The Granary at Cressing Temple

Summary

A former granary and maltings, built in around 1623 reusing early fifteenth-century fabric as part of the post-medieval estate around the Great House at Cressing Temple.

Reasons for Designation

The Granary at Cressing Temple is Grade II* listed for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as the largest pre-industrial granary in Essex;
* for the high quality of the craftsmanship evident in the timber frame and in the archiectural quality of the multi-gabled west elevation.

Historic interest:
* for the evidential value of the reused elements of the building fabric, dating from the early fifteenth century;
* for its origin as part of the complex of buildings constructed to serve the late-Tudor Great House which replaced the preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller;
* as an early example of a free-standing granary;
* as an early example of a maltings built on a large scale.

Group value:
* for the contribution it makes to the exceptional group of listed and scheduled assets at Cressing Temple; including the scheduled monument of the same name, the Grade I listed Barley Barn and Grade I Wheat Barn, the Grade II listed Farmhouse, and the Grade II listed Walled Garden with attached structures.

History

Cressing Temple had been established as a ‘preceptory’ for the crusading Templar knights in 1137. The Templars were suppressed in 1308 and the land passed to the Knights Hospitaller. Their Order was dissolved in England in the Reformation and in 1540 the site passed via the Crown to Sir William Huse. It was then sold to the Smyth family who oversaw its remodelling in the late-C16.

The late-Tudor reinvention of Cressing Temple saw the construction of a ‘Greate House’ which incorporated some of the earlier medieval structures. The house itself was demolished sometime between 1637 and 1758. In the early-C17 the former preceptory site expanded south of the medieval moat and new buildings were established to serve the house and farm, notably the granary.

The granary was built in around 1623 and is the largest of its kind to survive in Essex. At that time, it faced a driveway between the Great House and the road. It had an imposing frontage of four gables, each with a glazed window.

The building’s original function has been subject to differing interpretations; it was once thought that the ground floor was used as a meeting space or court room. Recent revision suggests the ground floor was used as a maltings, and that the brick-built wing at the north-east corner (which may be contemporary with the main range) was originally a malt kiln.

The ground floor of the main range was originally a single open space, while the first floor has always been divided in two.

At the junction of the brick wing and the main range a cistern for steeping grain as part of the malting process was discovered in a 1991 excavation.

A large part of the timber structure of the granary has been reused from an earlier building, dated by dendrochronology to around 1409-1435. This includes many of the studs, some braces, most of the rafters, tie-beams, the wall plates and two posts. Some of the wall plates show evidence of coming from a building with a crown-post roof. In total these timbers may have come originally from two or three different buildings.

There are documentary references to malting at Cressing Temple in the C18 and early C19. By the mid-C19 this use appears to have ended.

During the C19 the building underwent several alterations: doors were inserted into the north and south gables at first floor and grain bins were installed in the southern half of the first floor; the ground floor was subdivided to create stables and a chaff store; the malt kiln fell out of use; the north gable wall was rebuilt; and the current first floor windows were created on the east side.

In the C20 the roof was repaired, the north gable end rebuilt again, a doorway was created into the north room at ground floor, and the leaning southern gable was repaired.

Details

A former granary and possible maltings, built in around 1623 as part of the post-medieval estate around the Great House at Cressing Temple.

MATERIALS

The main range is timber framed, reusing materials from several early-C15 buildings. The north-east range is built of red brick. The walls are covered in render or weatherboard, with the exception of an area of brick nogging, and the roofs are covered in plain tiles.

PLAN

The building is orientated roughly north-south and faces a former driveway on the west side. The ground floor was historically a single open space but now incorporates C19 stables. The first floor is divided in two. The brick-built north-east range has been converted to WCs in the C21.

EXTERIOR

The building is two storeys high and ten bays long with a short rear wing at the north end. It has a pitched roof covered in plain tiles. The building stands on a brick plinth. Most of the building has weatherboarding at ground floor and is rendered above, though the southern bays of the west elevation are close studded with brick nogging.

The long west elevation has two gables (originally four) and three slatted wooden vents. The east elevation has narrow multi-pane windows at first floor and halved stable doors at ground floor. The south gable is fully covered in weatherboards and has a C20 fire escape spiral stair. The north gable has a weathervane at the apex with Essex sabres, and two entrances at ground floor either side of an original brick wall with a three-light window.

The north-east wing is brick built (with a weatherboarded gable facing east), its north elevation has been rebuilt with a large central pair of boards.

INTERIOR

The ground floor can be divided between the former stables accessed from the west, and the separately accessed room at the north end. In both cases the original structure is still clearly visible, allowing the formerly open space of the interior to be understood. Jowled posts with hewn edges support the binding beams. The stables retain numerous historic features associated with their equestrian use, including mangers, troughs, tack hooks, partitions, wall-mounted rings and floor drains. The northern room shows the scars of the former cistern for steeping malt on the west side. Beneath the floor of this room (accessed by a hatch) the archaeological remains of a medieval open hearth are visible.

At first floor the building is divided roughly in half by a closed truss, creating two large spaces. The wall plates include face-halved and bladed scarf joints. There are diamond mortices and shutter grooves for the unglazed windows. Grooves suggest that the building originally had a wattle and daub infill on the external walls. The northern part of the building is open and contains some wide floor boards. The southern part has several C19 grain bins either side of a central aisle. The roof structure is visible and comprises trusses of tie beams, principal rafters and collars. There are joggled butt purlins, and braces from the principal posts to the tie beams.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

116399

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hewett, C A, The Development of Carpentry 1200-1700 An Essex Study, (1969)
Robey, TS, Cressing Temple in Current Archaeology, Vol. 135, (1993), 84-87
RCHME, , An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex: Volume 3, (1922)
Andrews, D, Cressing Temple: a Templar and Hospitaller manor in Essex, (2020)

Other
Essex Archaeology and History (Transactions of the Essex Society of Archaeology and History, 3rd Series), vols. 11-14, 20-31, and 34
Medieval Archaeology (journal), vols 25, 39-41, 47
The Essex Journal, vols. 17, 21, 22, 27 (2)
Vernacular Architecture (journal), vols. 21, 24 and 28

End of official list entry

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