6, 8 AND 10, NORSEY ROAD

This is a former house, now divided into three cottages, dating from around 1400. It is timber-framed and weatherboarded, with asbestos slate roofing and gables. The front of the building has three entrance doors, with a two-light casement window above each, featuring three square panes in each light. There are small brick stacks positioned off-centre and at each gable end.

The building is an early example of an open hall house, largely complete inside. The central hall has a cambered tie beam with heavy arch braces, along with a four-way braced, octagonal crown post with a moulded cap and base. The service and parlour partitions are of the 'raised collar' type, with lowered rafters rising to storey posts - a technique considered the earliest example seen in Essex. This construction is encased within a 'closed truss' format, a feature deemed worthy of further study. Elements of the original front door arch and a significant portion of the parlour partition remain in situ.

A 17th-century log-burning fireplace was inserted into the hall, alongside a contemporary first-floor construction. The service end of the building (No. 10) shows evidence of a probable original smoke bay (kitchen fireplace) against the end wall, which was later replaced in the 17th century by a substantial brick stack.