Old House

This is a timber-framed house located in Stoneham Street, Coggeshall, dating to around 1500 or earlier, with significant additions and alterations in the 17th century and later centuries. The house is primarily timber-framed, with plaster infill, exposed framing, weatherboarding, and a roof of handmade red plain tiles.

The main range, facing southwest, consists of two bays, with a 17th-century stack behind the left bay and a later stack behind the right bay. A three-bay service crosswing, dating from around 1500 or earlier, originally formed part of a larger hall house on the site. A 17th-century, four-bay, single-story wing extends to the rear of the left stack, constructed partly of painted brick and partly of weatherboard. A 20th-century single-story lean-to extension is attached to the rear of the right stack.

The front of the house has two stories and an unlit attic. The ground floor features three splayed bays of early 19th-century sash windows, including one original window with two ovolo mullions and three diamond saddle bars, now fitted with 20th-century leaded glazing. Above are three early 19th-century sash windows. A 20th-century part-glazed door leads into the house. A full-length jetty is supported by a 19th-century moulded wooden fascia. Bay posts and some original studding are exposed at the front, while the rest of the facade is plastered and weatherboarded.

The rear wing has a 19th-century Gothick casement window on each side, and two double Gothick casements at the rear. The crosswing contains plain joists, some arranged longitudinally in the front bays and laterally in the rear bay. There are mortices and wattle grooves indicating former partitions. A tiebeam with a chamfered arched brace and an incomplete crownpost roof, originally gabled and later altered to a hip, are also present.

The main range features chamfered axial beams with lamb’s tongue stops, along with plain joists on both floors. The original window retains traces of red paint, likely original. The house contains a 20th-century grate on the ground floor, a disused 17th-century wood-burning hearth on the first floor, and an original plank and muntin oak partition on the ground floor. Original rebated hardwood floorboards are found in the attic. The roof has a butt-purlin design, incorporating many smoke-blackened rafters from a medieval hall, likely from an earlier house on the same site. The building was formerly a public house, known as The Black Horse and later The Locomotive.