Norman W. Chase, 32°, K.C.C.H.
10096 Private Road 2331, Terrell, Texas 75160-8739

Cressing Temple, a medieval farm complex in Essex County, England, was home to the Knights Templar of Masonic legend.

Barley Barn, Cressing Temple, c. 1200 and a Master Carpenter, 15th Century MS

I recently came across the December 1995 issue of the Scottish Rite Journal with Ill. Blair Christy Mayford's article about the Holy Land Pilgrimage sponsored by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar. The article brought back memories of a visit my wife and I paid to England in June of 1994 for the 50th celebration of D-Day. This was my first return to the country that I had spent many months in so many years ago, helping to start the Allied invasion of Europe by flying paratroopers over to France.

In the early morning hours of June 5, 1944, just after 1:00 am, after being separated from our formation by a thick cloudbank, we found ourselves flying over a very large flooded area in the Cherbourg Peninsula. Our navigator told us where we were and helped us get oriented. After two futile attempts to gain our objective, being turned back by anti-aircraft fire each time, one of our flying night fighters took the gun position out, and we proceeded to the crossroad that was our drop zone. Our troopers were dropped on target, and we proceeded back to England. The rest is history.

Fifty years later, my English cousins took us to visit a place called Cressing Temple, Essex County, in England. It is an old farm complex founded by the Knights Templar. This was an Order of "warrior monks" founded in 1118 to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Their original vows included poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1128, they adopted the Cistercian observance, which was severe and ascetic, forbidding all luxury and display. They were required to wear white. The Red Cross was only adopted in 1146. In 1139, a papal bull granted them independence from allegiance to any secular or ecclesiastical power other than the Pope. Exemption from taxation was also granted. They grew to become a powerful organization with estates throughout Europe.

Queen Matilda bestowed the Cressing estate upon the Knights Templar in 1137. It is estimated that Cressing at one time was the center of an estate of some 2,000 acres, five mills, two markets, and an annual three-day fair. It had resident Knights, with a Chaplain and officers who ran the estate, and a complement of craftsmen and laborers. The Knights Templar commissioned two huge barns to be built. They are still standing today, much like when they were first constructed. They are two of the most spectacular medieval timber barns in Europe.

In 1308, Pope Clement V conspired with King Philip the Fair of France to suppress the Knights Templar on accusations of heresy, and Cressing Temple passed into the hands of the Knight Hospitaller. In March 11, 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Medieval Knights Templar was burned at the stake. He is said to have called on his persecutors to account for themselves before God within the year. A month later, Pope Clement was dead, and by the end of the year, so was King Philip, whether by natural causes or the hand of man will probably never be known. The Cressing Temple site was sacked during the 1381 Peasants Revolt.

The site today consists of those two huge barns, a farmhouse (c. 1600) that now houses the Site Administration Office, a walled garden (c. 1500), the Court Hall (c. 1580), and the Wagon Lodge (c. 1700). There are also several other smaller buildings. The walled garden was under reconstruction when we visited, and has now been opened to the public. The garden is planted with all the different kinds of shrubs and plants that were there when the Temple was occupied. During our visit, one large fig tree was loaded with fruit. The barns are called respectively, the Barley Barn (c. 1200) and the Wheat Barn (c. 1250). A descriptive brochure notes the following.

Interior of Cressing Temple, Wheat Barn, built c. 1200

1. The Barley Barn is the earlier of the two structures. There is evidence that it was once wider and longer than it is today, and it is believed that the roof, supported by an aisled structure like a church, was originally built to be tiled. These tiles would have been larger than those used today, and the roof would have weighed more than 70 tons. The Barley Barn was altered in the 1500s. The roof structure is noticeably different from the Wheat Barn, and includes several curved bracing timbers. In size it measures 120 feet by 48 feet.

2. The Wheat Barn is the least-altered of Cressing Temple's barns. It measures 130 feet by 48 feet and is a masterpiece of Romanesque carpentry, with soaring timbers giving the building an almost cathedral-like quality. This prolific use of timber is typical of the period. Such huge trees later became scarce, and carpenters had to adapt their techniques to take care of this loss of natural resources into account.

These barns were erected in a single building season between the end of March and the beginning of November. The huge trees that provided the main upright columns had to be squared and prepared in the spring and summer that they were felled. The timbers were used green while the wood was easier to work. The carpenters very cleverly used curved branches or smaller curved trees to form some of the supporting roof joists. Approximately 1,200 joints were cut in the fabrication of just one of the barns. All joints were secured with wooden pegs. Each barn has approximately 80,000 roof tiles weighing about 70 tons.

All of the buildings at Cressing Temple have tiled roofs except the Wagon Lodge, which has a thatched roof common in England. The straw used to thatch this building was grown on the adjacent field at Cressing Temple.

Essex County Council acquired the site in 1987, with help from English Heritage and the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Further aid for major repairs has since come from the European community, in recognition of Cressing Temple's archaeological importance.

Norman W. Chase was raised a Master Mason in Richardson Masonic Lodge No. 1214, Richardson, Texas, on January 15, 1974, serving as Master 1986-1987. He is an affiliated Past Master of Artesia Lodge No. 406, Terrell, Texas. Becoming a Scottish Rite Mason in 1974, he received K.C.C.H. honors in 1983, and is currently a member of the Auditorium Committee of the Dallas, Scottish Rite Bodies. After the loss of his right arm in an industrial accident in 1950, he received his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Florida and spent the rest of his working years as a draftsman with Collins Radio Company, now Rockwell International. Retiring in 1991 at the age of 70, he now relaxes with yard and garden work.