44, Church Street

This is a timber-framed house located on Church Street in Coggeshall, dating back to around 1400. It has undergone alterations in the 16th, 17th, and 19th centuries. The house is constructed with a timber frame, plastered walls, and a roof covered in handmade red plain tiles.

The original structure comprises a two-bay design facing northwest, with a one-bay hall on the left, originally open from floor to roof, and a combined entrance and service bay on the right, initially two stories high. A 17th-century chimney stack is located at the rear of the hall, with a 17th-century wing extending from it, featuring an internal stack to the left, along with a later extension built around 1967. A small lean-to extension has been added to the rear of the service bay.

The front of the house has one early 19th-century sash window with 12 lights in the service bay, and a similar 20th-century replica in the hall bay. Above these are two more replica sashes. A mid-19th-century four-panel door, with flush bottom panels and moulded upper panels, is set within a simple doorcase featuring a moulded flat canopy and a single stone step.

The rear elevation of the service bay has one early 19th-century sash window with 12 lights on the first floor, alongside replica sashes on the rear wing. Both the front and back doors retain the original cross-entry alignment. A mortise indicates the former location of an arched doorhead at the front, while a deep rebate marks the previous back door location at the rear. A spear-truss is visible to the left of the cross-entry, with removed ground-floor studding.

Two blocked flank windows, each featuring an ovolo mullion, moulded glazing fillets, and two diamond saddle bars, are present in the front wall of the hall; these were inserted around 1620, severing original studs. The hall also contains a wide wood-burning hearth, divided by a later brick wall to create a smaller hearth and storage recess. A timber floor, introduced before 1565, consists of chamfered joists with step stops, running longitudinally and secured to original rails. Curved display bracing is trenched into widely-spaced studs at either end of the hall. The hall roof has been raised by approximately 1.40 meters, leaving a visible impression of the original rafters on the end walls. An edge-halved and bridled scarf is visible in the tiebeam/wallplate at the left end.

In the service bay, plain horizontal section joists are joined to the axial beam with central tenons. This beam is chamfered, with step stops at the cross-entry and both ends of the former axial partition. Studding between the service rooms and the cross-entry has been removed. Straight braces are trenched to the outside of widely-spaced studs in a wall of the service bay. Jowled posts are also present. Vortex markings indicate the former existence of a crownpost roof structure over the service bay. The roof was rebuilt in the 19th century with a ridge and clasped purlins, incorporating some re-used smoke-blackened rafters. A 19th-century pine corner cupboard with a plain head and doors is found in the front left corner of the rear wing.