25 And 27, East Street

This is a timber-framed house, originally one building, now divided into two separate houses, number 25 and number 27, located on the north side of East Street in Coggeshall. The core of the structure dates back to the 16th century, although it has undergone alterations in the 17th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The building is constructed with a timber frame, plastered walls, and a roof covered in handmade red plain tiles.

The main range of the building consists of two bays facing south. A 19th-century chimney stack sits at the rear of this section. A two-bay crosswing is situated to the left, with an 18th or 19th-century chimney stack in the rear left corner. A 17th-century wing extends from the rear of the crosswing, featuring an external end stack. A catslide extension, added in the 19th century, is located to the right, and there is a single-storey extension to the rear of number 25 added in the 20th century. A two-storey lean-to extension of red brick with a slate roof has been added to the rear of number 27.

Number 25 has an early 19th-century tripartite sash window on the ground floor, with 4-16-4 lights, and a single early 19th-century sash window to the first floor, featuring 12 lights. A 20th-century six-panel door is set within a recessed porch with a 20th-century pediment. Number 27 has an early 19th-century sash window on the ground floor (or a replica) with 10+10 lights, and two early 19th-century sashes with 12 lights on the first floor. A 20th-century door is set within a simple early 19th-century doorcase with a flat canopy supported by profiled brackets. A plain door with a small window is located in a similar doorcase, leading to a passage. A rear elevation of number 25 contains an early 19th-century sash window on the first floor with 16 lights and crown glass.

Inside number 25, the rear elevation reveals an underbuilt jetty to the front, a chamfered binding beam with step stops, joists plastered to the soffits, and a chamfered central tiebeam without stops. An early 19th-century cast iron ducknest grate is located on the first floor. The main roof was rebuilt in the 19th century.

The original roof of the 17th-century rear wing incorporates re-used, smoke-blackened rafters from a medieval hall. The building was renovated in 1974. Number 27 contains a chamfered axial beam, plain vertical sectioned joists with lamb's tongue stops, chamfered vertical sectioned joists, and chamfered transverse and axial beams with lamb’s tongue and notch stops on the first floor. The walls were raised approximately 0.70 meters. A face-halved and bladed scarf is visible in the front wallplate. The roof was rebuilt in the 18th or 19th century. In the front left corner of number 27 is an attached early 19th-century corner cupboard featuring a semi-elliptical arched head and profiled shelves. The original external framing of the adjacent former building, number 29, is exposed in number 27. The building was formerly known as The Sugar Loaf Inn and The King's Arms.