Barn Approximately 45 Metres East Of Great Lodge

TL 62 NE GREAT BARDFIELD BRAINTREE ROAD (east side)

5/127 Barn approx. 45 metres s 2.5.55 east of Great Lodge (Formerly listed with GV I Great Lodge)

Barn. Early C16. Red brick in English bond, roofed with corrugated iron. Rectangular plan aligned approx. N-S, internal span approx. 10 metres, length approx. 24 metres, with central threshing floor and large entrance to each side. The gable ends have 5 tiers of loops with internal splays and timber lintels, the lowest tier blocked externally. The side walls have 2 tiers of similar loops, all blocked externally. The E entrance has a brick arch rebuilt in the C18/C19; the W entrance is supported by a rolled steel joist, but retains the original brickwork above. The N half has a modern inserted floor, with ladders and platforms to the peak of the roof. The roof is constructed in 8 bays, with a higher truss over the threshing floor than elsewhere. This truss is of arch- braced collar construction with one vertical and 2 raking struts to a higher collar, and 2 raking struts above. All the other trusses are of king-post construction, 2 of the king-posts being forked at the base. They stand on unusually long tiebeams (10 metres), 6 of which are scarfed. The scarfs are all splayed and tabled, with central keys and square undersquinted butts, a construction normally associated with C13 and C14 buildings. In this building most of the scarfs are face-splayed, a form not known elsewhere. The tiebeams are on wallpieces supported on timber corbels, with arched braces from the wallpieces. There are 2 raking struts from each tiebeam to each principal rafter, and 2 more raking struts from each side of the king-post to each principal rafter. In each roof pitch there are 3 purlins, the middle purlins butt-jointed to the principal rafters, the common rafters butt-jointed to the middle purlins and supported by the upper and lower purlins. There are curved wind-braces above the middle purlins to the principal rafters. The common rafters are jointed at the apex, without a ridge-piece. This construction is unique in Essex, and may be unique in England. The barn is the only surviving building from what was a royal manor up to the time of Henry VIII, which was granted to Anne of Cleeves at the annulment of their marriage in 1540. The scale and construction indicate a royal building of the time of Henry VIII, but it is also possible that it relates to the period of Anne of Cleeves and is the work of continental craftsmen. (C.A. Hewett, English Historic Carpentry, 1980, figure 248, page 264). RCHM 3.

Listing NGR: TL6948929061