Chapel Hotel

This is a late 14th-century house, later altered in the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and now used as a hotel. It is timber framed and plastered, with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. The original house comprised a 2-bay hall facing east and a 2-bay crosswing to the left, with a 19th-century internal stack. A 2-bay wing from the 16th or 17th century extends to the rear of the hall, with an internal stack at the junction. A further 3-bay extension, dating to the early 17th century, is situated beyond this. To the right is an early to mid-19th-century wing constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with a slate roof.

The front elevation has two storeys, cellars, and attics. The ground floor features one early 19th-century tripartite sash window with 8-12-8 lights, and two further early 19th-century sashes with 10+10 lights. The first floor has three early 19th-century sashes with 12 lights each. A 19th-century double half-glazed door is also present, alongside seven plaster pilasters. A plaster band runs along the first-floor level. The building is finished with a moulded and dentilled cornice, a plain parapet, and a hipped roof.

The crosswing has an underbuilt jetty, of which the jetty plate is now missing. The binding beam is chamfered in two orders, with one original brace measuring 0.14 metres wide (and one 20th-century replica); the joists are of heavy square section, jointed to the binding beam with central tenons and housed soffits. Traces of floral paintings, dating to around 1600 and covered by brown varnish, are visible on the soffits of some joists. The roof above the crosswing has been rebuilt to match the main range. The hall contains an inserted floor from around 1600, comprising a chamfered axial beam and plain joists of square section, as well as a dado of oak panelling, also dating to around 1600. While much of the timber frame is hidden by internal finishes, the original structure remains substantially present and structurally unaltered. The partition wall between the hall and crosswing shows smoke-blackening at roof level. The roof structure itself is not accessible.

An early 19th-century staircase features turned newels, a wreathed mahogany handrail, and stick balusters. The rear wing has a horizontal sash window with 12+12 lights on the ground floor, and a similar sash window with 9+9 lights on the first floor. This wing also contains a chamfered binding beam and plain joists of vertical section. The extension beyond has jowled posts, chamfered axial beams with lamb's tongue stops, and an introduced bow window of uncertain date. The right wing retains two original sashes of 12 lights at the rear. The property is believed to have been the home of John Sewall, Sheriff of Essex in 1381, and was later known as Ayworth's or Edgeworth's.