and lead the renovation work. Now restored, the barn reminds us with emotion of the know-how of the craftsmen who left a rich built heritage in the Township of Potton.
Opposite the barn, on the other side of Main Street, proudly stands the St-Cajetan Catholic Church. It was built in 1950, seventy years after the first Catholic church in Potton was built in 1880. The parish, named to honor St. Cajetan, patron saint of the unemployed and gamblers, was created in 1890 at a time when many French-Canadian settlers flooded into Potton.
In 1921, there were 112 families in the parish, many of whom, such as the Giroux, Laplume, Marcoux and Rouilllard families, contributed greatly to the development of Potton in the 20th century.