The Tiptree Tea Room at Cressing Temple is located on a sight steeped in history. After indulging in a Tiptree cream tea, visitors can make their way around the fascinating and outstanding 13th century barns and admire the Tudor herb garden.

Cressing Temple barns is best-known as a captivating medieval moated farmstead located between Witham and Braintree. Matilda Boulogne, wife of King Stephen, founded the manor of Cressing in 1137 and granted this to the mysterious Knights Templar. Within the estate visitors can find the huge Grade I listed Barley Barn, built by the Knights Templar in circa 1206AD. It is said to be the oldest recorded timber-framed barn in the world and next door stands the equally impressive Wheat Barn, built in around 1280AD. Visitors can find one of the best examples of how a Tudor Garden would have looked. The garden offers a tranquil atmosphere and a chance to see and learn about the massive variety of current and historic herbs.

There has been mention of many ‘ghostly encounters’ in and around Cressing Temple in the last few decades. One of the most recent is believed to be ‘a phantom knight’, local legend says that he is buried somewhere on the Cressing Temple estate. In 2009, there was an eerie photograph taken by a fisherman in the middle of the night at a lake near Cressing Temple: the lakeside ghostly mist looks spookily like the apparition of a ghostly knight on horseback.     

Another fascinating tale which is believed to be true is during World War II is that of Winston Churchill hiding one of his cars in the huge barns – now why on earth would he do that? You can learn more about the tea room and Cressing Temple itself on site and perhaps come along and join in at some of the huge variety of events taking place there, including vintage fairs and classic car shows. In 2013, Cressing Temple barns was the location for an episode of BBC’s Antiques Road Show.