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Cressing Temple is a medieval commandery of the Knights Templar located in Essex, established in the twelfth century and remaining a significant landholding throughout the medieval period. The site preserves two substantial timber-framed barns of exceptional architectural importance, notably the Wheat Barn and the Barley Barn, which date to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries respectively and represent some of the finest surviving examples of medieval agricultural buildings in England. These aisled structures, constructed with crown-post roof trusses, demonstrate the considerable wealth and resources available to the Templar order at their Essex estates. Following the suppression of the Templars in the early fourteenth century, the commandery passed to the Knights Hospitaller and subsequently into secular ownership, with the barns continuing in use as agricultural buildings into the modern period.
Cressing Temple is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1002122. View the official record →
Cressing Temple is a medieval commandery of the Knights Templar located in Essex, established in the twelfth century and remaining a significant landholding throughout the medieval period. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1002122.
Cressing Temple is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1002122.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Henge 300m ENE of Newbarns Farm (1.7 km), Roman villa, Anglo-Saxon hall, cemetery and church site, around and to the north and east of St Mary and All Saints Church (3.1 km), Great Loyes moated site and fishpond (3.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Cressing Temple's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cressing Temple stands on Thames Group, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.