Elms Hall Farmhouse

House. Built around 1600, with alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is timber-framed, mostly plastered, with a facade of painted brick laid in a Flemish bond pattern. The roof is covered in handmade red clay tiles. Originally facing east, the house was extended to the west in the 18th century, forming a square layout; however, the main elevation now faces south. The house has a front range with external stacks at each end, and two rear wings. A lean-to building with a slate roof, originally ancillary, was incorporated into the house in the 20th century.

The house has two storeys and a two-window front. Late 19th-century sash windows with four lights are set in earlier openings, each with a gauged flat arch above. A central four-light sash window is above the front door, which has a semi-circular head. The front door is from the late 19th century, with four panels, the upper ones glazed, and has a semi-circular fanlight with cast iron radial tracery, reeded columns, and a dentilled open pediment, all dating to the early 19th century. A 12-light sash window is in the right return, along with 20th-century sashes. The roof has shaped sprockets under the eaves, and is hipped at the rear.

The original main range features moulded axial beams (some of which are boxed in), and moulded joists with lamb's tongue stops. An open well staircase with a wreathed handrail and stick balusters was added around 1800. On the first floor are two 18th-century “borrowed lights” above doors; one has leaded diamond panes of handmade glass with the inscription 'Thos Baker of Colne Engaine, Essex'. A 17th-century pine door is on the ground floor, and an early 18th-century pine door is on the first floor. The latter door has cockshead hinges that have been reused.