Crabb's Farmhouse is a Grade II listed building in the Braintree local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 July 1988. House. 5 related planning applications.

Crabb's Farmhouse

WRENN ID
plain-quoin-river
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Braintree
Constituency
Witham MP: Priti Patel (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
29 July 1988
Type
House
Address
Crabb's Farmhouse, Cranes Lane, Kelvedon
OS grid reference
TL 851 178
Coordinates
51.82895, 0.68481
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

House. Dating to circa 1500 with a 16th-century extension and alterations in the 18th century, it is timber framed and plastered with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. The building comprises five bays facing southwest, representing three distinct phases of construction. The central section of two bays dates to circa 1500, with a later stack positioned to the left, set back from the main axis. To the left of this is a two-bay extension from the 16th century, joined to the original section, with an external stack at its left end. Finally, a single bay section of wider span is attached to the right, structurally separate from the central part, with a central stack. The house has two storeys and a five-window range of 20th-century casement windows. A 20th-century door is situated within a lean-to porch. The left section has a lower roofline than the middle section. The walls of the right section have been raised approximately one metre, creating a roof higher than that of the middle section. All three sections feature jowled posts and heavy studding. The middle section contains a cambered central tiebeam, with the arched braces now missing, and an original chamfered axial beam with run-out stops in the left bay mounted on a ledged post. It also retains external bracing and a crownpost roof, complete with four axial braces; the right bay of this roof appears to be smoke-blackened, suggesting it was not originally fully floored. The left section has plain stops and a cambered central tiebeam complete with two chamfered arched braces. The right bay includes a studded partition to the left, in addition to the end frame of the middle section. The roof was rebuilt in softwood after damage caused by lightning in 1986. An 18th-century north wing, previously mentioned in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, is now a separate cottage.

Local climate

Crabb's Farmhouse sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 680 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 20 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 1 transaction since 2019
  • Related listed building consents — 5 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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  7. Green Leaves Grade II 846 m
  8. Parish Church of St Mary Grade I 868 m
  9. Lingwoods Cottage Grade II 894 m
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