The Priory

The Priory is a large house built around 1770, possibly designed by John Phillips for John Wright, a historian of Essex. The building is constructed of gault brick in Flemish bond and has a slate roof. It features a square double pile plan facing north, with two internal stacks, and stands two storeys high with cellars. The central part of the façade projects forward in a 1:3:1 arrangement, showcasing four original sash windows with 12 and 8 lights on the ground floor and five original sash windows with 3 and 6 lights on the first floor, all adorned with flat brick arches and much crown glass. The entrance is marked by central glazed double doors set within a plaster doorcase topped with a pediment on scrolled brackets. Access is provided by two flights of ten stone steps with scrolled tread ends and an incomplete cast iron railing. The building features a modillioned cornice, a plain parapet, and a hipped roof with a shallow pitch.

The south elevation, which faces the garden, is similar to the front but has a French window in place of the entrance and lacks the equivalent stairs. The ground floor rooms are symmetrically arranged, except for the stair hall located to the right of the entrance hall. Inside, the entrance hall displays a plaque in low relief by L. Delvaue from around 1725 on the left wall, and on the rear wall, there are three roundels in low relief depicting William III, Alfred the Great, and George II, surrounded by garlands, along with four painted plaster escutcheons of the Wright family. All interior details remain original, including doors with egg-and-dart bordered panels, eared doorcases with carved cresting, pine dados with egg-and-dart borders, folding internal shutters, carved fire surrounds, and plaster cornices. The original windows are made of mahogany. An accurate restoration was in progress at the time of the survey in January 1985.