Barn Approximately 60 Metres South West Of Moat At New Hall Farm

This is a 16th-century barn located approximately 60 metres southwest of the moat at New Hall Farm. It is a timber-framed structure, with brick nogging and weatherboarding, and a tiled roof. The barn comprises eight bays aligned roughly north-south, with a single aisle on the west side. Originally divided by a partition into five bays to the south and three to the north, two midstreys were added later, likely in the 17th century.

The barn is situated on a sloping site, and incorporates original brick footings in English bond, featuring one course of oblique tiles below the groundsills which vary in height from 0.75 to 2 metres. Most of the original groundsills remain. The structure showcases jowled storey posts, arched braces to cambered tie-beams, arched arcade braces, and plain crownposts with thin curved braces to the collar-purlin. A single curved brace rises from each tiebeam, on alternate sides at each post. The original roof had a half-hip design. A section of original wattle and daub can be seen in the partition. The long east wall features original brick nogging executed in six different geometrical designs. Plain brick nogging is present on half of the south wall, with the remaining walls, and the north wall, displaying fixings for the original wattle and daub which has since been replaced by weatherboarding. All posts and studs in the brick nogged sections are concave-sided to secure the nogging. The Tudor-style bricks are approximately 5cm high. The low wall of the west aisle is now weatherboarded, but retains fixings indicating that it originally had vertical weatherboarding, and rebates show that large doors originally opened outwards. A complete series of carpenters’ assembly marks are visible on posts, braces, and partition studs.

The barn is exceptionally significant as an early example of brick nogging and a late example of crownpost construction. The brick nogging, a relatively expensive material, was used sparingly and in a flamboyant Tudor style on the southeast and east elevations, suggesting a deliberate display of wealth. It is the sole surviving building of a manorial complex that included a large brick-lined moat, an E-plan house with a two-storey porch, and a court-hall, believed to have been constructed by Sir Thomas Josselyn around 1544. While parts of the house, chapel, and gatehouse were documented in 1914, the remainder was destroyed in 1943. Field names indicate the presence of two brick kiln sites near the house, where the bricks were likely produced. Further details are available at the Essex Record Office.