Schill's Farmhouse

House. Dating from the late medieval period, the farmhouse has been altered in the 16th and 19th centuries. The structure is primarily timber-framed, partially brick, and rendered with roughcast, topped with handmade red plain tiles. It originally consisted of a two-bay hall facing northwest, with a large axial brick stack inserted in the right bay during the late 16th century. A storeyed service bay was initially located to the right of the hall, followed later by an external brick stack. In the mid-19th century, a brick crosswing was added, projecting to the front and rear of the main range, with an internal stack on the left. A single-storey brick service wing, painted, was added to the rear of the original service bay and the right end of the hall, with an internal stack at the end. A 20th-century lean-to extension now completes the rear, creating an almost rectangular plan. A lean-to garage with a corrugated asbestos roof sits to the left of the crosswing.

The front of the house has two 19th-century sash windows of four lights on the ground floor, along with a 20th-century casement window. The first floor mirrors this with two similar sashes and two casements. An early 20th-century half-glazed door with sidelights is set within a 19th- and 20th-century hipped porch. The gable of the crosswing has 19th-century fretted bargeboards. The axial stack was rebuilt in the 19th century, extending from attic level.

Inside the hall, a wide wood-burning hearth faces the left wall, featuring a chamfered mantel beam with lamb’s tongue stops, partially obscured by modern brickwork. A late 16th-century inserted floor in the hall consists of a chamfered axial beam and plain joists of a vertical section. The original service bay reveals exposed studding, some of which is original, along with plain joists – some original and horizontal, lodged longitudinally. The left crosswing contains a 20th-century grate, and is taller than the rest of the building. The walls of the main range were raised to two full storeys, likely in the 19th century, and the roof is also 19th-century. Much of the interior is plastered, concealing the original frame, except at the service end. The rear service wing features a 19th-century bread oven to the right of the stack, with a cast-iron door, however the rear portion of the oven appears to have been closed off with brick and likely demolished. A substantial collection of deeds dating from the 1670s, belonging to the owner, is to be deposited at the Essex Record Office.