National Highways and Historic England have signed a landmark agreement to protect and promote England’s heritage, which will include buildings such as the Upminster Tithe Barn.
Havering Council Leader Ray Morgon and Cabinet member for Environment, Councillor Barry Mugglestone, were present earlier this week (Monday 2 June 2025) at the recently restored barn in Hall Lane, as the Chief Executives of National Highways and Historic England signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the historic venue.
The agreement lays out how National Highways and Historic England will work together to conserve and enhance sites of heritage significance.
With the completion of the repair works now done at Upminster Tithe Barn, there was more good news as Historic England confirmed the barn will also be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register.
The funding for the repair of the barn saw the Council contributing £142,645 along with a grant of £650,000 from National Highways via the Lower Thames Crossing scheme and an additional grant of £97,664 awarded by Historic England.
The works included full re-thatching, plus structural timber and brickwork repairs to the building. The next stage is to fundraise for a heating system and facilities to be installed, so that the barn can be used more widely.
Along with the new golden thatch of water reed, the barn is topped with a pair of straw hares. They have been named Willow and Hunter by children in Year 5 at nearby Branfil Primary School.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:
“We’re delighted that with restoration works now completed at Upminster Tithe Barn, National Highways and Historic England have signed The Memorandum of Understanding.
“This will help to ensure that the conservation and enhancement of Upminster Tithe Barn as a site of heritage significance, can continue.
“As the owners of Upminster Tithe Barn, we’re very proud to have this building as part of the borough’s esteemed history.
“To also know that the barn will also be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register, is great news.
“We are very excited that we can help keep another part of our heritage alive for our residents now and for future generations to come.”
The building itself is one of the largest thatched barns in the country and has been dated to 1430-1450 and is a Scheduled Monument.
It is one of the earliest surviving buildings in the borough.
National Highways Chief Executive, Nick Harris, said:
“I am delighted to see the positive outcome we have achieved here in Upminster by working together and to sign this agreement.
“National Highways is committed to conserving and enhancing heritage assets around the strategic road network.
"The agreements signed will help to make the high standards achieved on this project become the norm across our other work together.”
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:
"The magnificent restoration of Upminster Tithe Barn demonstrates the powerful benefits of working together to protect our irreplaceable heritage and delivery of positive outcomes for people and communities alike.
“The partnership with National Highways shows how infrastructure projects and heritage protection can go hand in hand successfully.
“We look forward to building on this collaborative approach through our new agreement, ensuring that we continue to deliver excellent outcomes for historic sites while supporting National Highways’ vital infrastructure work that connects communities across the country."