CBN 095 - Prior's Hall Barn Traditional Cache

The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Series

Prior’s Hall Barn is one of the finest surviving medieval barns in the east of England.
In an age when timber was plentiful, and a great barn epitomised the prosperity of a landowner, the building provided scope for the craft of the carpenter on a scale otherwise found only in medieval great halls and church roofs.

Today the only major difference from the original construction is the absence of the great timber partition wall that originally 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.