Saunders

House. 16th century, altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Timber framed, plastered with exposed framing at the front, roofed with handmade red plain tiles. The main structure is a 2-bay range facing south-east with a 2-bay wing to the rear of the left bay, featuring a stack at the junction. An early 19th-century wing projects to the right rear with an internal stack, and a 2-storey lean-to extension fills the space between this and the left rear wing, both roofed with slate. A long single-storey lean-to extension extends beyond the right wing, also roofed with slate. The building is 2 storeys high.

The front elevation contains two early 19th-century sash windows on the ground floor, originally of 4-12-4 lights with the lower central sash in each altered to one light. The first floor has two sash windows of 12 lights with crown glass, dated to the 18th or early 19th century. A near-central 20th-century door with a 2-centred head interrupts the ground floor.

The building features a continuous jetty with a moulded fascia covering the ends of horizontal joists. The moulded jetty plate has two plain sections, partly mutilated. At the left end stands an attached shaft with a carved capital and hollow-chamfered bracket. At the right end is a plain-chamfered bracket with evidence of a former attached shaft below. The pattern of moulded and plain areas suggests there was originally an oriel below the jetty to the left of the door, and possibly a 2-storey porch.

Most of the studding of the lower storey has been replaced, with two introduced brackets beside the door. Most of the upper storey studding is original up to window sill height, with the remainder renewed above. A moulded wallplate runs across the building.

Interior features include chamfered axial beams with plain stops above the ground floor. Above the first floor, the beams are moulded (both transverse and axial) with lamb's tongue stops, with plain joists of horizontal section throughout. A 19th-century hearth sits in front of the left stack, with a 20th-century hearth to the rear. Linenfold panelling that incorporates a panel with a carved and painted shield bearing a merchant's mark and the initials I.S. is now located at the left end of the front wing, though it incorporates some 19th-century reproduction work. Historical records indicate this panelling was previously in the rear wing and is original to the building.

The roof of the main range was rebuilt with a ridge. The rear left wing has plain joists of horizontal section, unjowled posts, and unchamfered tie-beams beneath a roof with high trenched collars; no crownposts are visible. The right rear wing contains an early 19th-century fluted fire surround with paterae on the upper floor.

The dating of this building remains uncertain, though the detailing of the upper storey of the main range is similar to that of nearby Church Street properties and is likely dated to 1565 or later. The carved capital of the lower storey suggests an early 16th-century origin. The carved panelling bearing initials has been variously identified as belonging to either John Saunders or John Sparhawk. Historical sources suggest this building forms part of the former Great House of Coggeshall.

The Provisional List of April 1960 recorded a Doric doorcase that was removed during major alterations in 1960-1. The evidence for 18th-century alterations dated to circa 1737 is no longer apparent, though the framing exposure likely occurred during the same period of work. Major alterations and repairs have occurred throughout the building's history.