Prior's Hall Barn
Prior's Hall Barn is a mediæval manorial barn at Widdington in Essex. It is reckoned to be one of the finest surviving mediæval barns in the eastern counties.
The barn is of oak; it has a vast, aisled interior with a crown-post roof, the whole consuming about 400 oak trees in its contruction. Dendrochronology has dated the barn to the mid-15th century. Today the barn is in the care of English Heritage.
History
From soon after the Norman Conquest, the Manor of Widdington was held by the abbey of St-Valery-sur-Somme in Picardy, but such foreign abbeys grew to be an embarrassment during the wars of the Middle Ages and they sent rent money flowing out of the land, so King Edward III confiscated Widdington in 1377 and granted it to William of Wykeham, the Bishop of Winchester. Two years later William founded New College, Oxford, and granted Widdington to the college as part of its endowment. It is likely that the barn we see today was built for the college.
No documentary evidence has been found dating the barn’s construction, but a study of the tree-rings shows that timbers were felled in 1417–42, which fits with the style of the interior.
The barn today
The barn as seen today is practically unchanged from its original construction. Originally though there would have been a partition wall separated the eight bays into three and five.
In the 18th century a raised floor was constructed at the east end with under-floor ventilation for drying corn. The timber groundsills for the walls and aisles were laid on foundations that were originally of flint and mortar, the remains of which can be seen on each side of the eastern porch.
Nearly all the flintwork has since been replaced with 18th century or later brickwork.
References
- Prior's Hall Barn: History and research – English Heritage
- Sherlock, D: Prior’s Hall Barn, Widdington, Essex (English Heritage, 1991)