Barn at Berwick Farm, Abbess Beauchamp and Bermers Roding (EHER 82927)

This barn is depicted on a map from 1777 and comprises an early 16th or 17th century, largely timber-framed and rendered moated manor house, which underwent extensive alteration and modernisation in the 18th and 19th centuries - notably in 1760 - resulting in the loss of much original fabric. Refurbished in the 1970s, which involved the removal of the original timber frame, alteration of plan form and chimneystacks, the modification of the historic fenestration and door openings, the installment of PVC windows, and the creation of an extension.

Four-bay gabled barn occupying an earler medieval moated site. The present property is depicted on a map from 1777 and comprises an early 16th or 17th century, largely timber-framed and rendered moated manor house under plain tiled roofs which underwent extensive alteration and modernisation in the 18th and 19th centuries - notably in 1760 - resulting in the loss of much original fabric. Further modifications occurred in the 1970s: much of the original timber frame was removed, an extension created, the plan form and chimneystacks were altered, the historic fenestration and door openings have been modified, and the rendered exterior now contains modern uPVC windows. Medieval Period: Barwick Berners/Berwick Farm is a toponym attributed to the site's medieval history and links to the manor of Berwick Hall (EHER 6803) about 1km to its northwest. Domesday survey of 1086: held by Eudo the steward (or Eudo dapifer) and by Geoffrey Martel as tenant of Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex. Eudo died without issue in 1120 and in 1142 his lands, which included Berwick Berners, were granted by the Empress Maud to the then Earl of Essex, also named Geoffrey de Mandeville. Tenancy descended in the Berners family 1220-1515, then acquired by the Capels, whose seat was Rookwood Hall, located just to the SW of the village. Post-medieval period: In 1653, the manor had been acquired by Robert Abdy, whose son John in 1690 conveyed it to John Brand, a London mercer, who was lord of the manor in 1698. By 1708, he had been succeeded by Thomas Brand, who held courts at Berwick Berners in 1708-12 and then by his son, also Thomas, who was holding the manor court in 1741 and who was succeeded in 1771 by another Thomas whose seat was at Hoo in St. Paul's Walden; Berwick Berners subsequently descended along with the manor of Hoo (Powell 1956). Agriculture remained the economic base in this period, and Berwick Berners Hall farm was one of 6 farms of more than 50 acres in size, all of which were tenanted rather than owner occupied. The tithe apportionment for Abbess Roding (1842) records that Berwick Berners Hall farm was in the ownership of the Rt. Hon. Lord Dacre and was occupied by one Joseph Barker, who held it on a yearly tenancy at £310 and was liable for paying the tithe rental charges. In 1870, when the farm was put to auction by Thomas Lord Dacre, it comprised some 285 acres, the manorial rights being excluded from the sale (Powell 1956). Modern period: Joseph Barker (d.1887) purchased the farm in 1870 and it remained in the ownership of his family until 1912, after which the estate was sold to a Mr Henry Cubitt-Nichols. A sale advertisement for the farm at that date indicates that a mixed farming regime (both arable and livestock husbandry) was practised at the farm, with eight ‘capital working’ carthorses mentioned, along with a Hackney cob, five shorthorn cows and other livestock (Chelmsford Chronicle 13 Sep 1912). Cubitt-Nichols died in 1931 and was succeeded by a Mr Norman Stacey who farmed there from 1930 to 1955 and specialised in the production of sugar beet at the farm during the wartime period. Cartographic and aerial photographic evidence: Chapman and Andre’s Map of Essex (1777) is the earliest map to show the site at Berwick Farm (marked as ‘Barwick Berners’) and depicts a series of agricultural outbuildings to the S of the farmhouse including a rectangular N-S range which appears to occupy the approximate location of the existing four-bay barn, although admittedly the 1777 map is somewhat schematic in its depiction of buildings. An Ordnance Survey map of Epping and district dated 1805 again shows a complex of outbuildings to the S of the farmhouse (marked as Barwick Barns) but the level of detail is insufficient to draw detailed conclusions. The Abbess Roding tithe map of 1837 is the earliest map to show the complex of farm buildings to the S of Berwick Hall in appreciable detail (marked as Plot No. 207 ‘Farm yard and buildings’) and appears to show an oblong range aligned N-S in the approximate location of the present barn, with two projecting extensions to the rear and a separate, smaller L-shaped range to the S. The barn appears to have formed part of a larger U-shaped complex of outbuildings ranged around three sides of a courtyard to the S of the farmhouse. The farming regime at Berwick appears to have been primarily arable at that time, based on the evidence of the tithe apportionment, with a relatively small number of fields under pasture. The OS 1st edition map of 1874 shows that significant changes had been made to the barn and the surrounding complex of outbuildings since 1837. The N-S barn appears to have been extended to the S (possibly representing the existing feedstore) and the separate L-shaped range demolished; it appears to have been joined to the barns to the S to form one continuous range of buildings along the E side of the farmyard. The rear of the barn also appears to have been remodelled, with only one projecting extension now indicated to the rear of the building which may be identifiable with the existing outshut lean-to structure. Further changes to the layout of the farmstead are indicated on the OS 2nd edition 25-inch map of 1896 with the construction of an E-W aligned range set at right angles to the southern end of the N-S aligned barn. The rectangular outshut to the rear of the barn is also clearly shown in its present form on the 1896 map. Little noteworthy change to the layout of the farm is indicated on the OS 3rd edition map of 1916, however it appears that Berwick Farm was significantly affected by bombing during the Second World War, with several outbuildings including a fine timbered barn of nine bays being completely destroyed by German incendiary bombs in 1940 (Powell 1956). An oblique aerial photograph of Abbess Roding taken in February 1949 (Plate A) and an OS provisional edition 6 inch map of 1951 show the extent of destruction to the U-plan complex of outbuildings to the S of the farmstead, most of which had been demolished with the exception of the N-S aligned barn and the attached E-W range to the S. It appears that the northernmost bay of the N-S aligned barn had not been converted into a garage by that date, although the E-W range to the S had been substantially enlarged and rebuilt. Monument-specific description: The barn is a four-bay gabled structure located to the south of Berwick Hall, a 17th century farmhouse occupying an earlier medieval moated site. It comprises a two-bay stable, feedhouse and garage, and is of close-studded, timber-framed construction, externally weatherboarded and stands on a low brick plinth, with a lean-to outshut structure of timber-framed construction to the rear of the two central bays. Both the outshut and the feedhouse have suspended timber-floors raised on brick piers, indicating that they were used for the storage of crops or animal feed. Three phases of building activity were identified, the earliest (Phase 1), probably datable to the late 18th/early 19th century, represented by the central two-bay stable range (Compartments B and C) and the northernmost bay (Compartment A) which may have been used as a trap-house or for the storage of tack and harness. These three bays appear to correspond approximately to the north-south aligned structure which is visible on the Abbess Roding tithe map of 1838 and possibly may have been in existence as early as the late 18th century, as an outbuilding in this approximate location is marked on Chapman and Andre’s map of 1777. Compartment A was converted into a garage in the mid-late 20th century and no original features were noted; however, the two-bay stable range has retained its queenpost roof trusses and internal subdivisions for stalls, as well as other fixtures and fittings including wooden hayracks and troughs and tethering rings. Compartment C contains an original stone cobbled floor and its internal stall partition, hayrack and trough have survived in a comparatively better condition than within Compartment B, where the original floor has been replaced with a modern concrete screed floor. The form of the queenpost roof trusses in both compartments is strongly suggestive of an 18th or early 19th century date, although it should be noted that both had been heavily coated with whitewash, obscuring evidence of other diagnostic features such as carpenters’ marks. A secondary phase of construction (Phase 2) is represented by the granary/feedstore range to the south of the two bay stables (Compartment D) which appears to have been added at some tome between 1838 and 1874 (based on the evidence of historic mapping). The feedstore consists of a single-celled rectangular range with a suspended timber floor carried on large square piers, close studded timber-framed walls (with lath and plaster infill) and contains two intact wooden feed bins at the south end of the compartment. Information from <1>.