The Farmhouse at Cressing Temple

Summary

A multi-phase farmhouse, originally two separate structures dated around 1603 and 1618, combined to form a single house probably in the eighteenth century. Extended in the nineteenth century and repurposed as offices after 1987.

Reasons for Designation

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

Architectural interest:
* for its vernacular architectural quality and craftsmanship, evident in its timber framed structure and use of local materials;
* for the high quality of its surviving interior features, notably the panelled rooms of the southern range.

Historic interest:
* for its complex but legible evolution from two C17 buildings into one large farmhouse;
* for their origin as part of the complex of buildings constructed to serve the late-Tudor Great House which replaced the preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller.

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 Granary, 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 was eventually demolished sometime between 1637 and 1758. The building now known as the farmhouse stands west of the walled garden built to serve the Great House.

The farmhouse itself was originally constructed as two separate structures: a granary dating to around 1603 at the north-east end, and, perpendicular to it, a detached lobby-entry house of around 1618 at the south-west.

The two buildings were joined together by an infill structure in the C18 or C19, and the whole site was further extended with the addition of half a bay on the south-east gable, and lean-to structures to the north and west in the C19.

On the acquisition of Cressing Temple by Essex County Council in 1987 the farmhouse was reused as office accommodation and occasionally for its reception rooms.

Details

A multi-phase farmhouse, originally two separate structures dated around 1603 and 1618, combined to form a single house probably in the C18. Extended in the C19 and repurposed as offices after 1987.

MATERIALS

The building is timber framed, covered in render, and has pitched roofs covered predominantly in plain tiles.

PLAN

The roughly T-shaped plan of the building incorporates two lobby entry layouts.

EXTERIOR

The house has two principal wings forming a T-shaped plan. The northern wing is four bays long with an end stack and a ridge stack. Its principal (east) elevation has multi-pane double-hung sash windows flush with the wall and a canopied doorcase.

The southern crosswing is four bays long with a central ridge stack. Facing south, it has regular fenestration with mid-C19 two-over-two horned sashes; the render of this elevation has been scored in imitation of ashlar masonry.

The roof pitch of the southern crosswing changes asymmetrically, creating an irregular gable at the projecting east end. Within this gable are two windows, and a Tuscan porch at ground floor. On the right-hand return elevation, the roof-covering changes to slate over the shallower pitch.

At the north end of the building a single-storey bakehouse extension has been created, with a pantiled roof.

The rear (west) elevation has two parallel gables at the right-hand side. The rear of the northern range has a catslide roof broken by a two-storey stair compartment with a hipped roof. At left-hand side of the rear elevation is a single-storey gable with a pantiled roof.

INTERIOR

The interior plan has been altered and the walls plastered so that the building’s development from two separate structures is not easily legible internally. The patchwork character of the house’s evolution is reflected in the presence of historic interior features of varied ages.

The earliest visible fabric can be found in some jowled posts, the survival of a clasped-purlin roof structure, and a room of (possibly relocated) small-field Jacobean panelling in the southern range. Most ceiling beams have been boxed-in, though some are visible at the north end of the house.

The original C17 cellar below the southern range is in alignment with the excavated cellar of the Tudor Great House which stood further east, possibly indicating a lost relationship between the two structures.

The stair hall connecting the two wings of the house was built in the C18 or C19. The stair itself has an open string, a square newel post with a ball finial, a broad handrail and carved balusters. The stairs have some similarity with other joinery features including a carved overmantel, all appearing Edwardian in character and may date to the 1903 arrival of the Cullen family.

The earliest visible fireplace has a late-Georgian cast-iron hourglass hob grate within a later surround. Later Edwardian fireplaces exist within the southern range.

Within the former bakehouse is a large bread oven.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

116395

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