75 And 77, Church Street

This is a timber-framed house, now divided into two dwellings at 75 and 77 Church Street, Coggeshall. The original core of the house dates back to the 15th century, with alterations made in the 16th, 17th, and 20th centuries. The house is timber-framed and plastered, with exposed timber framing and a roof covered in handmade red plain tiles. It originally comprised a two-bay hall facing southeast, featuring a 17th-century axial stack in the right bay and a service bay to the right. Two 17th-century wings are located to the rear, along with a 20th-century conservatory to the rear right and a 20th-century extension to the rear left.

The front of the building, divided by the chimney stack, has two early 19th-century sash windows on the ground floor, and a mix of early glazed windows with modern external glazing. The first floor has one early 19th-century sash window and one 20th-century casement. Crown glass is present in the sash windows. The ground floor of number 75 has a 20th-century door that leads into the extension. Number 77 has a 20th-century door in the original main range. The timber frame displays widely spaced original studs, with some later insertions, and an original wallplate exposed externally. Above the original wallplate, the wall was raised by approximately 0.90 metres, with an additional sill, jointed and pegged studding, and a wallplate, all of which are exposed. In the left return, original widely spaced studding, a girt, a tiebeam, and two rafters are visible, along with closer studding and a collar above. Edge-halved and bridled scarfs are found in the original and upper wallplates.

Inside number 75, diamond mortices and a shutter rebate of an original hall window are visible in the rear wallplate. There is also an early 16th-century inserted floor featuring a chamfered axial beam and chamfered joists with unrefined soffit tenons, supported by pegged clamps and step stops. The room contains a wood-burning hearth with 0.23-metre brickwork jambs, replacing an earlier timber-framed chimney. This floor was inserted early, and the raising of the walls is also an early feature, including secondary jowled posts and 16th-century jointing. The middle tiebeam of this raised construction is missing. In number 77, a similar hearth and inserted floor of plain joists arranged longitudinally on pegged clamps are present. One panel on the front wall retains an early wall painting consisting of a simple zigzag border with dots in the triangles, rendered in black paint on white. An inserted window, dating from around 1560, has one moulded mullion and two diamond saddle bars interrupting the original studs. A chamfered beam with lamb's tongue stops is visible in the rear wing. The roof of the front range retains some 16th-century lapped boarding to which tiles were formerly attached.