Prior’s Hall Barn, Widdington, Essex, UK
Posted by: 
bill&ben
N 51° 57.797 E 000° 14.127
31U E 310074 N 5760564
Prior’s Hall Barn is one of the largest medieval barns in South East England.
Waymark Code: WMC4DX
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/24/2011
Views: 1
After the Norman Conquest, Widdington was given by William the Conqueror to the abbey of St Valery-sur-Somme in Picardy. In the reign of Edward III Widdington was confiscated and given to the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishop formed New College, Oxford and endowed it with Widdington, Priors Hall Barn being built for the college.
Tree ring dating shows the timbers for the barn were felled between 1417 and 1442. The statistics of the barn are awe inspiring. The barn is about 40 metres long, 13 metres wide and 13 metres high. It is partitioned into eight bays with a raised granary floor (18th century addition) at one end and two great porches used for unloading the harvest. The impressive roof has 71 pairs of upper rafters and the whole barn was made of 900 pieces of timber from about 400 trees.
The barn was semi derelict by the mid 1970s, when English Heritage stepped in and started a restoration project. The barn is open, with free admission, from 1st April to 30th September on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm.
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