Cressing Temple

Coordinates: 51°50′14.05″N 00°36′39.51″E / 51.8372361°N 0.6109750°E / 51.8372361; 0.6109750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the East of England railway station, see Cressing railway station.

The wheat barn at Cressing Temple.

Cressing Temple is a medieval site situated between Witham and Braintree in Essex,[1] close to the villages of Cressing and White Notley. It was amongst the very earliest and largest of the possessions of the Knights Templar in England,[2][3] and is currently open to the public as a visitor attraction.[4]

The site has protection as an ancient monument. The Knights Templar built two barns which are preserved as Grade I listed buildings; one of these medieval barns is claimed to be the oldest standing timber-framed barn in the world.[1][3][5][6][7]

The Knights Templar Preceptory of Cressing

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The manor of Cressing was granted to the Knights Templar in 1136 by

King Stephen close to the main road between London and Colchester, and the road between Witham and Braintree.[3] The Preceptory of Cressing was therefore one of the very earliest Templar estates in England,[2]
It received further grants soon after its founding in the form of property at
feast of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist at the new town of Wulnesforde in the parish of Witham.[2] Later, sometime before his death in 1255, the Templar Peter de Rossa granted over 100 acres of the manor of Rivenhall to Cressing, a parish in which he was parson and lord.[2]

The original 1400-acre site was a considerable agricultural enterprise,

St Mary.[2] The proceeds from the Cressing Temple were all sent to fund Templar activities in the Crusader states in the Middle East.[3]

During the reign of

King Henry VIII granted the manor and lordship of Cressing and the half-hundred of Witham to Sir William Huse and John Smyth, one of the barons of the Exchequer.[2] John Smyth's family held the manor until 1657.[9] Following the Reformation, in the late sixteenth century there was a mansion on the site, now called the 'Great House', but it was demolished in the eighteenth century and only the farmhouse, granary, wagon lodge and stable yards remain. The mid-sixteenth century Tudor brick garden also stands and has been developed by Essex County Council[9] who acquired the barns for the people of Essex in 1987. The farmhouse dates from 1618, and the coach house from 1800.[9]
Extensive archaeological investigations were carried out as part of a programme of improvements and updates in the 1990s.

Cressing Temple Barns

Cressing Temple is the site of two Grade I-listed timber-framed buildings (the thirteenth-century Barley Barn and Wheat Barn, described by historian Michael Haag as "the two finest Templar-built barns in Europe"[3]) and the later Grade II-listed Granary building. Today these are open to the public along with Tudor gardens.[1][4]

The Barley Barn (English Heritage listing 1123865) is an early thirteenth century (c. 1220)[6] barn modified in later centuries,[5] and is the oldest standing timber-framed barn in the world.[3][5] The roof was originally tiled, and would have weighed close to 70 tonnes.[9]

Roof structure of the Barley Barn

The Wheat Barn (English Heritage listing 1123866) was built in around 1280,[9] and was altered in the early 1500s and 1700s.[10] The Granary (English Heritage listing 1123867), built sometime just after 1575,[9][11] is the largest granary in Essex.[11]

Tudor Gardens

A walled garden has been reconstructed as a Tudor garden open to the public.[1][4]

The barns and walled garden are a popular venue for weddings and civil ceremonies.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e www.visitparks.co.uk http://www.visitparks.co.uk/places/cressing-temple/. Retrieved 9 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[title missing]
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39854&strquery=cressing temple Retrieved 9 October 2014
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84668-451-7
    )
  4. ^ a b c "Cressing Temple Barns | Historic Site | Braintree|Essex". www.visitessex.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.[title missing]
  5. ^ a b c Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1123865)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0300116144
  7. ISBN 0709060920
  8. ISBN 978-0-7538-2611-9
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 1-85281-165-X
    )
  10. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1123866)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  11. ^ a b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1123867)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  12. ^ Southall, Adam. "Wedding Bands for Hire in Essex". FixTheMusic.

External links

51°50′14.05″N 00°36′39.51″E / 51.8372361°N 0.6109750°E / 51.8372361; 0.6109750

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