One of London’s oldest buildings re-thatched with 30 tonnes of reed in restoration project Work has officially started on a mammoth 12-month project to rescue a 15th century Tithe Barn in Upminster from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register The register gives an annual snapshot of the health of England’s valued historic buildings and places and helps to ensure they can be protected and continue to be enjoyed in the future The structure was identified as being at risk and added to the register in 2023 and through the Lower Thames Crossing scheme £650,000 of funding is helping to restore the building Thanks to close partnership between National Highways and Historic England this funding will help safeguard the building and secure its future The barn is protected as a scheduled monument the highest level of heritage protection.  The Tithe Barn dates from a time when England was in the midst of an economic crisis known as the Great Slump rents and what was deemed to be acceptable levels of royal taxation This played a part in civil uprisings and the outbreak of civil war in 1455 between the Houses of Lancaster and York subsequently known as the War of the Roses The first phase of restoration includes re-thatching the roof plus repairs to structural timbers and historic brickwork Heritage Advisor for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing said: “As well as being recognised as a building of historical significance the Tithe Barn in Upminster plays a fundamental part in helping to preserve our heritage and educate future generations of our collective history “The barn dates from around 1450 and is originally part of the Waltham Abbey estate It is thatched with water reed and at 44 metres long is one of the largest thatched barns in Britain The re-thatching is no mean feat for the team of specialists.” Four master thatchers and two apprentices are hard at work re-thatching the barn said: “We’re delighted to be working together with National Highways Lower Thames Crossing scheme and all our partners “The start of the thatching works is an exciting milestone and will be a stunning feature of the barn when the restoration is completed Havering is very proud to have this building as part of the borough’s very proud history “The works being carried out will mean we can keep another part of our heritage alive for our residents now and for future generations to come.” The reed is around 2m in length and around 11,000 bundles will be used The finishing touch will be a pair of boxing hares as finials on top of the new thatched roof which is expected to last between 50 and 60 years Historic England is boosting the barn’s restoration with a £97,664 grant along with ongoing specialist advice and support This funding covers further essential work including timber repairs and treatment of all the external woodwork Historic England added: “Securing the support of National Highways has been instrumental in getting the repair and restoration of this exceptionally important building off the ground By working together we have developed a conservation scheme that will secure the tithe barn’s future and remove it from the Heritage at Risk Register Watching the thatchers at work really demonstrates the skill care and attention needed to look after our most precious historic places so that they can be loved for longer.” The work is being carried out by Lexden Contracts Ltd specialists Essex Oak Frame Ltd, Simply Thatch Ltd and design team Purcell, Conisbee and Stace Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city Published on 30th January 2025 by ianVisits in History Last week, it was announced that one of London’s last thatched roofs was being replaced there was an invitation to see it up close The Upminster tithe barn is a short walk from the tube station and sits down a side road a long rectangle of protective scaffolding loomed over the visitor Although its thatched roof has been replaced several times and there have been some repairs it’s substantially the same barn that its original builders would have recognised recent research suggests it was probably just a local barn for the abbey that owned the land around here the idea that it’s a Tithe Barn has been ingrained for so long that mere facts don’t really matter now — it’s always going to be the tithe barn Due to the deteriorating state of the roof the barn was put on Historic England’s Buildings at Risk register a couple of years ago While being put on a register saying your building is in a poor state of repair sounds like a bad thing it can be a blessing in disguise as it raises the profile of the problem and can help to unlock funding grants for repairs were able to secure £650,000 of central government funding via the National Highways Heritage Fund Rising costs saw Historic England top up the funding with an additional £97,664 and also provide advice on the restoration work conservation work finally got underway last year only after a bat inspector found a bat and moved it to a new bat box in the nearby woods While the roof restoration is visually the most obvious repair a lot of work has been carried out to stabilise and repair the barn timbers and undo some of the bad decisions of the past some of the timbers were mounted onto concrete posts which was thought to protect them from rot That increases damage rather than prevents it the roof was removed late last year so that the replacement could arrive The reeds used on thatched roofs are fairly waterproof as that’s what makes them so good for roofs they are really bad at rotting down when removed when their lifespan is over So what do you do with 17 tonnes of 50-year-old thatched roof it makes for very good mulch to put around plants and if you visit one of Havering Council’s public parks and see fresh mulch added recently it’s probably the shredded remains from Upminster Barn’s roof Sadly the British weather was particuarly British last year they couldn’t wait to see what this summer might be like so took the pragmatic decision to import 17 tonnes of thatching reeds from Turkey the team of six thatchers have managed to pretty much complete the job At time of the visit they were working on the top ridge and finishing off the detailing work Something else to go in the top before they finish though will be a time capsule being supplied by local schools which is roughly when the roof will next need to be rethatched again Apart from the appearance of the newly thatched roof there’s the smell — of a very clean horse stables where there’s loads of hay around but none of the muck An initial thought was to not cover the barn in scaffolding to cut costs but stripping off the old roof would have left it exposed to the weather for a few weeks and that was considered too much of a risk 100 huge water tanks dotted around the barn are used to prevent the weather from blowing it away Inside the barn there’s ever more scaffolding to hold up an internal floor and give the timber restorers access to the upper areas they’ve tried to be minimally invasive only replacing whole timbers where repairs are not possible new pegs are used to secure the posts in the traditional way which has led to a debate about whether the pegs should be cut flush or left proud It’s the sort of debate where there’s no correct answer but it can provoke lengthy debates about the merits of both The barn has chosen the expressed pegs option and the craftspeople working on the site will be encouraged to leave their “masons marks” on the new timbers Sourcing the replacement timbers nearly proved a problem as the restoration of the Notre Dame in Paris used so much of the ideal long thick timbers they needed that there’s been a bit of a shortage of the right sort to use for this restoration It’s also a slightly surreal experience to be inside the barn just underneath the roof while the thatchers outside thump away with their mallets delivering dull thumps just above your head as you walk around the scaffolding they are also installing some modern lighting to replace the old incandescent hot bulbs and a new lightning conductor will provide necessary protection that the barn has long lacked In a few months time, the craftspeople who have been working on the barn will leave, the scaffolding will come down, and the Museum of Nostalgia will prepare to move back in again it will be reopened to the public this springtime (update – they’ve just announced it’ll be closed for the rest of 2025 The restoration has been carried out by Lexden Contracts The new thatched roof should also pave the way for the tithe barn to be removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register later this year This website has been running now for over a decade, and while advertising revenue contributes to funding the website, it doesn't cover the costs. That is why I have set up a facility with DonorBox where you can contribute to the costs of the website and time invested in writing and research for the news articles It's very similar to the way The Guardian and many smaller websites are now seeking to generate an income in the face of rising costs and declining advertising Whether it's a one-off donation or a regular giver every additional support goes a long way to covering the running costs of this website and keeping you regularly topped up doses of Londony news and facts If you like what you read on here, then please support the website here Thank you for the excellent and informative article on the Upminster Tithe Barn I live locally and have enjoyed reading about the history and restoration of the Barn I look forward to receiving the weekly IanVisits emails in my Inbox and reading about all the interesting things there are to see and do in and around London and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" and the latest news published on ianVisits You can unsubscribe at any time from my weekly emails © ianVisits