The Barley Barn
| The Barley Barn | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| General information | |
| Location | Cressing Temple, Essex |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°50′14.1″N 00°36′39.5″E / 51.837250°N 0.610972°E |
| Construction started | c.1220 |
| Owner | Essex County Council |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
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]
History
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]The roof has been tiled from the beginning, and would have weighed close to 70 tonnes.[7]
Conservation
[edit]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]
References
[edit]- ^ . Haag, Michael (2014) The Tragedy of the Templars. Published by Profile Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-84668-451-7
- ^ a b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1123865)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Bettley, James, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Essex: The Buildings of England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007. 313. ISBN 0300116144
- ^ Brown, R. J.. Timber-framed buildings of England. London: R. Hale Ltd. 1997.46-48. ISBN 0709060920
- ^ 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.
- ^ "The barns and medieval carpentry". Friends of Cressing Temple. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- ^ 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)
- ^ "Cressing Temple". The Gardens Trust.