The Barn And Attached Ancillary Buildings

An 18th-century barn with attached ancillary buildings, located north-west of Feering Hill. The barn is timber framed and has weatherboard cladding, with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. It has seven bays aligned north-east to south-west, with a midstrey facing south-east. A red brick lean-to extension forms a catslide roof with the midstrey roof on the east angle, and another lean-to extension forms a catslide with the main roof on the south angle.

An 18th-century, two-bay stable range is attached to the north-west of the north-east bay, with a small lean-to extension to the southwest of the north-east bay, and a further 19th-century ancillary building extends beyond that. The south-east elevation, facing Feering Hill, has double vehicle doors in the midstrey, weatherboarding above, a plain boarded door in the right lean-to and a single C19/20 fixed light to the left of the midstrey; approximately 4 metres of the wall from the left corner is cement-rendered. The main roof and midstrey roof are half-hipped.

The north-west elevation has double vehicle doors to the threshing bay and two C19/20 fixed lights. The foundation of tarred bricks in English bond varies in height from 0.5 metres at the left end to 1.5 metres at the right end, due to the ground gradient. The southwest elevation features double garage doors, single garage doors and a brass bell pivoted on a wrought iron bracket. The southwest elevation of the first ancillary range includes a garage door and a 19th-century halved stable door; the second range has three 20th-century casement windows and two plain boarded doors.

Inside the barn, there are jowled posts, heavy studding and wallplates grooved for the original wattle and daub infill, which has been removed. There are arched braces to the tiebeams. Near the southwest end, a cross-wall of late timber framing with primary straight bracing is infilled with brick to wallplate level, and the main walls are infilled with late brickwork. The last internal tiebeam at the northeast end lacks arched braces. The barn has a clasped purlin roof. The ancillary ranges have lighter timber framing and unjowled posts, with arched braces to the middle tiebeam of the first range.

The barn was shown on a tithe map of 1843 as Feering Mill (Farm) and is documented in the Essex Record Office (D/CT 137).