Granary 130 Metres North West Of Ingatestone Hall

Granary, 130 metres north-west of Ingatestone Hall

A two-storey rectangular granary, orientated roughly north to south, constructed principally of handmade bricks with a timber roof structure and clay peg-tiled roofs. The building features gabled roofs of double-pitch form with distinctive crow-stepped gable ends that match those found on the surviving ranges of the main house. A two-storey gabled porch extension projects from the centre of the main east-facing elevation.

The exterior brickwork shows various areas of repair and replacement in later brick. The original bond is largely indeterminate, though Flemish stretcher bond can be identified in places. Where windows survive, they are of two-light form with arched heads, all blocked internally, some retaining iron bars. A series of blocked arches is visible around ground level on the south and west elevations; a similar feature appears on the main house's south front, though their purpose remains unknown.

The east elevation faces the farmyard and is relatively plain, containing four symmetrically spaced windows (two at ground floor, two above) with a slightly off-centre porch between them. The plinth is discontinuous and much of this elevation shows later reconstruction and repair. The main doorway is wide with steps up to the threshold, and a blocked aperture above may have served as an entrance to the upper porch when it functioned as a dovecote.

The west elevation is largely featureless except for a pair of windows at the south end. At first-floor level at the north end are regularly spaced blocked holes, possibly indicating where another structure previously abutted this wall. The south gable end has two full-height sloped buttresses and retains four single-light arch-headed apertures, blocked internally with brick. A timber louvre sits below the crow-stepped gable. The north gable end is partly subsumed within a late-twentieth-century workshop.

The interior is accessed via a doorway in the north gable wall. The roof structure comprises five bays with a clasped side purlin roof featuring slightly cambered wind braces to each bay. The trusses are of queen-strut form with a pegged central strut; some tie beams also exhibit slight camber. The eastern half of the building is largely obscured by large metal silo bins (disused for some years at the time of survey in 2025). The western section is open to the roof with a concrete floor and a large gully dividing the two floor halves. Two blocked arches below the probable ground-floor level are visible in the west and south walls, similar to exterior examples but not corresponding to the external openings. Upper-level internal brickwork is whitewashed. The porch interior is only partially visible, having been occupied by machinery during survey, with a three-centred arched brick head featuring moulded jambs marking the aperture between porch and main building.