[4][5][6] On 9 June 1963 lightning set fire to the thatched roof,[7] and it remained a wreck until Michael Eavis, organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, bought it in 1995,[2] and presented the barn to the Pilton Barn Trust.

[8][9] A new roof structure replicating the original, using a combination of traditional carpentry techniques and modern technology,[7] has been built by Peter McCurdy,[7] with skills used when recreating the Globe theatre in London, from English oak which came from Northumberland.

McCurdy was also assisted by a local team run by Jon Maine[10][11] who designed and erected the complex scaffolding both internally and externally, and then used 8000 36"-long oak hand-split (riven) battens to tile the roof with over 30,000 hand-made plain tiles.

It also received the Royal Institute of British Architects Town and Country Design Award in the same year.

[2] It was officially opened on Friday 1 April 2005 by local historian Sir John Keegan, and is now used for public events such as medieval fairs, dances, weddings, parties, Somerset Arts Week and village events.