Ancillary Building 25 Metres West Of Church Hall Farmhouse

KELVEDON LONDON ROAD TL 8418-8518 (north-west side)

9/247 Ancillary building 25 metres west of Church Hall Farmhouse

GV II

Ancillary building of uncertain purpose, probably stables, now a garage and store. Early C16. Timber framed, weatherboarded, roofed with handmade red plain tiles. 4 bays aligned NW-SE, with 2 aisles. Lean-to extension at NW end, roofed with red clay pantiles. One storey. Jowled arcade posts and wallposts, heavy studding, wide arched braces to arcade-plates and tiebeams. Slightly splayed and bridled scarfs in arcade-plates. Original transverse partitions. Crownpost roof with wide axial bracing in the 2 NW bays, later thin axial bracing in the 2 SE bays. This unusual building is too small to be a barn; the high quality of timber and carpentry indicate a prestige use, probably stables for riding horses. Purpose-built stables for the Crown are recorded from the late C13 (H.M. Colvin, The King's Works, 1963, I, 919). This manor was held by the Abbot of Westminster (P. Morant, The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex, 1768, II, 150). The nearest equivalent in Essex is at Navestock Hall, Navestock, a manor of the Bishop of St. Paul's. Measured drawings by Anne Padfield will be deposited with Essex Record Office and the National Monuments Record.

Listing NGR: TL8561218279