Restoring and maintaining history at Cressing Temple Barns

Read about the much needed maintenance works (as approved by Historic England) recently completed in the Wheat Barn at Cressing Temple.

Posted on 3rd March 2023

We’re pleased to confirm that repairs have been made to re-face sections of the Wheat Barn’s sole plates (the horizontal beams that the barn’s wall rests on) with green oak.

These repairs have been carefully crafted to retain as much of the original timber as possible, so the appearance inside the building remains virtually unchanged.

Wheat Barn
Barley Barn

Wheat and Barley Barn

Maintenance works (as approved by Historic England) have recently been completed in the Wheat Barn at Cressing Temple.

As many of you will know, our historic barns date back to the 13th century and were built by the Knights Templar. They are among the oldest and largest wooden structures of their kind in Europe and some of the few remaining Templar buildings in England.

Further repairs and repointing work have been carried out on the brick plinth of the barn, using a mortar mix and bricks approved by Historic England, with reprofiling of the haunching and addition of tiling to encourage water to fall away from the building.

Some repointing repairs were carried out to the brick plinth in the Barley Barn.

Both barns have had their guttering and downpipes renovated, and the Wheat Barn has had a section of gutter installed where there wasn’t any previously.

We’re pleased to confirm that both barns are now currently open to the public, however the fabric ceiling coverings remain in place, you can find out more here.