Colchester Archaeological Trust

CAT Report 1972: summary

Historic building recording at Wakerings Farm, Leighs Road, Great Leighs, Essex, CM3 3NH:July 2023
by Sarah Veasey

Date report completed: October 2023
Location: Wakerings Farm, Leighs Road, Great Leighs, Essex, CM3 3NH
Map reference(s): TL 73438 14464
File size: 14,628kb kb
Project type: Historic building recording
Significance of the results:
Keywords:

Summary. A programme of historic building recording was carried out by Colchester Archaeological Trust at Wakerings Farm, Leighs Road, Great Leighs, Essex in July 2023. The recording detailed a complex of four agricultural ranges, the oldest of which was a fivebay threshing barn. The carpentry techniques used in the barn indicate a construction date no later than the 16th century. The timber-frame comprises all hand-sawn timbers, with jowled posts and concealed tension bracing. A midstrey was added to the barn in the mid 19th century. Cartographic evidence indicates that throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the building complex at Wakerings Farm was repeatedly added to, extended and rebuilt, indicative of a farm that was flourishing and evolving to keep up with the constantly changing demands of the farming industry.