The White Hart Hotel

The White Hart Hotel is a 17th-century timber-framed and plastered building, likely originally designed in an L-shaped plan, but it has undergone many alterations and additions from the 18th century and later. The oldest section is the block at the north end, which has a west front that effectively closes the vista along Rayne Street. An 18th-century gault brick wing, now painted, extends to the east with a front facing Coggeshall Road, and a later 18th-century or early 19th-century white gault brick wing extends further east.

The building has two storeys and cellars. The west front features sham timber-framing. It has a four-window range with double-hung sashes that include glazing bars, set in flush cased frames with moulded architraves. The first-storey windows have glazing bars only in the upper sashes. On either side of the central entrance, there are three-light bays that rise through both storeys. The central section between the bays rises to a modillioned pediment, which displays a late 19th-century or early 20th-century tiled inn sign. Originally, there was an elliptical-headed carriageway that opened into a courtyard at the rear, but this has been altered to include a recessed 20th-century doorway within the archway.

The 18th-century wing on the south side has a four-window range with double-hung sashes featuring glazing bars in plain reveals. The eastern wing has a five-window range with higher storey heights, which contains the dining room. This wing also has double-hung sashes with glazing bars, and the first-storey windows have stucco architraves, with alternate windows featuring cornices on console brackets. The ground-storey windows have semi-circular heads and plain reveals. A stucco band runs between the storeys, and there is a brick plinth. The roofs are slate. Inside the main block, exposed timber-framing and ceiling beams can be seen.

The White Hart Hotel and No. 2 form a group with Nos. 2 to 8 (even) Rayne Road and Nos. 1, 3, 9, and 11 Bank Street, Braintree.