Conservative Club

The building is a late 17th-century house and brewery, later adapted for use as a Conservative Club and offices. It is situated on the south-east side of Church Street, Coggeshall. The main range faces northwest and is timber-framed with plaster, weatherboarding, and red and yellow brick. The roof is covered in concrete tiles, handmade red plain tiles, and slates. The building has three storeys and a cellar, with a catslide roof extending to the rear. There are internal stacks at each end of the main range. A single-storey polygonal extension of red and yellow brick with a slate roof has been added to the rear left, enclosing an external stack. A long two-storey range of industrial buildings extends to the rear right, weatherboarded with handmade tiles, along with 20th-century single-storey extensions. A garage with a corrugated asbestos roof is located at the end of this range. A vehicle way is situated to the left of the main range, with a room above.

The main range has undergone extensive alterations in the late 19th century, imitating a late 17th-century style. The ground floor features two splayed bays of casement windows. The first floor has three splayed oriels with casement windows, and the second floor has three casements. Full-length jetties are present at the first and second storeys, with billet-moulded bressumers and carved brackets. The ground floor is predominantly faced with red brick in Flemish bond, incorporating some exposed imitation framing and 19th-century brick nogging. The central recessed door has nine panels, sidelights, and seven small round overlights. Carved brackets align with the bressumer. The room above the vehicle way is plastered, while a 14th-century structure is visible from the adjacent building.

Inside the main range, the chamfered transverse beams above the ground and first floors are original. A chamfered axial beam over the entrance hall and brackets to it are 19th-century additions, while the chamfered axial beam over the first floor is original where exposed. Most of the timber frame is concealed by modern finishes, and the tiebeams are unchamfered but handsawn. A late 19th-century staircase connects the ground floor to the attic, featuring carved newels, pierced balusters, and turned pendants. A horizontal sash window with 15+15 panes of handmade glass is located on the upper storey of the rear wing’s left elevation. The building formerly served as a brewery belonging to John Beard. The carved bressumers and brackets are likely 19th-century work, potentially copies of earlier originals, given Coggeshall’s association with the wood-carving trade.