The Barley Barn

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The Barley Barn
Barley Barn - geograph.org.uk - 4264362.jpg
The Barley Barn
General information
Location Cressing Temple, Essex
CountryEngland
Coordinates 51°50′14.1″N00°36′39.5″E / 51.837250°N 0.610972°E / 51.837250; 0.610972
Construction startedc.1220(804 years ago) (1220)
Owner Essex County Council
Listed Building – Grade I
The midstrey (porch) of the Barley Barn Barley Barn entrance doors - geograph.org.uk - 4264374.jpg
The midstrey (porch) of the Barley Barn
Roof structure of the Barley Barn The Barley Barn Roof Structure.JPG
Roof structure of the Barley Barn

The Barley Barn is an architecturally important medieval barn, part of a complex of farm buildings at Cressing Temple, Essex, England. The barn was built for the Knights Templar in the early thirteenth century (dendrochronological analysis has given a date of around 1220). It has been claimed to be the oldest standing timber-framed barn in the world. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The manor of Cressing was granted to the Knights Templar in the 12th century, and they are assumed to have commissioned the barn. Scientific evidence suggests a felling date for the timber of the barn of around 1220. [3] [4]

Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312. [5] The estate at Cressing passed to the Knights Hospitaller. It has since had other changes of ownership. The barn was modified in later centuries, [2] but remained in agricultural use until recent times.

Architecture

The Barley Barn is 38 metres (125 ft) long and 14 metres (46 ft) wide. Its construction displays 13th century features such as the use of straight square-section timber, passing braces, and certain types of joints and methods of assembly. [6]

Roof

The roof has been tiled from the beginning, and would have weighed close to 70 tonnes. [7]

Conservation

The Barley Barn is a Grade I listed building. Essex County Council acquired Cressing Temple in the 1980s and it has been converted into a heritage attraction. [8]

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References

  1. . Haag, Michael (2014) The Tragedy of the Templars. Published by Profile Books Limited. ISBN   978-1-84668-451-7
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1123865)". National Heritage List for England .
  3. Bettley, James, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Essex: The Buildings of England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007. 313. ISBN   0300116144
  4. Brown, R. J.. Timber-framed buildings of England. London: R. Hale Ltd. 1997.46-48. ISBN   0709060920
  5. Barber, Malcolm (1995). The new knighthood : a history of the Order of the Temple (Canto ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. xxi–xxii. ISBN   978-0-521-55872-3.
  6. "The barns and medieval carpentry". Friends of Cressing Temple. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  7. Strachan, David (1998). Essex from the Air: Archaeology and history from aerial photographs. Published by Essex County Council Planning Dept. ( ISBN   1-85281-165-X)
  8. "Cressing Temple". The Gardens Trust.