Summary

A late fifteenth-century timber-framed aisled barn located on the west side of Lordship Road, within the Writtle University College campus. The barn is historically associated with King John's Palace, a royal hunting lodge established in 1211 by King John. Dendrochronological analysis of the barn's timbers indicates tree-felling dates between 1441 and 1475, suggesting a construction date around 1478. This coincides with a period of significant building activity at the site, likely undertaken either by Henry Stafford, Second Duke of Buckingham (1455-1483), or his grandmother, Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham (about 1408-1480), who held a lucrative jointure with the Second Duke.

Description

A late-C15 timber-framed aisled barn, with later alterations, restored in 1939. Dendrochronological analysis indicates tree-felling dates between 1441 and 1475, suggesting a construction date around 1478, coinciding with a period of significant building activity at the site.

MATERIALS: timber framed, largely of oak but with ash braces and probable elm wall plates, on a brick plinth. It is clad in tarred weatherboard and has a steeply-pitched, half-hipped roof covered with plain clay tiles.

PLAN: it is rectangular-on-plan, aligned east to west, divided into six bays.

EXTERIOR: the north side has identical gabled doorways to the second and fifth bays from the left-hand side. Both have braced and ledged double doors, each divided in half horizontally, with strap hinges and projecting gabled roofs with exposed rafter ends and weatherboarded gables. Pedestrian doors flanking each door to the left-hand side. The first bay has a four-light window and the third and fourth bays have two-light windows, all timber-framed mullion and transoms.

The south side has a double-plank doorways to the second and fifth bays from the left-hand side, both flat headed beneath the eaves. The other four bays all have two-light mullion and transom windows.

The west end has four single-light windows with horizontal glazing bars while the east end is blind.

INTERIOR: the barn, which has exposed framing throughout, comprises a central nave flanked by tall, narrow aisles. It is divided along its length into six bays by seven cross frames comprised of jowled aisle and wall posts, of which the sole plates, which are probably original, stand on replacement brick and concrete sills, while the wall posts are tenoned and pegged into replacement sill beams. The aisle posts are braced by raking shores that rise from the sole plate across the aisle ties to a point just below the aisle plate. The posts are linked at the top, across the central nave, by cambered tie beams to a crown-post rafter roof with braced crown posts supporting a collar purlin, above which the collar rafters are lap-jointed to the common rafters. The aisle and wall plates have edge-halved and bridled scarf joints. As the lower part of the scarf joint lies consistently to the east, it is probable that the barn was assembled from that end. Each bay in the side walls has seven original studs with curved tension braces, with slender studs inserted between them at a later date, probably when the barn was weatherboarded. The exception to this is the two easternmost bays on the north side, which both have small curving braces between the aisle posts and the wall plate, with only one original stud surviving in the latter bay. This suggests that there was an adjoining structure at this point, which suggests was possibly a pre-existing one if the barn was assembled from the east end (Andrews et al, 1997, pp 246). A series of carpenters’ marks, mainly on the posts, braces and aisle ties, possibly relate to the assembly of the trusses, and not to the sequence in which the barn was raised (Andrews et al, pp 245). The gabled end walls feature centre posts, mid-rails, and curved braces. Wattling grooves in the wall studs indicate original wattle and daub infill. Replacement wall plates and absence of braces in the fourth bays from the east end mark the location of the original opposed doorways. The floor is of C20 concrete.

History

The origin of Lordship Barn is intrinsically linked to King John’s Palace, a royal hunting lodge built in 1211 by King John (1166-1216) on a moated site some 130m to the north-west. It served as a royal residence until 1241, when Henry III (1207-1272) granted it in fee to Isabel de Bruce (1199-1251), the grandmother of Robert de Bruce, King of Scots (1274-1329). The de Bruce family retained ownership until 1306, when the estate was forfeited and acquired by Humphrey de Bohun, Fourth Earl of Hereford (about 1276-1322).

In 1400, Anne de Bohun (1383-1438) inherited the estate, which subsequently passed to her son, Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford (1402-1460), later created First Duke of Buckingham in 1444. Following his death at the Battle of Northampton in 1460, he was succeeded by his four-year old grandson, Henry Stafford, Second Duke of Buckingham (1455-1483). Due to his age, Henry’s lands were held by his grandmother, Anne Neville (about 1408-1480), Duchess of Buckingham, as part of her dower. Anne continued to reside at Writtle after her husband’s death and is known to have added the manor’s living quarters.

In 1473, at the age of seventeen, Henry received special livery of some of his grandfather's estates. However, the majority remained under the Duchesses control until her death in 1480. Henry was executed for treason in 1483 by Richard III (1452-1485), and his estates were forfeited. His son, Edward Stafford (1478-1521), was restored as Third Duke of Buckingham in 1485, but was executed for treason by Henry VIII in 1521. The estate was subsequently seized by the Crown.

In 1533, Mary I (1516-1558) granted the Writtle estate to Sir William Petre (1502-1572), her Secretary of State. The estate remained in the Petre family until 1936, when it was acquired by the Essex Institute of Agriculture, now Writtle University College.

Archaeological excavations undertaken between 1955 and 1957 by PA Rahtz on behalf of the Ministry of Works (Rahtz, 1969) identified three main building phases at the site, all supported by contemporary documentary evidence. The first phase, from 1211 to the de Bruce tenure in 1306, included the construction of a manorial hall, kitchen, chapel, moat bridge, gatehouse, and gaol. This layout continued into the second phase, from around 1306 to 1425, which is associated with the de Bohun family. By 1419, a courtyard outside the moat had been laid out which, accessed via a second gatehouse, contained residences for estate staff and agricultural buildings including three barns, a stable, cow shed, ox house, and dovecote. The third and final phase, between 1425 and 1521, marked a significant departure from the earlier layout. New buildings were constructed in the north and west of the site, including a porter’s lodge, ewery, and counting house, and many existing structures were repaired. Although Rahtz references financial records from 1442-1478 to provide evidence for this work, Lordship Barn is not specifically mentioned, likely due to the selective nature of his account.

Dendrochronological analysis conducted in the 1990s gave tree felling dates of between 1441 and 1475, suggesting a likely construction date of 1478. This places its origin during the tenure of Henry Stafford, Second Duke of Buckingham, or possibly under the patronage of Anne Neville, the Dowager Duchess, who held a lucrative jointure with the Second Duke. Ullmann (1978) notes that, during this period, her receivers sent all her net profits to her preferred residences at Writtle and Kimbolton.

The earliest known documentary reference to Lordship Barn appears in a 1521 estate survey following Edward Stafford’s death, describing it as a “faire barne for hay” standing outside a base court.

By 1566, a survey confirmed the demolition of the manor house and ancillary buildings, with only “one great barne” (Lordship Barn), a large carp pond, and the moat earthworks remaining. The barn, moat, and pond are depicted on successive Ordnance Survey 25-inch maps published in 1876, 1896, and 1921, during which time the barn formed part of a farmstead known as Lordship Farm, whose farmhouse (now demolished) stood on the east side of Lordship Road. The 1876 OS map shows a small extension abutting the barn’s west end and a building adjoining its north-west corner. By 1939, the addition at the west end had been removed, and the building adjoining its north-west had been replaced with a detached structure (now demolished) on the same footprint.

In 1939, the barn was restored by Essex County Council in association with its use by Writtle Agricultural College. It is likely that the brick plinth and concrete floor date from this period.

Reasons for Listing

Lordship Barn, a late-C15 timber-framed barn, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a comparatively rare and legible example of a late-C15 timber-framed aisled barn;
* it retains a significant proportion of its timber frame which provides important evidence of the development in building practices, materials and styles of carpentry, and also ensures its continued legibility.

Historic interest:

* as the most conspicuous survival of the royal manor of Writtle, which originated as a hunting lodge established in 1211 by King John;
* it contributes to our wider understanding of the development of timber-framed buildings in the medieval period;
* in its scale, section and framing detail, the building is illustrative of late-medieval vernacular building traditions in Essex, particularly the raking shores;
* it bears witness to the scale and organisation of farming on a major estate.

External Links

• Wikidata Q17545167

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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