18 And 20, High Street

Two adjoining houses at 18 and 20 High Street, Ingatestone, now separately occupied but originally a single building. The structure dates to the late 17th century and was substantially altered and extended during the early 19th century and again in the 20th century.

The main range is timber-framed with roughcast rendering, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. It presents a 3-bay front facing south-east with a central stack. The original plan was a lobby-entrance arrangement, though the entrance is now blocked. Originally there was a service wing to the rear left; its walls were raised and roof rebuilt in the early 19th century. An early 19th-century extension was added to the rear right angle, containing an internal stack against the right wall and completing a rectangular footprint. The building stands 2 storeys high. A 20th-century single-storey wing extends to the left of the main range, set back from the front and aligning with the rear wall. A further 20th-century single-storey extension with a flat roof was added to the rear of the rear left wing.

The two dwellings are divided through the central stack, with No. 18 to the right and No. 20 to the left. No. 18 has 20th-century casements with small panes on each floor and a similar fixed light on the first floor lighting a closet in front of the stack. A 20th-century door and one brick step serve the entrance. The right elevation on the ground floor contains an early 19th-century sash window of 8+8 lights. The rear stack shaft is cement-rendered. No. 20 has 20th-century casements with large panes on each floor and a 20th-century plain boarded door (blocked internally) with two stone steps; the left extension has a 20th-century door and matching casement. Both dwellings retain wrought-iron gutter brackets at the front and extending to the sides and rear of the rear wings. The central stack shaft stands in front of the ridge. Both rear wings have hipped roofs of shallow pitch.

No. 18 retains considerable original joinery. Ground-floor interior features include a chamfered axial beam with two lamb's tongue stops, one square stop and one waney stop. Joists are plastered to the soffits except to the rear of the stack, where they remain plain and of vertical section. Posts are unjowled; studding is concealed but likely original. A large wood-burning hearth has been reduced for a 20th-century grate. On the first floor, a closet in front of the stack preserves an original plank and muntin partition wall at the left—a rare feature requiring special care. The original rear wing has been divided asymmetrically by a brick wall. To the right of this wall, in No. 18, sits a chamfered axial beam with stops now concealed by modern fittings, and plain joists of vertical section. The rear right extension has an unchamfered axial beam, joists plastered to the soffits, and a 20th-century grate.

No. 20 underwent major renovation in 1985, as did both single-storey extensions. Footings were rebuilt. All studding of the lower storey was renewed or re-set, and the original double-pegged primary straight braces were removed. The stops were removed from the chamfered axial beam, and plain joists now rest on bolted clamps. Photographs held by the owner, taken before 1985, document an early 19th-century 2-panel door to the ground-floor closet in front of the hearth (now missing) and a wide wood-burning hearth with a depressed brick arch that was subsequently blocked and partly rebuilt for a late 19th-century hearth, then wholly rebuilt in 1985. One original brace in the rear wall of the rear wing remains partly exposed; the remainder lies within No. 18.